Kildare champs Clane beaten in rain-soaked Leinster Final with Davidstown Courtnacuddy

Davidstown Courtnacuddy 3-12

Clane 0-11

Kildare Senior 'B' champions Clane were beaten 3-12 to 0-11 by Wexford's Davidstown Courtnacuddy in Manguard Park, Hawkfield in the AIB Leinster Club Junior Hurling Championship final.

The rain was biblical for much of the time that these teams spent in combat and it was the Wexford side who made the better start in monsoon conditions with two points from Joe Doyle in the opening two minutes.

The first of which looked like a certain goal when his brother, James Doyle, fired across to Joe who fired over despite a gaping net and a desperately sprawling Mark Doyle.

He followed his safe bet with a fine score from play after a superb run.

Clane answered with a point from Shane Henry who emerged from a standing ruck with possession and clipped one between the posts.

Back-to-back Paddy McKenna points then put Clane in front with a 60m free being followed by a ‘65 as the Kildare ‘keeper drilled the sliothar through the posts despite the heavy wind and rain.

Davidstown Courtnacuddy then fired themselves ahead with the first of three opening half goals. Brian Smith’s driving run from midfield created the chance and, at the conclusion of his surge forward, popped the ball free for James Doyle to latch onto and sweep home. The goal gave the Wexford men a 1-2 to 0-3 lead after 11 minutes.

Clane had an instant response and it came from Simon Healy who fired up the Kildare crowd with an excellent point from out wide.

It was up to Mark Doyle to deny Davidstown Courtnacuddy a certain second green flag moments later when he flicked Pauric Doyle’s top-corner-bound effort to safety.

Clane, buoyed by Doyle’s heroics, levelled through Caolan Smith after a tussle for possession up front and less than a minute later they had the lead when Cormac Vizzard battered his way into space before converting off his left side. 

Trailing by a single point as the game approached the 20-minute mark, Davidstown shot back into the lead with their second goal. A Joe Doyle carry followed by a Pauric Doyle ball across that missed everyone in the middle and rolled to David Dunne who kicked into the back of the vacant net. 

The almighty scrap for the sliothar continued with this game ebbing and flowing but being ultimately decided by Davidstown’s first half goals and quality overall.

The next score in this game was Davidstown Courtnacuddy’s third goal and David Dunne’s second. A long ball into the forward looked set to drop into Clane’s hands but was spilled and subsequently collected by Dunne. The wing-forward now had a clear sight at Mark Doyle and hit a unique underarmed flick towards goal with the Clane ‘keeper losing his footing somewhat in his attempts to react as the ball lobbed into the net.

Dunne’s raising of a third green flag made this game 3-2 to 0-6 after 26 minutes.

Clane reduced the gap from five to four through Daniel Malone who had been introduced just five minutes prior.

Paddy McKenna got the first half’s last score from a free as his side trailed 3-2 to 0-8 at half-time.

Clane continued on the comeback trail, or so it seemed, with the first point after the restart from Daniel Malone. It would however be the Kildare side’s last for 23 long minutes.

James Kelly, who made his return for the Wexford side after breaking his thumb in the county final, answered for Davidstown moments before the floodlights were put on at a startlingly early time of 2:16pm, although they were needed.

The quality of the Wexford side began to show from here on out as they put scores on the board while Clane racked up handling errors and conceded turnovers in poor moments.

Kelly was again on the scoresheet before points from Pauric Doyle and Oisín Hayes gave the leading side a 3-6 to 0-9 advantage after 40 minutes of play.

Dan Colbert was Clane’s shining light throughout but the 19 year-olds superb showing was not enough to solely propel his team forward. Davidstown notched three more, through Joe Doyle and Hayes (twice), as the game entered its final 10 minutes.

A superb 53rd minute point from Clane’s Aaron Connolly ignited them somewhat with the second half substitute showing they still had signs of life as they ended their barren spell.

A well-taken Paddy McKenna free two minutes later reduced the gap to seven points with five to go.

Clane poured on aerial pressure and burst forward whenever possible but Davidstown had enough to deal with everything that the Kildare champs had.

It was the eventual winners who finished strongest with the final three points of the game.

Pauric Doyle’s first and second points of the day were separated by Brian Smith’s first as Davidstown Courtnacuddy became Leinster Club Junior Hurling Champions for 2025 with a 3-12 to 0-11 win.

Davidstown Courtnacuddy, David Dunne 2-1, James Doyle 1-0, Oisín Hayes 0-3 (2 x frees, 1 x '65), Joe Doyle 0-3, James Kelly 0-2, Pauric Doyle 0-2, Brian Smith 0-1.

Clane, Paddy McKenna 0-4 (3 x frees, 1 x '65), Daniel Malone 0-2, Shane Henry 0-1, Simon Healy 0-1, Caolan Smith 0-1, Cormac Vizzard 0-1, Aaron Connolly 0-1.

DAVIDSTOWN COURTNACUDDY: Seán Cooper; Seán Fitzpatrick, Eddie Kelly, Jack O'Regan; Tomás O'Connor, Barry Hassey, Mark Murphy; Barry Nolan, Brian Smith; David Dunne, Lucas Fitzpatrick, Pauric Doyle; Joe Doyle, James Doyle, Oisín Hayes. Subs: James Kelly for Mark Murphy (18 minutes), Dylan Sharkey for Barry Hassey (44 minutes), Eoin Clone for Oisín Hayes (59 minutes), Liam Lynch for Brian Smith (64 minutes), Seán Nicholson for Jack O'Regan (64 minutes).

CLANE: Mark Doyle; Aidan Mooney, Cian Shanahan, Tom Malone; Dan Colbert, Sean Malone, Paddy Connolly; Sean Shanahan, Cormac Vizzard; Simon Healy, Seán Christianseen, Hugh Muldoon; Paddy McKenna, Caolan Smith, Daniel Malone. Subs: Daniel Malone for Sean Shanahan (21 minutes), Aaron Connolly for Shane Henry (46 minutes), Eamon Little for Hugh Muldoon (61 minutes), Chris Bonus for Tom Malone (61 minutes).

Referee: Owen Beehan (Kilkenny)

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