Celbridge capture Aldridge Cup with win over Sarsfields
Aldridge Cup Final 2023
Celbridge 1-11
Sarsfields 0-11
A three point victory was enough to see Celbridge pick up the the Aldridge Cup and the season's opening piece of silverware.
On an afternoon that dried off considerably from the morning deluge a rather quiet and sometimes eery St Conleths were treated to two excellent performances from Paddy Brophy and Aaron Browne, who contributed 1-9 between them, on this St Patrick's day final.
Browne hit the first of his five points inside two minutes after claiming a mark from Peter McAteer's long pass.
It took five minutes for Sarsfields to respond and when Kian Flanagan's goal bound effort was saved on the line by midfielder Paddy Wall it was Sarsfields number nine Jack Mahon who responded quickest to tap over.
Niall Donnelly and Cian McHugh swapped points before Ronan Fitzgibbon got forward to put the Sash in front for the first time after eleven minutes.
Paddy Brophy then opened his account for the day with a simple free after Aaron Browne was fouled 20 metres out.
Jack Mahon, with his second, edged Sarsfields ahead again on 18; Browne was on target again a minute later, this time Paddy Brophy setting up the opportunity.
Browne returned the favour straight from the next attack and as we entered the closing five minutes of the half Celbridge were starting to gain control.
Conor Plunkett and Paddy Wall were carrying the fight to Sarsfields and when Liam O'Flynn found Brophy his shot for a point looped over Mark Courtney Byrne in the Sarsfields goal for the game's first green flag.
For the first time we had a bit of daylight between the sides. Tadhg Hoey was instrumental in two late Sarsfields points as he switched between full forward and midfield.
Cian McHugh from a free and Kieran Dwyer reduced the gap to 1-5 to 0-6 at the interval.
Both sides made changes at the break and it was one of those Dan Nea who fisted over the opening point of the half to reduce the gap to the minimum. Aaron Browne then found himself on the end of another Sash foul and Paddy Brophy did the rest.
The permanent switch of Tadhg Hoey to the middle paid dividends and two great fetches resulted in a Shane Doyle free and a excellent point on the run from Karl Hartley. Ten minutes in and we were all square.
The closing 20 minutes were all about the two pronged attack of Brophy and Browne. They combined twice inside four minutes for a point each to move two ahead and when Aaron Browne showed great vision to find Niall O'Regan the former U20 moved Celbridge three ahead.
Colm Hartnett and a Brophy free kept the gap at three before a second Shane Doyle free from inside the 20 metre line threatened a late Sash revival.
The best and last score of the day fell to the talented Aaron Browne. Winning a ball 30 metres out he shot over with the minimum of fuss.
As we closed in on injury time both James Aspell and Cian Hughes missed excellent goal chances for Sarsfields that would have forced extra time. Two late frees that dropped short were both cleared by Celbridge as they held on. In those late attacks both
Matty Byrne and Gary White recieved red charges, their fury at referee Kieran Harris for possible of foot blocks were waved away by the Castlemitchell official.
Celbridge breathed a sigh of relief after a tense finish and the early season victory on a scoreline of 1-11 to 0-11 will help before next week's league opener.
Sarsfields won't worry about this encounter as the year goes on and Pat Flanagan's charges will have their eye on bigger things come summer time.
CELBRIDGE: Shane McNamara; Dean O'Donoghue, Hugh McGrillen, Lee Maycock; Darragh Finnegan, Cian Powell, Peter McAteer; Conor Plunkett, Paddy Wall; Liam O'Flynn, Niall O Regan 0-1, Niall Donnelly 0-1; Aaron Brown 0-5 (1 mark), Paddy Brophy 1-4 (3 frees), Ross Maycock. Subs: Conor Doyle for Ross Maycock (half-time); David Hughes for Niall Donnelly (56 minutes).
SARSFIELDS: Mark Courtney Byrne; Sean Campbell, Cian Hughes, Tadhg Sharkey; Colm Hartnett 0-1, Kieran Dwyer 0-1, Fergal Durkan; Gary White, Jack Mahon 0-2; Fiachra Galvin, Karl Hartley 0-1, Ronan Fitzgibbon 0-1; Cian McHugh 0-2 (1 free), Tadhg Hoey, Kian Flanagan. Subs: Matty Byrne for Fiachra Galvin (28 minutes); James Aspell for Ronan Fitzgibbon (half-time: Dan Nea 0-1 for Cian McHugh (half-time); Shane Doyle 0-2 (2 frees) for Kian Flanagan (38 minutes); Jake Loakman for Fergal Durkan (48 minutes).
REFEREE: Kieran Harris.