Kirwan and Callaghan star as Naas ease past Athy in Kildare SFC

Joe Mallons Motor Senior Football Championship Group A, round two 

Naas 1-18

Athy 1-11

Naas cruised to victory over Athy in their second round Senior Football Championship game on Sunday.
There was huge expectation going into this fixture as we saw a repeat clash of the league final with added Championship connotations. But this one never really got going, Naas always appeared to have their opponents at arms length.

That dominance and feeling of security for the champions came as early as three minutes in, as Naas’ Paddy McDermot drove towards the Athy goal. The wing back was surrounded by three red shirts in a flash but McDermot found a way to get the ball out to an unmarked Darragh Kirwan who finished with minimum fuss off his left for the opening goal of the game.
The goal looked like it shook Athy and only kicked Naas up a gear with Alex Beirne and Paddy McDermot adding points to their name.

At just ten minutes and 1-3 to 0-1, things looked bleak for the trailing side.
Athy did their best to find a way back into this one through Niall Kelly’s superb free-taking, but it was different down the other end as Naas were finding it much easier to register scores. Their free-scoring nature in large-part due to full-forward Darragh Kirwan who was excellent and had 1-3 to his name after 20 minutes.

Just two minutes later and trailing by five things were about to get worse for Athy as star midfielder, who has been in such good form lately, Kevin Feely had to hobble off with an injury. Not good news for this game and even worse news for Athy’s Championship hopes.

Athy were about to lose the scorer of four of their five points as Niall Kelly left the pitch for a black card offence, the card was brandished after some dialogue between referee Niall Colgan and Kelly following an off-the-ball incident.

The sides came in 1-8 to 0-5 at half time, with Athy destined for another crucial five minutes after the restart without their main scorer, Kelly. However, free kick duties after the restart were taken up by first-half substitute Paudie Behan who slotted over two of his own to bridge the gap to four.

But Naas responded with two brilliant scores from Eamonn Callaghan which shows that he is still worth his weight in gold for this Naas team.

Even without these scores and although the GAA doesn't typically track assists, Callghan is involved in so many crucial elements of Naas’ build-up play. Doing the basics to an excellent standard coupled with intelligent vision keeps this Naas side ticking when they are in possession.

All looked to be academic until the 48th minute when referee Niall Colgan judged a foul in the Athy box to be a penalty. James Eaton would step up to the spot for Athy and finish past Luke Mullins to maybe breathe some life into this game.

Athy got an expected lift from the goal but as they pushed forward Naas picked them off with regular white flags raised in their name. Athy rallied until the last but they did little to ever worry Naas, which was the story of this game as a whole.

Scorers:Naas, Darragh Kirwan 1-4, Eamon Callaghan 0-3, Alex Beirne 0-3, Kevin Cummins 0-3, Paddy McDermot 0-2, Dermot Hanafin 0-1, Paul McDermot 0-1, James Burke 0-1.

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Athy, Niall Kelly 0-6, James Eaton 1-0, Paudie Behan 0-2, Paschal Connell 0-1, Conor Doyle 0-1, Ben Purcell 0-1.

NAAS: Luke Mullins; Cathal Daly, Brian Byrne, Mark Maguire; Paddy McDermot, Eoin Doyle, Tim Ryan; Paul McDermot, James Burke; Ciaran Doyle, Sean Hanafin, Alex Beirne; Eamon Callaghan, Darragh Kirwan, Dermot Hanafin.

Subs: Brian Kane on for Sean Hanafin (Half time), Kevin Cummins on for Ciaran Doyle (40 minutes),
Conor McCarthy on for Tim Ryan (55 minutes), Brian Stynes on for Paddy McDermot (59 minutes).

ATHY: James Roycroft; Seán Moore, James McGrath, Darren Lawler; Barry Kelly, Mark Hyland, David Hyland; Paschal Connell, Kevin Feely; Michael Spillane, Cian Reynolds, Seán Bride; Conor Doyle, James Eaton, Niall Kelly.

Subs: Kieran Farrell on for Kevin Feely (22 minutes), Paudie Behan on for Michael Spillane (22 minutes), Killian Mulhall on for Seán Bride (43 minutes), Ben Purcell on for Barry Kelly (48 minutes), Oisin O'Rourke on for Cian Reynolds (52minutes).

REFEREE: Niall Colgan.