Celbridge's late fightback can't deny cool Naas

Naas            0-13 Celbridge   0-9 Minor A Hurling Championship final

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  For periods of this game it looked like Naas would easily walk to their second county title of the afternoon as they played some sumptuous hurling for periods but a determined Celbridge outfit made them sweat until the end. Naas were worthy winners in the end, but had Celbridge played like they did for the final 15 minutes of this encounter the outcome of this game could have been much different. It was between the fifth minute of this tie right up until half-time that Naas did the damage, with Jack Sheridan inflicting most of that. Celbridge started better, with points from Sean Lawlor and Patrick Mortell giving them a two point advantage, but this was as good as it got for the north Kildare outfit in the first half. [caption id="attachment_47647" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Aaron Doran of Celbridge is crowded out by Naas defenders.[/caption] Jack Sheridan got things underway for Naas, as they eventually troubled the scoreboard in the 18th minute, and Shane Ryan quickly followed up with a fine score after picking the pocket of a Celbridge defender and running through on goal. Alex Maher and Sheridan followed up with scores from play and Naas were looking in a commanding position. Ryan and Sheridan raised further white flags for Naas, with Sheridan's point being particularly impressive. Matthew Moran added another socre and Sheridan finished out the half's scoring with two further frees to bring his own personal tally to six points and leave the scoreboard reading 0-9 to 0-2 at half-time. Celbridge came out fighting in the second half though, but Naas were composed in the opening 10 minutes, which proved vital. Sean O'Sullivan and Sheridan swapped scores before Aaron Doran cut the deficit to six for Celbridge. Conor Foley then stroked over a couple of scores for Naas, the first of which was a peach from the right wing, and that seemed to dampen the Celbridge spirits somewhat. Sean Lawlor and Sheridan swapped points from frees, but that Sheridan score proved to be Naas' last point. Celbridge rallied and they hit four points in a row with Ciaran O'Regan and Doran knocking over scores either side of a couple of Patrick Mortell efforts. It was not to be enough however, as Naas managed to hold their nerve and see out a game that they never looked like losing. It crowned a perfect day for the young men of the town, as their seconds side captured the Minor B title earlier that afternoon. Scorers for Naas: J Sheridan 0-7(5f), S Ryan and C Foley(1f) 0-2 each, M Moran 0-1. Scorers for Celbridge: P Mortell 0-3(2f, 1'65), S Lawlor(1f) and A Doran 0-2 each, S O'Sullivan and C O'Regan(1f) 0-1 each. Naas J Keane; E Tobin, C Dowling, S Lacey; E Nolan, D Greene, C Dowling; M Drewitt, J Sheridan; A Maher, C Lynch, M Moran; S Ryan, C Foley, P O'Brien. Subs used: J Mc Carthy and C Doyle. Celbridge N Reynor; C O'Hogain, C Byrne, P Hogan; A O'Riain, P Mortell, K Gorman; S O'Sullivan, A Doran; C O'Regan, S Lawlor, C O'Shaugnessy; C O'Foghlu, D Kilgallon, A Brennan. Subs used: T Mc Auliffe, R Clarke, S Mc Goldrick and L O'Flynn.