Naas breeze past challenge of Leixlip to ease into U21 hurling final

Naas 4-19

Haven Hire U21 A Hurling Championship semi-final

Naas had far too much for Leixlip in a one-sided U21 Hurling Championship semi-final on Friday night in Hawkfield as the County Town side eased to a 14-point victory.

Naas were out of sight early enough in this game, ascending into a 3-8 to 0-3 lead with just 25 minutes played before Leixlip pulled it back somewhat, but there was never any doubting about who would be sealing their place in the county final.

Jack Sheridan top-scored for the winners, scoring 1-9 in a fine display of shooting, while there was also some good scoring contributions from Conor Dowling and Jeff Keane, the latter taking a place at corner-forward rather than his usual spot between the posts.

Naas were dominant in the early stages as Sheridan opened the scoring with a fine effort from a sideline cut before Rian Boran bombed over a superb point from distance. Sheridan knocked over a ’65 before Darragh Mooney opened Leixlip’s account with a tidy effort, but scores from Sheridan and Ciaran Tobin had Naas four points clear with just seven minutes gone.

Cathal Melville was the standout performer for Leixlip as he finished with 11 points to his name, and his first score cut the deficit, but Naas did the damage during the middle passages of the first half as they tagged on 2-3 in quick succession. A poor clearance opened the gap for Dowling to burst through and net the first goal, and a couple of points Sheridan and another score from Dowling helped Naas pull further away. Tobin then set up Keane for his first major as blue and whites trotted into a 12-point lead.

Jack Travers stemmed the flow somewhat, but Leixlip were dealt a further blow when Sheridan smashed a 25-metre free low into the net to register his side’s third goal.

Leixlip came into the game a little more in the last five 10 minutes of the half as they scored four in a row in a good spell, with Alan Murphy getting them going before Melville clipped over three points from placed balls.

Trailing by 3-8 to 0-7 at the break, it was by no means a lost cause for Leixlip going into the second half, but their hopes were dashed when Keane drove home a fourth Naas goal three minutes after the restart.

Tobin fired over a couple of points either side of a score from Sheridan to further enhance their advantage, and while Melville raised another three white flags for the north Kildare side, they were never going to come back from there.

Naas took the foot off the gas somewhat after that, though Sheridan landed another trio of scores and Dowling, Tobin and substitute Harry Carroll were also on the mark. Melville kept things respectable for Leixlip as he continued to be accurate from placed balls, but it was all incidental as Naas eased their way into a county final showdown with Éire Óg Corrachoill.

Scorers for Naas: J Sheridan 1-9(1-2f, 3’65, 1SL), C Dowling 1-3, J Keane 2-0, C Tobin 0-4, H Carroll and R Boran 0-1 each.

Scorers for Leixlip: C Melville 0-10(8f, 1’65), D Mooney, J Travers, C Burke and A Murphy 0-1 each.

Naas

Sean Burke; Ciaran Kelleher, Diarmuid Green, Evan Nolan; Ruari Goodfellow, Richie Hogan, Sean McDonnacha; Rian Boran, Simon Leacy; Conor Dowling, Jack Sheridan, Kevin Aherne; Ciaran Tobin, James McKeon, Jeff Keane.

Leixlip

Karl Burke; Conor Higgins, Kieran Kilbane, Liam Murray; Conor O'Neill, Brian Gibbons, Mark Waldron; Cathal Melville, Alan Murphy; Ronan Fitzsimmons, Jack Travers, Conor Burke; Chris Morohan, Sean Higgins, Darragh Mooney.