Naas power past Éire Óg Corrachoill to land minor hurling title and secure football and hurling double
Naas 3-18
Éire Óg Corrachoill 2-13
Kildare Minor A Hurling Championship
Naas racked up a big tally as they landed the Minor A Hurling Championship title on Monday afternoon thanks to an eight-point victory over Éire Óg Corrachoill in an enjoyable county final in Newbridge.
They hit plenty of wides in what was a patchy performance at times, but they were fully deserving of their win, which ensured that Naas have secured the Minor A titles in both football and hurling this year.
Naas began the game in excellent fashion as Ferran O’Sullivan clipped over a fine point from the left wing to open the scoring, and it wasn’t long before the back of the Éire Óg Corrachoill net was rustling. It came after a long ball into the large square from Al Bergin broke to Brian Tobin, and the corner-forward finished decisively to the bottom corner.
Éire Óg Corrachoill recovered from Naas’ quick start and soon settled as Liam Dempsey got them up and running in the third minute with a point from a free, while Michael McGovern fired over a good score soon after.
Al Bergin opened his account at the other end for Naas to extend their lead, before Tobin had another chance on goal but kicked the ball wide from close range. Dempsey nudged over a ’65 for Éire Óg Corrachoill in response, but Naas struck for another goal midway through the half when Peter O’Donoghue turned over possession deep in opposition territory and then rifled a brilliant shot to the roof of Niall Mullaly’s net.
The County Town side surged on from there over the next few minutes as they threatened to run away with the game, and scores from Al Bergin and Ferran O’Sullivan opened up a seven-point gap with 18 minutes played. Rian Monaghan could have killed the game off soon after when he got free close to goal, but he smashed his effort into the side netting.
Éire Óg Corrachoill grabbed themselves a lifeline with 22 minutes gone when they plundered a goal that they were in dire need of. It came from a Dempsey free as the full-forward went low rather than taking the safe option of tagging on a point, and it paid off as Ian Blackburne’s partial block couldn’t prevent it going over the line.
Dempsey smacked over another couple of points as the Naas lead was suddenly whittled down to just two points, and the game became a contest once again.
Monaghan got in on goal for Naas again five minutes before the interval, but a superb hook by John McKeon prevented a near certain third major. The excellent Conan Boran did score a fine point after the ball was cleared however, and another score from his midfield partner Harry Carroll increased their lead to four, and a point at either end from placed balls from Ben O’Reilly and Dempsey left Naas with a 2-8 to 1-6 interval lead.
The third quarter was a relatively tepid affair as Naas threatened to pull away once again, but Éire Óg Corrachoill always showed enough fighting spirit to hang in there and remain in contention.
Naas wing-back O’Reilly knocked over a point from a free to open the second half scoring, but McGovern bundled home his side’s second goal at the other end to give his side another injection for their challenge. It was the men in blue and white hoops who dominated proceedings for a spell after that as Ferran O’Sullivan slotted over a couple of lovely points and O’Reilly registered another two from frees, and a superb score from Tobin sent his side six points clear.
Éire Óg Corrachoill mounted a fine fightback after that however, and it was inspired by full-forward Dempsey who was now operating further out the pitch. He landed five points in a row, with four frees coming either side of a brilliant score from play out on the right wing.
With just two points between the sides and six minutes of normal time left to play, momentum was suddenly with Joe Dempsey’s side, but Naas settled again however, and a brilliant over the shoulder score from Tobin calmed any nerves that might be setting in. The corner-forward then finished the game off when he got on the end of a long ball from Liam Walsh and bundled home his side’s third goal.
They saw the game out well from that point onwards as O’Reilly landed another couple of points from frees and O’Sullivan scored his fifth point of a brilliant individual performance.
It means it is a minor football and hurling double for Naas, who avenged last year’s defeat to the same opposition in the 2017 minor final.
Scorers for Naas: B Tobin 2-2, B O’Reilly 0-6f, F O’Sullivan 0-5, A Bergin 0-3(2f), P O’Donoghue 1-0, C Boran and H Carroll 0-1 each.
Scorers for Éire Óg Corrachoill: L Dempsey 1-11(1-10f), M McGovern 1-1, J Higgins 0-1.
Naas
Sean Burke; Cian Duffy, John McKeon, Ronan Kelly; Ben O’Reilly, Ian Blackburne, Eoghan Prizeman; Harry Carroll, Conan Boran; Liam Walsh, Al Bergin, Ferran O’Sullivan; Peter O’Donoghue, Rian Monaghan, Brian Tobin.
Subs used: Luca Conroy for Kelly 55mins.
Éire Óg Corrachoill
Niall Mullaly; Daniel Murray, Sam Donovan, Declan Kavanagh; Cathal Cribbin, Eoghan Dempsey, Ben Noone; Eoin Wilson, Jack Higgins; Cillian Manders, Murray O’Byrne, Michael McGovern; Ollie O’Neill, Liam Dempsey, David Slaughter.
Subs used: Padraic Doolan for Kavanagh 18mins, Sean O’Neill for Slaughter 36mins, Eoghan O’Haire for O’Neill 48mins.