Homework pays off for Beirne as he finds the net with a low shot

Scorer of 1-2 in the Final Alex Beirne was close to being named Man of the Match with his 14th minute goal pivotal to Kildare’s victory.

This is how he described the goal. 

“I think it just kind of opened up nicely. Did the ball break off a kick out, we did a one/two and it just opened up. We did a small bit of homework on their keeper and it was just low, keep it low and into the corners and I just tried to roll it in there,” he said. 

“On another day someone gets down and saves it and today it just went in. So yeah, it was a good goal and we had a pretty good ten minutes after that.” 

 Saturday’s victory ranked high in Beirne’s career to date. 

“It would definitely be up there,” he said smiling. 

“There was a lot at stake today, more than probably a medal, but we got the job done. It's been a good season, up and down, but ultimately, we got promotion and we secured Sam Maguire football for next or so I think we're more than happy with that,” he added before continuing. 

“Did we get the full performance today? No. Did we get bits of it? Again, probably like the season we got glimmers here and there, twenty minutes here, twenty minutes there but ultimately, we got the win and that's all that matters.” 

He was happy too with Kildare’s reaction to Limerick’s second goal. 

“We would have been happy enough at halftime, still knowing we'd more to give. They threw the kitchen sink at us and they got ahead”, he explained. 

“I looked at the clock and there was twenty minutes left, maybe just shy of that, and we kind of knew we had gears still to go up and we did. We just grounded it out and got a couple of crucial scores. A couple lads came off the bench, doing their part and we just turned the screw there towards the end and fell over the line, really, but over the line is the main thing.” 

Although silverware was at stake the even bigger prize of Sam Maguire football played a bit on the minds of the players according to Alex Beirne. 

“Probably subconsciously, yeah. You come up here looking for a performance, looking then to get a result,” he opined. 

“Look, there was a small bit of added pressure but I think we kind of knew we were in a good place and it's nice to have that boxed off again for next year,” he added. 

“There will pressure again come January because it's a slippery slope. If you don't stay up in Division Two, you're back down in the same place you were again this year. So, we’ll be looking to have a right rattle at Division two and get promoted and that's ultimately where the team wants to go, in the top tier.” The sense of occasion wasn’t lost on the Naas man either. “I think it was important today, like, you kind of got a sense of it, there were white jerseys up on the hill and around the Croke Park. We want to give Kildare a team to follow and we're doing it bit by bit. We're not there yet, but we're getting there,” he concluded.