Naas turn up the heat in devastating second half display

Naas 1-29

Celbridge 0-11

Naas produced a mixture of the good and the unbelievable to maintain their firm grip on the UPMC Kildare Senior Hurling Championship at Manguard Park, Hawkfield on Friday evening.

The champions, going for their sixth title in a row, show no sign of waining and with two wins from two outings this 21 point victory over Celbridge in the Group A encounter ensures them of a knockout place with a game to spare.

Nobody would back against them picking up another title but the magnitude of the second half display means they can dream of even bigger things.

With the sides level at 0-11 each come half-time nobody would have envisaged the brilliant second half performance from Naas that yielded 1-18 without reply.

Jack Sheridan was the go- to-man again as he hit sixteen points over the hour with a dozen of those coming after the interval.

The opening half was entertaining and close and with Gerry Keegan hitting seven points for Celbridge it seemed that Naas had a battle on their hands. But what transpired over the closing thirty minutes had alot of people wondering where Celbridge disappeared too.

The fact that Cormac Gallagher, the Naas goalkeeper, only handled the ball once in that second half tells its own story.

Naas started the brightest and after Kevin Whelan and Paul Hogan swapped early points the county champions pushed three ahead courtesy of white flags from Jack Sheridan, Fionn Maher and Daire Guerin.

Gerry Keegan, had missed two earlier frees but he made no mistake with his third as he reduced the gap to two.

Jack Sheridan quickly added his second but Celbridge were matcing everything Naas threw at them and four points in a row saw them lead 0-6 to 0-5 at the end of the opening quarter.

James Dolan, Finniun Ó Dullaigh, Gerry Keegan and Ciaran Kirwan all pointing to confirm their dominant spell.
Sixteen minutes in and Naas created the game's opening goal opportunity.

A perfectly placed pass from Fionn Maher into the path of Jack Sheridan saw the Naas full forward in one and one with Fiachra Ó Muineacháin but the Celbridge man saved brilliantly.

The pacey Fionn Maher got on the end of Simon Leacy's pass and he leveled it again.

Jack Sheridan and Gerry Keegan traded frees before Conan Boran, from all of sixty metres, edged Naas ahead again.

It was shortlived as Gerry Keegan again showed his accuracy with two frees before adding one from play on 23 to help edge Celbridge two ahead.

The closing seven minutes saw Cian Boran enter the fray and he quickly reduced the gap before Fiachra Ó Muineacháin had to react quickly to a Fionn Maher shot that resulted in a 65.

Jack Sheridan added the score as the sides were level for the sixth time.

Gerry Keegan added his seventh on the stroke of half-time but from the restart Cian Boran won the long clearance before setting up Simon Leacy who pointed to leave it 0-11 each as Matthew Redmond brought the half to an end.

Whatever Tom Mullally said at half-time it had the desired effect as Naas returned a different team.

If there was an element of complacency in that opening half it quickly disappeared as they hit eight points in a twelve minute spell.

Celbridge had no answer to their pace and power as they shot over points from all angles.

Four from Sheridan, two Cian Boran and points from Kevin Aherne and Daire Guerin's second meant that even with 18 minutes left the game was over as a contest.

The dominance of Ritchie Hogan and Ross Kelly meant that Celbridge got no real chances to extend their half time tally.
Cathal Dowling's half-time introduction gave Naas extra bite in attack and when he set up Simon Leacy for the game's only goal on 49 minutes Naas were out of sight.

They didn't face any resistance over the closing ten minutes. They hit another 7 before the final whistle. Sheridan adding six, three either side of a Cathal Dowling effort.

Jack Sheridan's best point came on 56 minutes as he showed great strength and balance to ride three Celbridge tackles before firing over from 50 metres. It was the icing on the cake in a polished second half performance.

Naas will face Confey in the closing round robin game with their place in the knockout stages already assured. They won't want a repeat of their opening half effort but push came to shove they showed the form that could take them all the way again.

Celbridge have no points after two rounds and a win over Eire Og Corra Choill is required if they are to have hopes of keeping their season alive.

NAAS: Cormac Gallagher; John McKeon, Richard Hogan, Peter O'Donoghue; Conan Boran 0-1, Rian Boran, Kevin Whelan 0-1; Simon Leacy 1-1, Daire Guerin 0-2; Ross Kelly, Ciaran Tobin, Fionn Maher 0-2; Brian Byrne, Jack Sheridan 0-16 (10 frees two 65s), Kevin Aherne 0-1. Subs: Cian Boran 0-4 for Ciaran Tobin (25 minutes); Cathal Dowling 0-1 for Fionn Maher (half-time); James Burke for Brian Byrne (48 minutes); Harry Carroll for Kevin Whelan (54 minutes).

CELBRIDGE: Fiachra Ó Muineacháin; Tadhg Halpin, Tom Finnerty, Ciaran Kirwan 0-1; Liam Dillon, Pa Curtin, Colman O'Donovan; Sean Gleeson, Paul Hogan 0-1; Finniun Ó Dullaigh 0-1, Gerry Keegan 0-7 (5 frees), Andrew McNiff; James Dolan 0-1, Niall Ó Muineacháin, Conor Treacy. Subs: Jamie Connolly for Ciaran Kirwan (44 minutes); Pat Leahy for Sean Gleeson (52 minutes); Andy Shanagher for Finniun Ó Dullaigh (52 minutes).

REFEREE: Matthew Redmond.