In a rain soaked st Conleth’s Park on Saturday, it was Celbridge and Kilcock who battled the elements and the opposition to bring home silverware.
In the Haven Hire Junior Hurling Final, Kilcock overcame a half time deficit to overcome Junior League Champions Naas. Naas raced in to an early lead, and were ahead by 1-03 to a point inside the first fifteen minutes. Their goal would be their last score of the half, as Kilcock chipped away and by half time had reduced the deficit to two points.
Naas opened the scoring in the first half, but the didn’t build on their lead. With 5 minutes to go, the sides were level, but it was Kilcock who pushed on with scores from their man of the match, Declan Keane. They finished strongly and were deserving winners on a scoreline of 0-11 to 1-05. Captain Michael Stokes led the celebrations to rapturous applause from the sizable support from Kilcock. They will now face Celbridge in a promotion/relegation play off to see who will play in the Intermediate Championship in 2019.
In the Senior Final, Ardclough and Celbridge met in what was a first ever Senior Final meeting between the pair. In a tense affair, it was Ardclough who made the better start with Paul Fitzgerald finding the back of the Celbridge net. Celbridge managed to draw them back in and then hit back with a goal of their own from Fergal Conway. The lead ebbed and flowed and at half time Ardclough led by 1-07 to 1-05.
At the beginning of the second half, Ardclough stretched their lead to 4 points and looked to be taking control of the game. Celbridge, however lifted in to another gear and managed to reign Ardclough in. Their experience and quality managed to shine through, and when Tom Fitzgerald hit the net with their second goal of the day, they never looked back. Tom Finnerty accepted the Tony Carew Cup for Celbridge for the third time, their 8th Senior Hurling title altogether.
The will now play the Kilkenny Intermediate Champions on the weekend of the 3rd of November.
