Fergal Conway, Celbridge, and Alex Beirne, Naas, in Kildare SFC Final action at Cedral St Conleth's Park. Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile
Kildare SFC Final
Naas 1-7 Celbridge 1-6
By Ger McNally at Cedral St Conleth's Park
Darragh Kirwan kicked a wonderful match winning point in the 60th minute as Naas secured a fourth Kildare senior title in row.
It was a historic day for Kildare GAA as the gates of Cedral St Conleths Park were opened for the first time following the redevelopment work there and it ended with a historic win for Naas as they became the first Kildare club to win four in a row since the early 1900s.
It was a third final defeat for Celbridge since 2017, and second in a row by just a point, but this will hurt more than most.
Davy Hughes had just put Celbridge into the lead in the 50th minute when Paddy Brophy, barely on the field after being introduced in place of Aaron Browne, lashed out at Eoin Doyle and was sent off there.
After that, Alex Beirne hit an equalising score before man of the match Kirwan came up with the decisive score.
Celbridge dominated the early stages but couldn’t get the scores and then fell behind in the eighth minute when Dermot Hanafin carried the ball half the length of the field before shooting to the Celbridge net for a brilliant goal.
It took until the 16th minute for Killian Browne to open the Celbridge account and that was quickly followed by a score from Fergal Conway.
Apart from that Hanafin goal, Naas were slow to find their attacking groove but once Kirwan fired over their first in the 19th minute, two more were tagged on in quick succession.
Although the first half generally lacked in the quality that might be expected of these two top class team, there were flashes of class and Celbridge finished off the half with two good points, from Tony Archbold and Killian Browne, leaving two between the sides at the break, 1-3 to 0-4.
Celbridge took the lead for the first time in the 37th minute when Archbold teed up a chance for Hugh McGrillen and the oldest man on the field palmed the ball into the net to spark the game into life.
Kirwan pointed either side of a 45 metre free by Shane McNamara but the drama was to mount in the final ten minutes.
Hughes was fresh off the bench when he converted a difficult free to push Celbridge ahead once again before Brophy’s moment of madness.
It was to prove costly as Beirne levelled before Kirwan kicked a brilliant winning point from a difficult angle on the right to land yet another title for the all conquering Naas side.
Naas: Luke Mullins; Cathal Daly, Conor McCarthy, Robert Fitzgerald, Brian Byrne, Eoin Doyle, Eoin Lawlor; Ryan Sinkey, Paul McDermott; Alex Beirne 0-1f, Tom Browne, Paddy McDermott, Darragh Kirwan 0-5 (1f), Dermot Hanafin 1-0, Neil Aherne 0-1.
Subs: Paul McDermott for Beirne, b/s 11-15; Cathal Daly for Fitzgerald, 49; Paul McDermott for Sinkey, 50; Kevin Cummins for Aherne, 55; Sean Hanafin for Browne, 60.
Celbridge: Shane McNamara 0-1f; John Clarke, Cian Powell, Mick Konstantin, Dean O’Donoghue, Fergal Conway 0-1, Liam O’Flynn; Hugh McGrillen 1-0, Mick O’Grady; Niall O’Regan, Kevin O’Callaghan, Tony Archbold 0-1, Paddy Brophy, Aaron Browne, Killian Browne 0-2.
Subs: Davy Hughes for Flynn, 46; Paddy Brophy for A Browne, 50.
Referee: Brendan Cawley.
