Athy v Celbridge
Anyone looking to take in a free-flowing game which will see high scores posted on both ends might be left disappointed on Saturday as two of the most defensively solid sides in the county meet in a really intriguing semi-final. It’s fair to say that both side’s forward units have not hit their peak in this year’s championship, and both have relied on the steadiness of their defence to see them through games.
Athy breezed past a Sarsfields team that never got out of second gear this year, and while some may have raised an eyebrow at the margin of that victory, it pretty much went along the form lines.
The south Kildare men struggled to click up front for stages of the first half, but once they cut loose from around the 25th minute onwards there was no stopping them. David Hyland has been their star performer so far this year, while Pascal Connell is the dominant midfielder and up front they have been able to rely on Liam McGovern to post scores. Barry Kelly has probably been enjoying his best form in some time for Athy, while his older brother Niall has sparkled at times but still has more in him.
It remains the defence for Athy that will be key, and manager Emmanuel Kennedy said as much after the clash with Sarsfields.
“On the defensive side of it, we turned over a lot of ball and I suppose in the second half we got our running game going off it. At times it wasn’t the prettiest game, but we grew into it and I’m very happy with the performance,” he told the Kildare Post after that game.
Celbridge have been bubbling along nicely as they bid to make it back to the county final having fallen at that stage last year. Their progress through the championship has been similarly straightforward in 2018, but Athy will present by far their biggest challenge so far.
They kept a usually potent Carbury attack extremely quiet in their quarter-final clash, and any defence that features the likes of Mick O’Grady, Mick Konstantin and Hugh McGrillen is unlikely to give up anything easy. Ollie Lyons has returned to the fold and is operating at wing-forward, though whether or not manager Trevor O’Sullivan will persist with that for much longer remains to be seen.
The main worry for the north Kildare side is that they remain heavily reliant on David Hughes for scores, and if he isn’t firing it is hard to see who will step up. Liam O’Flynn has chipped in with a few goals during the championship, but they really need Paddy Brophy to start finding the target in these crucial games.
It’s going to be like a game of chess at times, but if Celbridge move their pieces in the right way they might just edge this one.
Verdict: Celbridge
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