Kildare SFC: Late Kirwan double secures Naas a return to the final

DANGER MAN: Darragh Kirwan scored two late goals for Naas on Sunday. Pic: Ray McManus/Sportsfile

NAAS 2-11 CELBRIDGE 0-14 

Darragh Kirwan scored two goals in the last 12 minutes as Kildare champions Naas foiled a well-constructed Celbridge gameplan to return to the final.

The frustrating thing for Celbridge, who have now reached nine Kildare SFC semi-finals in a row but lost eight of them, was that they kept Naas dangermen Kirwan and Eamonn Callaghan largely on the fringes of the game. 

However, quality players like Kirwan can always change the course of the game in an instant and he scored two goals late on to decide a closely fought game.

Celbridge frequently got 15 men the ball which frustrated the fast-flowing football that Naas, managed by Carlow’s Joe Murphy, wanted to play but they also counter attacked superbly well. Most notably during a spell in the first half when they turned a 0-4 to 0-1 deficit to a 0-5 to 0-4 lead, with Paddy Brophy scoring three of those points.

The teams were level at 0-5 apiece at half time and were level three more times in the second half before Kirwan arrowed home his first goal in the 48th minute.

Naas were four ahead with five minutes to go but Celbridge got back in touch with three points in a row. However, as they chased the game they left gaps that hadn’t previously been there and when a wayward Niall O’Regan pass was intercepted by Tom Brown in the final minute of normal time, the move was set in motion that ended with Kirwan’s second goal.

Athy and Clane meet in the second Kildare SFC semi-final next Saturday and Naas will play the winner of that game in three weeks.

NAAS: L Mullins 0-1f; C Daly, B Byrne, M Maguire; Paddy McDermott, E Doyle, T Browne; J Burke, A Beirne 0-2; Paul McDermott, B Kane, D Hanifin 0-4; E Callaghan 0-4 (3fs), D Kirwan 2-0, C Doyle 0-1. 

Subs: K Cummins for C Doyle, 47; S Cullen for Kane, 51; J McKevitt for Paul McDermott, 59.

CELBRIDGE: S McNamara; H McGrillen 0-1, M O’Grady, J Costello; T Archbold, D O’Donoghue, M Konstantin, K Flynn; F Conway 0-2, K O’Callaghan 0-1; M Konstantin, A Browne 0-2, N O’Regan, D Hughes 0-1f, P Brophy 0-7 (2fS, 1m), C Plunkett. 

Subs: N Donnelly for Plunkett, 43; D Murphy for Hughes, 51; C Powell for O’Donoghue, 59; L O’Flynn for O’Regan, 60+2.

REFEREE: K Harris.