Sloppy goal costs Athy as Naas march on to U23 final
Brian Kelly who kicked a couple of scores for Athy, competes for the ball with Elliot Beirne of Naas, who's 1-2 tally included the first and last scores of the game.
Naas are through to the U23 'A' Football Final after a scrappy, hard-fought victory at home to Athy on Friday night.
Goals were key to the Naas victory, with Elliot Beirne and Euan Cowzer raising green flags to help steer the hosts over the line.
Naas got the better of Balyna in the quarter-finals, while Athy battled past Raheens to reach the final four, but this was the end of the line for the men in red.
Both sides created good scoring chances early on, but it was Beirne who broke the deadlock for Naas in the sixth minute after a couple of wides at each end, coming in from the left to smash the ball into the net. Athy were further burdened by losing Alajandro Kinsella Garcia to injury in the build-up to the goal.
The sides traded three scores apiece over the next quarter of an hour, but both teams had been incredibly wasteful during the opening 20 minutes. The Athy scores came from Brian Kelly, Callum Keaveny and Cathal Kennedy, while Naas remained three ahead thanks to a lovely score from Rob Murray and two from the exciting Kevin Cummins.
The visitors then kicked four scores a minute between the 23rd and 27th, with Ronan Kelly, Shane Jackman, Callum Keaveny and Cathal Kennedy all on target to nudge Athy in front for the first time, leading 0-7 to 1-3 at half time.
The second half was just 90 seconds old when a sloppy mix-up from Athy right in front of their own goal ended with the ball trickling into the net, with Euan Cowzer appearing to get the final touch. The hosts followed up with scores from Fintan Quinn and Liam O'Connor to go four points up within five minutes of the restart.
Cian Keaveny hit back with a free for Athy in the 38th minute, having just seen an earlier effort cleared off the goal-line. Naas immediately cancelled out that score through Tom Kelly before Cummins landed Naas's first free in the 41st minute to make it a five-point game, with Beirne extending the lead midway through the half.
Then, with ten minutes remaining, Callum Keaveny rose highest to palm the ball into the net from close range to raise a green flag for Athy. The visitors added a score through Brian Kelly, who almost hit the net moments later only for a wonderful save from Naas goalkeeper, Jack Rogers.
Cian Keaveny landed a free two minutes from time to bring Athy to within a single point of their hosts, but that was immediately wiped out when Sean Hanifan pointed for Naas - their first score in 15 minutes.
Beirne raised another white flag almost directly from the kick-out to leave three points between these two Kildare juggernauts; and try as they might, Athy could not find a second goal to send the game to extra time.
The final will see Naas play the winners of Sarsfields and Celbridge, which takes place on Sunday.
Jack Rogers; Conor Breen, Tim Ryan, Daniel Lenehan; Alex Lenehan, Robert Murray 0-1, Tom McGrane; Fintan Quinn 0-1, Sean Hanifan 0-1; Liam O'Connor 0-1, Tom Kelly 0-1, Evan Lenehan; Kevin Cummins 0-3 (1f), Elliot Beirne 1-2, Euan Cowzer 1-0.
Mark Travers and Aran Martin for Quinn and D Lenehan (both 47), Matthew O'Connor for A Lenehan (51), Aidan McGrane for E Lenehan (57).
Cormac Byrne; Mikey Hurley, Alajandro Kinsella Garcia, Jay Leigh; Callum Keaveny 1-2, Max Conway, Shane Jackman 0-1; Liam Byrne, Conor Kelly; Conor Doyle, Cathal Kennedy 0-2, Jack Dooley; Ronan Kelly 0-1, Brian Kelly 0-2, Cian Keaveny 0-2 (2f).
Hugh Kennedy for A Kinsella Garcia (inj, 6).
Frank Delaney.
