Preview: Naas, slowly but surely, coming to the boil at the right time ahead of Leinster semi-final
Naas footballers face into their second Leinster Senior Club semi-final in three years when they travel to TEG Cusack Park, Mullingar, on Sunday afternoon to take on local champions St Loman's, a game that throws-in at 1.30.
While neither club have lifted the Leinster Club Cup, St Loman's last reached the final back in 2017 when going under to Moorefield in a dramatic final, the Newbridge side winning 1-14 to 2-10.
Naas were in the final in 2021 losing out to Kilmacud Crokes 0-14 to 0-7; the Dublin side won it again last season and are seeking their third title in three years this season.
Naas lost out to Crokes again last season, this time in the quarter-finals so lots to play for on Sunday, two teams with a reputation of playing decent football and with a final spot at stake, we can expect a big attendance and, hopefully, a fine game of football.
Naas defeated Summerhill to reach the semi, that game played at Manguard Park, saw the 'home' side eventually chalk up a ten point win and while the final score line may have flattered them somewhat in the end, no doubt they were the better team by a long shot.
Naas captain Eoin Doyle admitted that it did not feel like a ten point win however.
“I thought in the first half we should have been more ahead; I though we defended quiet well, probably squandered a few scoring chances while in the second half we were under real pressure for the first 15 minutes or so and while our second goal put a bit of daylight between the teams, it certainly didn't fell like a ten point victory.”
The experienced county man reminded us however that no one is going to be beating any team by big margins at half-time; it is winter football now but to be honest I am absolutely delighted to get over the line and into the semi-final.
“Every game, at some stage at this level, is going to have their dominant period, they had their purple patch but we came through it.”
One part of the Naas game that caused problems throughout was their kick-outs, something that had not been a problem up to this point but Doyle said “what killed us in that period when Summerhill were dominant was our kick-out, we just could not get our hands on the ball which can be a difficult aspect in any game but I think our first half was a very positive half; of course there were mistakes but I felt a lot of positive stuff in there and we can hopefully build on that.”
Naas led at the break 1-5 to 0-3 and while Summerhill hit eight wides in that period, a lot of that stemmed from the fact that they were forced to shoot from distance and from positions far from the scoring area.
St Loman's, who have Moorefield's Philie Wolfe as part of their management team and he will be a huge asset to the Westmeath champions with his knowledge of Naas; something akin to Brian Flanagan being part of the Summerhill management.
Loman's had their quarter-final well and truely in the bag by half-time when they led Emmet Óg, Killoe of Longford, 1-11 to 0-3, it was Ronan O'Toole's 12 minute goal helped Loman's on the way to a nine point lead after 15 minutes.
It was a display described by Loman's manager Paddy Dowdall as “a complete performance.”
John Heslin, what a great warrior, raised four white flags on the day while Ronan O'Toole hit 1-2; Shane Dempsey 0-5, while the McCartan boys hit seven points between them, with six players in total getting their name on the score sheet for the Mullingar outfit.
Naas win over their Meath opponents was probably one their display of the season.
The three-in-a-row Kildare champions have been winning, without putting their opponents away as early as one would have expected.
But then again as Eoin Doyle pointed we are now in winter football, which can certainly be a different game at this time of the year; goals are hugely important while Loman's 20 point total is an indication that they are a team, if given the room, can find the posts.
Naas defence, in fairness, have been playing extremely well, tough and tight, they break with speed as we saw on numerous occasions against Summerhill.
The boys in blue and white are certainly playing with a lot of confidence and as manager Joe Murphy said after their quarter-final victory “they are in good shape, fit, honest, and will go to the very end.”
Naas have a very good bench, young Kevin Cummins and Tom Browne showed, along with Neil Aherne while Eamonn Callaghan entered the fray after 42 minutes steadied things down, as they regained their composure and put their opponents away.
Home advantage is a big help to St Loman's but one feels that Naas are slowly but surely getting back to their best; Darragh Kirwan can cause problems for any defence, Alex Beirne is playing out of his skin; the Hanafin boys and young Jack McKevitt are all fine players
Expect nothing easy on Sunday but Naas showed improvement last time out and a little more, a bigger conversion rate and they have the ability to make it through to the decider.