Johnstownbridge and Maynooth provide an intriguing curtain-raiser to the Division 1 League final when they meet in the second tier decider at 1.15pm this afternoon.
Both sides were dominant in Division 2, with Maynooth finishing top of the table with 23 points from a possible 26, while Johnstownbridge finished in second with 21 points. The fact that Clane came in third but managed just 14 points shows just how far ahead of everyone else both finalists were this year.
Johnstownbridge have managed superbly without their large cohort of intercounty players, but they should all come back into contention this weekend. The two Cribbin brothers, Daniel Flynn and Cathal McNally are massive additions to this team, while Sam Doran should also come in after helping the Kildare U20s to the All-Ireland title.
On the Maynooth side, both Neill Flynn and Mark Donnellan featured in Killarney last weekend for Kildare, with the latter probably keen to wash off the disappointment of being harshly sent off against Kerry. They will be without Ruadhan Ó’Giolláin who underwent surgery to remove his appendix last week, while Danny O’Sullivan is travelling this summer and will also be a keenly felt absence.
Both of these teams are packed with young talent that is capable of achieving plenty, and landing some silverware would be highly beneficial ahead of the championship for either side.
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