Naas claim Senior Hurling League title with win over Maynooth

2023 Cleaning Legends Senior Hurling League Division 1 Final

Naas 0-26

Maynooth 1-16

In a repeat of the 2022 County Championship final, Naas beat Maynooth to claim this year’s Senior Hurling League Division 1 title. The scoreline may have finished with a seven-point winning margin but there was far more of a game on for most of this clash as Maynooth kept pace with the kings of Kildare hurling.

Jack Sheridan would be the man to open the scoring in this game as he converted a routine free for Naas in the first minute. That would be matched by the opposition's top scorer on the day, David Qualter, just a minute later. Qualter and Sheridan would lead the way for their sides in both superb free-taking and excellent general play. Both would be responsible for over half of their respective sides’ points on the board.

It was as back and forth in the opening minutes with Naas having a decent share of the ball before converting their scores but Maynooth were more than able to fire back in response. 

Tied at 0-5 each following a fine point from Naas’ Charlie Sheridan, it would be Maynooth that would open up the first gap of more than a single score. Maynooth took the lead with a fine score from Cathal McCabe, McCabe who certainly did his bit for the team in this final hit 0-5 from play on the evening and provided a superb all-round display to go with it.

Maynooth would extend their lead to two through David Qualter as his side battled for a turnover and found their sharpshooter in space and he made no mistake when taking aim at the posts.

Despite the score, there was no doubt that Naas had been leading the dance and after going behind by two they kicked up a notch to come back into this game. A Jack Sheridan free would reduce the gap to one before an extended period without a score as Maynooth held strong.

Their resilience would be broken down as Naas got the next three scores on the board in close proximity. It would be Jack Sheridan with the scores too as the forward began to find space with five minutes remaining in the half.

The Maynooth response was undeniable as they got back level with two of the finest scores of the entire day. The first of which came as full-forward Cian Forde found some space out near the sideline and sent over an exceptional score off his left side.

Cathal McCabe would draw the teams level but Naas finished strong and got the final three scores of a tense opening half. Points from Jack Sheridan, Harry Carroll and Charlie Sheridan would see the County Champions into half-time with an 0-12 to 0-9 lead.

Naas came out of the blocks strong in the second half and after some early trading of scores extended their lead to four for the first time in this game. The separation would be short-lived as Maynooth responded with the only green flag of the evening to take a big chunk out of that lead.

David Qualter looked to put the cat amongst the pigeons when he stepped up for a sideline cut in the 34th minute. Qualter fired the ball across the face of goal but saw his effort about to be cut out by Naas goalkeeper Cormac Gallagher. Gallagher would get his interception all wrong as he mishandled the ball before it cannoned off him and into the back of the net. A moment to forget for the Naas ‘keeper that put Maynooth right back in this game.

10 minutes into the second half, the gap would be down to one following a David Qualter free but the leading side always seemed to have a response when things got hairy for them in this game. 

Naas came back with three scores on the trot to open up a lead once more as they sought to fight off a determined Maynooth side.

The sides would trade scores for the next few minutes as the trailing team did all they could to keep within touching distance. They did that for most of the remaining game before succumbing to the Naas pressure late on.

With seven minutes remaining, Maynooth were just two back following another super Cathal McCabe score from play. But it would be their last score in this final as Naas put their foot down once and for all to close out this game. 

Jack Sheridan would demonstrate the two sides to his game as he knocked over the closing five scores of this final but was also lucky to escape a red card from referee Niall Colgan following an off the ball clash just before his late scoring surge.

Naas would run out comfortable winners on the scoreboard but they were more than in a game for large swathes of this league final. Although the eventual winners were perhaps not at full strength, Maynooth can take a lot of encouragement from their performance on the day as they undoubtedly put it up to the Champions.

Scorers: Naas, Jack Sheridan 0-15 (0-6 frees, 0-1 65'), Charlie Sheridan 0-4, Enda O'Neill 0-2, Harry Carroll 0-1, Brian Byrne 0-1, Simon Leacy 0-1, Ferran O'Sullivan 0-1, Peter O'Donoghue 0-1.

Maynooth, David Qualter 1-9 (0-6 frees 0-1 65'), Cathal McCabe 0-5, Kevin Dunne 0-1, Cian Forde 0-1.

NAAS: Cormac Gallagher; Kevin Kelleher, Darach Mac Donncha, Donal McSweeney; Peter O'Donoghue, Ross Kelly, Harry Carrol; Kevin Whelan, Charlie Sheridan; Liam Walsh, Brian Byrne, Eoin Ó'Hehir; Ferran O'Sullivan, Jack Sheridan, Enda O'Neill. Subs: Simon Leacy for Kevin Whelan (20 minutes), James Burke for Enda O'Neill (36 minutes), Rian Boran for Kevin Kelleher (42 minutes), Daire Guerin for Eoin Ó'Hehir (53 minutes), Kieron Maher for Donal McSweeney (56 minutes).

MAYNOOTH: Sean Bean; Willie Lambe, Matt Eustace, Luke Murnane; Ronan Dunne, Daniel O'Meara; Ciarán Flanagan; Graham Kenny, Cathal McCabe; David Qualter, Mikey Gillick, Kevin Dunne; Adam Jordan, Cian Forde, Conor Walsh. Subs: Fiachra Lohan for Darach Mac Donncha (43 minutes), Kevin McNeill for Luke Murnane (49 minutes), David Eustace for Conor Walsh (53 minutes), Darragh Power for Willie Lambe (53 minutes), Neil Delaney for Adam Jordan (59 minutes).

Referee: Niall Colgan