Naas 4-16
Eire Og/Corrachoill 1-14
Kildare SHC
Naas had to survive a spirited fightback from Eire/Og Corrachoill in this Kildare SHC game in Hawkfield, but a couple of goals in each half propelled them to victory in a highly entertaining game.
They led by 10 points at one stage in the first half, but the eventual losers clawed that back to just one after a few minutes of the second period, only for Jack Sheridan and James Whelan to strike crucial goals for Naas to pull them clear once again.
Eire Og/Corrachoill suffered a bit of a false dawn as they raced out of the blocks to register the first point of the evening, as Danny Byrne finished off a sweeping move that began with a Paul Dermody puc out. What followed was less promising for the country club as Naas reeled off 1-5 without reply to take a strong foothold in the game.
Limerick native Richie Ryan was the instigator, striking three frees over the bar from a variety of distances. Eoin O'Hehir became the first Naas player to help out Ryan in the scoring stakes soon after as he lofted over a beautiful point from distance. Ryan went one better though, as he carried the ball 50 metres on his hurl before flicking it over under pressure from distance.
The first goal of the game arrived on 12 minutes, and it came from county player Brian Byrne, as he found the corner of the net after being picked out by Michael Purcell.
The rot was eventually stopped by Eire Og/Corrachoill when Barry Cormack launched over a long range free, but Byrne cancelled that out quickly at the other end with a fine score from a tight angle. Evan Dempsey responded at the opposite end with a point from play, but Ryan's fifth of the evening kept Naas seven points ahead.
Naas then struck a critical score in the tie, and it was Byrne who was at the centre of the action again. Cormac Gallagher's puc out landed 40 metres from goal, and Byrne scooped the ball up before showing electric page and calmly finishing to the top corner of the net.
Eire Og/Corrachoill could have dropped the heads at that stage, but they stuck to their task and found their way back into the tie.
Owen Houlihan, Danny Byrne and Paul Kennedy all pointed, while Barry Cormack tagged on a trio of frees in the 10 minutes before the break. All Naas could muster in response was a free from Ryan and a superb long range effort from substitute Ross Bergin. That was enough to see them into a 2-9 to 0-9 lead at the interval.
Eire Og/Corrachoill had shown enough in the final few minutes of that half to suggest that they could claw back the deficit if they stuck to their task, and that scenario looked entirely possible after a few minutes of second half action. Although Ross Bergin pointed almost immediately after the restart for Naas, the trailers stormed back into the game with a string of fine scores.
Evan Dempsey, who was Eire Og/Corrachoill's best performer on the day, found the net in the 33rd minute, and scores followed from Alan Largue, Paul Kennedy and Cormack.
Their momentum was severely stifled soon after though, as an injury to stand-in goalkeeper Declan O'Toole stopped play for a number of minutes and it was Naas who were the better for it. Jack Sheridan slammed home a goal to take the wind of the opponent's sails, and another point from the influential Bergin rubberstamped Naas' position in the driving seat.
The game was effectively finished as a contest moments later when James Whelan flicked in a goal for Naas, leaving an insurmountable gap of nine points between the teams.
Whelan was sent off moments later for an off the ball incident, but it mattered little as Naas ran out comfortable 11 point winners in the end.
Scorers for Naas: R Ryan 0-9(4F), B Byrne 2-1, J Sheridan 1-1, R Bergin 0-3, J Whelan 1-0, E O'Hehir and M Purcell 0-1 each.
Scorers for Eire Og/Corrachoill: B Cormack 0-6(5F), E Dempsey 1-1, P Kennedy and D Byrne 0-2 each, G Johnson, A Lagrue and O Houlihan 0-1 each.
Naas
C Gallagher; K Maher, D McDonnell, S Leacy; S Walsh, S Gainey, P Sullivan; E O'Hehir, J O'Malley(R Bergin 27mins); J Sheridan, R Ryan, J Whelan; K Whelan(P Cocoman 46mins), M Purcell, B Byrne.
Eire Og Corrachoill
P Dermody(C Kielty 10mins); C McGrath, B Fitzpatrick(M Begley 48mins), N Connolly; R Whelan, J Dempsey, G Johnson; A Lagrue, O Houlihan; E Dempsey, D Byrne, R McGrath(JP Crotty 48mins); B Cormack, D O'Toole, P Kennedy.
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