U/21 A 2019 FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP  FINAL

NAAS      2  -  12            CELBRIDGE            1  -  9

Naas defeated Celbridge by six points to win the U/21 A championship. This was a close contest through-out with only three points separating the teams at the interval . Naas led 1 – 4 to 0 – 4.

The turning point came in the 17^th. minute of the second half when James Burke goaled after great work by Paddy McDermott. Three injury time points put the game out of Clane’s reach.

Naas opened the scoring with a Darragh Kirwan point. Clane replied with a Darragh Murphy point. Then Luke Griffin (Naas) and Ross Maycock (Celbridge) swapped points. Another Griffin point followed by one from Dallan Gallagher gave Naas a 0 – 4 to 0 – 2 lead after fifteen minutes. Two Celbridge points by Tony Archbold  on either side of  a Naas goal By Dallan Gallagher put Naas three points clear at the break. Naas 1 – 4 Celbridge  0 – 4.

At the start of the second half Luke Griffin and Darragh Murphy exchanged points. Naas took a four point lead when Alex Beirne pointed. Celbridge hit back a minute later with a penalty from Ross Maycock to leave one point between them. Darragh Kiewan and Cian Powell swapped points.

The turning point in the game came in the 17^th.minute when Paddy McDermott gained possession on his half-back line raced the length of the field before passing to James Burke who found the net. Naas led 2 – 7  to 1 – 6. A Luke Mullins “45” and a Luke Griffin point were answered by three Murphy points to leave a goal between them with two minutes to go . Celbridge failed to score again while Naas added on three points in injury time from Ciaran Doyle, Luke Griffin and Tom Browne.

Scorers: Naas(: Luke Griffin(0 – 5), Dallan Gallagher(I – 1), James Burke(1 – 0), Darragh Kirwan(0 – 2), Luke Mullins, Alex Beirne, Ciaran Doyle, Tom Browne(0 – 1 each).

Celbridge: Darragh Murphy(0 – 5), Ross Maycock (1 – 1), Tony Archbold(0 – 2), Cian Powell.

Naas: Luke Mullins, Cathal Daly, Conor McCarthy, Brian Stynes, Adam Cronin, David Shaw(Joint Captain), Paddy McDermott, Sean Cullen, James Burke, Alex Beirne, Darragh Kirwan, Dallan Gallagher, Darragh Merriman, Luke Griffin Ciaran Doyle( Joint Captain).

Referee : Billy O’Connell.