Kildare SFC: Naas blow Celbridge away

Champions, Naas, are into their fifth SFC final in a row following a comprehensive victory over Celbridge this afternoon at Cedral St Conleth's Park, Newbridge.

These sides have met in the last two county finals and for the third season in a row it is the side from the county town that came out top.

The opening half saw them level four times before Naas put a bit of a gap between them with Alex Beirne, turning left and right before planting the ball in the back of Shane McNamara's net with a lovely left footed effort.

Celbridge played with the aid of the breeze in that half with their two main scoring threats coming from Tony Archbold and Aaron Browne, while Alex Beirne was causing lots of problems down the left wing as Naas led at the break 1-8 to 0-9.

While Paddy McDermott and Alan Browne exchanged early points on the resumption, Naas soon put their stamp all over this one hitting an impressive eight points in a row including a two-pointer from Alex Beirne.

Celbridge had simply no answer and the result was a foregone conclusion long before the final whistle as the champions march on to the final on a scoreline of Naas 1-20 Celbridge 0-13.

Scorers: Alex Beirne 1-7 (1 two-pointer free, 1 two-pointer), Paddy McDermott 0-3, Darragh Kirwan 0-2, Ryan Sinkey 0-2, Elliott Beirne 0-1, Eoghan Prizeman 0-1, Fintan Quinn 0-1, Paul McDermott 0-1, Kevin Cummins 0-1, Brian Stynes 0-1.

Celbridge, Aaron Browne 0-6 (4 frees), Tony Archbold 0-3, Kevin O'Callaghan 0-2 Kevin Flynn 0-1, John Clarke 0-1.

Naas, Alex Beirne 1-3 (1 free), Darragh Kirwan 0-1, Ryan Sinkey 0-1, Elliott Beirne 0-1, Paddy

CELBRIDGE: Shane McNamara; John Clarke, Mick O'Grady, Cian Powell; Dean O'Donoghue, Mick Konstantin, Niall O'Regan; Hugh McGrillen, Fergal Conway; Kevin Flynn, Kevin O'Callaghan, Tony Archbold; Paddy Brophy, Aaron Browne, Killian Browne. Subs: Eoghan Light for Cian Powell (40 minutes); Luke Murray for Paddy Brophy (45 minutes); James Dolan for Killian Browne (48 minutes); Davy Hughes for Dean O'Donoghue (54 minutes); Conor Plunkett for Kevin O'Callaghan (54 minutes);

NAAS: Luke Mullins; Mark Maguire, Brian Byrne, Rob Fitzgerald; Jack McKevitt, Eoin Doyle, Paddy McDermott; Fintan Quinn, Paul McDermott; Kevin Cummins, Brian Stynes, Elliott Beirne; Darragh Kirwan, Alex Beirne, Ryan Beirne. Subs: Cathal Daly for Elliott Beirne (45 minutes); Tim Ryan for Eoin Doyle (48 minutes); Eoghan Prizeman for Brian Stynes (54 minutes); Sean Hanafin for Paul McDermott (57 minutes); Neil Aherne for Alex Beirne (58 minutes).

REFEREE: Billy O'Connell.