Christy Ring Cup final disappointment again for Derry

Derry 1-22

Kildare  4-21

The Derry Senior hurlers suffered defeat in the Christy Ring Cup Final for the second consecutive season, losing out to a much-fancied Kildare side on a score line of 4-21 to 1-22 in Croke Park this evening.

The Lilywhites were gunning for their third Christy Ring title in five years having been  relegated from the Joe McDonagh Cup last season. Meanwhile, the Oakleaf County arrived at the GAA Headquarters bidding to right the wrong of last year when a slow start saw them lose narrowly to Meath in the decider.

Playing into a strong breeze in a sun-drenched Croke Park Johnny McGarvey’s men were forced to play catch up from the off with Kildare racing into a four-point lead by the fifth minute. An early goal from Muiris Curtin stunned the Derry men after he capitalised on a defensive error to rifle the sliotar to the roof of the Canal End net.

Slaughtneil attacker Cormac Doherty was a constant threat for the Derry man and he picked up where he left off in last year’s decider where he hit 1-14. Doherty traded scores with Naas duo Jack Sheridan and Conan Boran to leave the sides at 1-4 to 0-3 by the eleventh minute.

Moments later Derry goalkeeper Oisín Doherty pulled off a spectacular save from James Burkes's shot as the Lilywhites looked hungry for goals after Cormac Doherty, Leacy and Boran exchanged points.

Dungiven man John Mullan then raised three white flags in a row to put Derry putting the Oakleafers within touching distance of the Lilywhites leaving the score 1-7 to 0-9 by the twenty-third minute.

The ever-dangerous Sheridan hit a couple of scores either side of another Mullan point to restore Kildare’s advantage to four with at 1-11 to 0-10 by the half-hour mark.

Derry were then struck a body blow just before half-time as Naas man James Burke was adjudged to have been fouled inside the square by referee Brian Keon.

Sheridan made no mistake with his penalty and buried it into the bottom corner. That was followed up with another point from Boran to leave eight between the sides with Kildare leading 2-12 to 0-10.

Derry hit two quickfire points including a monstrous score from Christy McNaughton in what was the score of the game on the stroke of half-time leaving the two goals all that seperated the teams as they headed towards the Cusack Stand tunnel for the break.

The Oakleafers raced out of the traps in the second half scoring five unanswered points, keeping Kildare scoreless until the tenth minute of the second half.

Doherty and Mullane remained an ever-present attacking threat for Derry, leaving the minimum between the sides by the fortieth minute. However, the Oakleafers just could not restore parity and that was to be as close as Johnny McGarvey’s men could get to Kildare.

Sheridan responded for the Lilywhites with two frees before Maynooth native David Qualter hit the back of the net in emphatic fashion to score Kildare’s third goal in the forty-ninth minute.

Derry substitute Jack Cassidy drilled over two points either side of scores from Burke and Boran as Derry trailed by 3-16 to 0-19 by the fifty-third minute. Further scores from Sheridan and Burke followed by a Doherty free meant that Derry trailed by six facing into the final ten minutes.

Mullan and Doherty chipped over points for Derry before the game was more or less put to bed as John Burke found himself free inside the square to rattle the Derry net for Kildare’s fourth green flag in the sixty-eighth minute.

A late Cormac Doherty penalty cut the deficit to seven before David Qualter struck the final score of the game to give Kildare an eight-point victory to secure their fifth Christy Ring as well as a place in next season’s Joe McDonagh Cup.

Derry: Oisín Doherty , Paddy Kelly , Mark Craig, Niall Farren, Sean Cassidy, Richie Mullan, Meehaul McGrath , Callum O’Kane, Corey O’Reilly, Darragh McGilligan, Cormac Doherty , Cahil Murray, John Mullan, Christy McNaughton, Ruairi Ó Mianáin.

Subs: Jack Cassidy for Kane 40, Sean Kelly for McNaughton 53, Dara Mooney for O’Reilly 63, James Friel for Murray 66

Scorers: Cormac Doherty (1-11, pen + 9f), John Mullan (0-5), Darragh McGilligan (0-1), Christy McNaughton (0-2), Richie Mullan (0-1), Jack Cassidy (0-2) 

Kildare: Paddy McKenna, Daniel O’Meara, Mark Grace, Cian Shanahan, James Burke, Conan Boran, Rian Boran, Simon Leacy, Paul Dolan, Cathal McCabe, Jack Sheridan, Daire Guerin, Muiris Curtin, Cian Boran, David Qualter.