Naas prevail but pushed all the way by Moorefield
Champions come good late on
A cracking Kildare GAA Hanlon Concrete SFL Divisin 1 final saw hot favourites, Naas, hold off a determined Moorefield side to clinch the Leinster Leader Cup on a final score line fo Naas 0-24 Moorefield 1-17.
Playing with the wind in the opening half Moorefield set the pace, hitting no less than five two-pointers, from Aaon Masterson (2) Evan O’Brien, Mark Murray and Anthony Durney and led at the break by two, 0-11 to 0-9.
At that stage Naas were expected to pull away once they had the the strong wind on their backs.
The champions leveled up with an Alex Beirne two-pointer free but Moorefield regained the lead through Kevin Murnaghan, Ciaran Doyle leveled before a two pointer from Kevin Cummins saw Naas hit the front on 37 minutes.
Naas led by three but on 47 minutes a brilliant Tommy McGrath drew the sides level at 1-15 to 0-18.
Naas kicked two ahead, Moorefield leveled again on 54 minutes.
However it was Naas who finished the stronger with points from Kevin Cummins, Ciaran Doyle and two from Darragh Kirwan to clinch the title on a final score line of Naas 0-24 Moorefield 1-17.
After the final whistle referee Fergus Deveraux seemed to show a red card to Moorefield’s Liam Callaghan.
Scorers: Naas, Ciaran Doyle 0-6 (2 frees), Kevin Cummins 0-5 (1 free two-pointer), Paul McDermott 0-3, Darragh Kirwan 0-2, Alex Beirne 0-2 (2 point free), Luke Mullins 0-2 (two-pointer free), Liam O’Connor 0-2, Mark Maguire 0-1, Neil Aherne 0-1.
Moorefield, Aaron Masterson 0-4 (2 two-pointer), Tommy McGrath 1-0, Mark Murray 0-4 (two-pointer free, 2 frees), Evan O’Brien 0-3 (two-pointer, free), Anthony Durney 0-2 (two-pointer), Tommy Rooney 0-1, Kevin Murnaghan 0-1, Eoin Meehan 0-1, Jack Butler 0-1.
NAAS: Luke Mullins; Mark Maguire, Eoin Doyle, Brian Byrne; Rob Murray, Cathal Daly, Paddy McDermott; Paul McDermott, Conor McCarthy; Liam O’Connor, Kevin Cummins, Brian Stynes; Ciaran Doyle, Dermot Hanafin, Neil Aherne. Subs: Alex Beirne for Brian Stynes (half-time); Elliott Beirne for Dermot Hanafin (42 minutes); Daniel Lenehan for Cathal Daly (45 minutes); Daire Guerin for Conor McCarthy (51 minutes); Darragh Kirwan for Neil Aherne (57 minutes).
MOOREFIELD: Cian Casey; Liam Callaghan, Mark Dempsey, Sean Dempsey; Anthony Durney, James Murray, Tommy McGrath; Cian Moore, Aaron Masterson; Eoin Meehan, Kevin Murnaghan, Mark Murray; Evan O’Brien, Jack Butler, Tommy Mooney. Subs: Luke Sweeney forEoin Meehan (45 minutes); Ryan Moore for Cian Moore; Dan O’Callaghan for Jack Butler (59 minutes).
REFEREE: Fergus Deveraux.