Sash hold off Maynooth to lift first Kildare SFC since 2019
Sarsfields captain Barry Coffey lifts the Dermot Burke trophy Photo: ©INPHO/James Lawlor
A dominant second half performance saw Sarsfields clinch their first Joe Mallon Motors Kildare Senior Football Championship for seven years at the expense of a Maynooth side appearing in their first final in 110 years.
It brought heartbreak on the double to Maynooth, after their defeat in the hurling decider a week previously, but they could have no complaints on the day with a more experienced Sarsfields proving the superior outfit in front of a large Cedral St Conleth’s Park attendance.
Sarsfields might have been concerned to only turn around level at the interval at 0-6 apiece, having failed to take advantage of the breeze blowing towards the Kilcullen End in the first half.
But an early burst after the interval saw them go four points clear and when centre-back Con Kavanagh blasted to the net on 47 minutes, it left Maynooth with an uphill battle which they never really looked like clawing back, with substitute Paddy Ryan’s injury time goal a mere consolation.
Maynooth had been efficient in the opening half, scoring their six points from just eight shots at the target, thanks to two-pointers from influential midfielder Ciaran Flanagan and ex-county goalkeeper Mark Donnellan, but after the break they found the Sarsfields defence too tough a nut to crack with the marking job performed by Colm Harnett on sharp-shooter Paddy Mahoney a key ingredient in the outcome. Mahoney failed to score over the hour.
The experienced Shea Ryan, one of the survivors from the 2019 success, opened the scoring after a minute on the way to a man-of-the-match haul of three points from play and after a couple of wides the Roseberry men added a second with Daragh Conlon sweeping forward from wing-back, not for the last time either.
Kavanagh’s sortie into Maynooth territory then set up midfielder Matty Byrne in front of the posts but corner-back Cathal Quinn pulled off a fine block and with Sarsfields proving wasteful, their opponents finally landed a ‘settler’ with dual player Conor O’Grady putting one over from the right wing with the help of the upright after eleven minutes.
The other Ryan brother, Daragh, got in on the scoring act to squeeze one over after good work by Conor O’Donovan but Maynooth were boosted by a superb two-pointer, again from the right wing, this time by Flanagan, who had a huge first-half.
Maynooth’s attacks were sporadic into the wind, though, and Karl Hartley, on an otherwise quiet day for one of the stars of the campaign, forced Donnellan into a smart save on 18 minutes before Barry Coffey’s free gave Sarsfields a 4-3 lead.
Cathal McCabe, doing everything in his power to inspire Maynooth, superbly blocked Cathal White’s effort and on 23 minutes his side were level again when Liam McDonald was first to Seán Hever’s delivery and turned his man Cian Hughes before angling over with his left foot.
Sarsfields appeared to have taken the upper hand heading into half-time when Luke Mahon caught and pointed from an under hit two-point free from a somewhat off-colour Coffey and then Conlon advanced for his second point of the half.
But Maynooth were boosted when Donnellan was called forward to take a free from 50 metres, after Neil Flynn had miscued an earlier one, and ‘The Don’ split the posts with a beauty to leave the sides level at the break.
Whatever Vinnie Walsh said at half-time seemed to inspire Sarsfields as they reeled off three points in as many minutes on the restart.
Byrne registered the first, then Daragh Ryan set up O’Donovan who blazed over from an acute angle at close range and with Sarsfields dominating possession Mahon set up Shea Ryan for another point.
Maynooth, despite the wind advantage, were struggling to create much at the other end but when Mahoney was fouled, Donnellan stepped up once more for another inspirational two-point free to narrow the gap to a point.
Sarsfields, though, were doing most of the running and Daragh Ryan and an increasingly influential Callum Bolton brought their lead back to three (11-8) by the 41st minute.
Flynn pulled one back for Maynooth four minutes later, when he might have chanced his arm at a goal attempt and Shea Ryan was on hand again for a fine score after a one-two with substitute Ryan Kearney.
Then came the game’s crucial moment on 47 minutes. A fine catch by Bolton in the lead up paved the way for the move that saw White set up Kavanagh, a long way from his berth at pivot, and he rifled a shot to the top left-hand corner despite Donnellan’s best efforts.
Maynooth needed a quick response and it came from Donnellan’s ’45, bringing his tally to 0-5, but the final nine minutes of normal time passed by without a score and very little action. Maynooth had plenty of possession during this spell but played far too much ‘keep ball’ without being able to open up the Sarsfields defence and without any success in getting their shooters on the ball for two-point opportunities around the arc.
They did win a two-point free as we ticked into the final minute but Mahoney’s shot dropped short and although substitute Kevin Donovan got a touch, it was cleared off the line by Kavanagh.
Ben McCormack had entered the fray on 48 minutes and he burst into life in injury time, extending the lead to six points.
There was a wobble in the third minute of injury time when Flynn’s ball in broke to Ryan and the teenager blasted home to leave only one score between them. But McCormack had the last laugh as he slotted over his second point with the last kick of the game.
That was the cue for jubilation for those in green as Sarsfields made it 17 county titles to go with the 9 won by their predecessors Roseberry.
Cathal Moore; Colm Harnett, Cian Hughes, Jimmy O'Neill; Daragh Conlon 0-2, Con Kavanagh 1-0, Cathal White; Matty Byrne 0-1, Callum Bolton 0-1; Darragh Ryan 0-2, Barry Coffey (captain) 0-1 (f), Shea Ryan 0-3; Karl Hartley, Luke Mahon 0-1, Conor O'Donovan 0-1. Subs: Ryan Kearney for Conlon 45, David Shalvey for Byrne 45, Ben McCormack 0-2 for O’Donovan 48, Cian Costigan for Mahon 57, Kieran Dwyer for White 61.
Mark Donnellan 0-5 (2tpfs,1’45); Cathal Quinn, Alex Tilly, Sean Mahon; Conor O'Grady 0-1, Niall O'Sullivan, Callum McCabe; Ciaran Flanagan (captain) 0-2 (tp), Matthew Diamond; Fionn Ó Giollain, Sean Hever, Neil Flynn 0-1; Paddy Mahoney, Cathal McCabe, Liam McDonald 0-1. Subs: Paul Maguire for Ó Giolláin HT, Niall Cullen for O’Grady 48, Kevin Donovan for Hever 57, Paddy Ryan 1-0 for Mahoney 61.
Henry Barrett (Kilcullen).
