Who are St Kevin's Leinster opponents? A quick look at St Brigid's Croghan

Kildare Junior champions St Kevin’s are in Leinster action once again this weekend when they face Offaly IFC winners St Brigid’s Croghan at 1:30pm in Daingean.

The Faithful outfit are coming off the back of two big wins with a healthy margin of victory in both their county final against Edenderry and in their Leinster opener with Laois runners-up Timahoe, who found themselves in provincial contention because Laois champs St Joseph's are a second team.

They will face their stiffest challenge to date when they face the Kildare champions who reached the last eight with a 4-20 to 2-10 win over Kilkenny’s Muckalee in a dominant but occasionally sloppy showing in Manguard Park.

Beaten finalists in 2025 and semi-finalists in ‘24 St Brigid’s finally achieved their Offaly IFC title ambitions after a sensational second half display from Ben Kennedy helped them to their richly deserved success as they finally got across the line in a championship that they have been chasing for a few years.

Brigid’s were superb defensively throughout their county final, conceding just 10 points, but it was the switch of a defender, Ben Kennedy into the attack that transformed this game as he scored an astounding 3-2 in the final quarter of their 5-8 to 0-10 win.

St Brigid's were 1-6 to 0-8 ahead with just over 15 minutes left and with the wind at their back, it was theirs to lose but they were engaged in a dogfight and it looked like going down to the wire. That was until that sensational closing quarter from their hat-trick hero Ben Kennedy.

From the actual full-forward line, Aaron McDermott and Cian Donoghue also managed 1-1 each in the county final.

It was all much easier for the Offaly men when they met Timahoe in Leinster with Offaly Live outlining that “from the throw in, it was clear that they (Timahoe) were off the pace, up to very little and that it would take a calamity for the Offaly Intermediate Champions to lose” in their match report from the fixture.

Dan Molloy had probably his best game of the year for St Brigid's in this one, running the game from midfield and he was the selection for Man of the Match. Molloy was excellent in the first quarter, moved very well and scored well from play and frees. His performance was pivotal to their win and they had several other players who also played well.

County final starting XV’s

ST BRIGID'S: Liam Fox; Ronan Swords, Cameron Egan, Odhran Briody; Ben Kennedy, Ronan Doyle, Ethan Hannon; Sean Briody, Dan Molloy; Evan Rigney, Alan Scally, Liam Cocoman; Aaron McDermott, Cian Donohue, James Lynch.

ST KEVIN’S: Keith Fitzharris; Enda Keane, Diarmuid Smyth, Alan Bennett; Niall Keane, Mark Grace, Kevin McNamee; Jamie Smyth, James Ralph; Declan O’Flaherty, Dylan Brereton, Ciaran Smyth; Jamie O’Brien, Conor Murray, Barry Noone.