Sarsfields 2-15 Moorefield 2-9
Sarsfields dethroned the Kildare champions of the last two years by beating their Newbridge rivals Moorefield in Sunday’s replay at St Conleth’s Park.
Barry Coffey’s last-gasp equaliser on the first day earned them a second chance and Davy Burke’s team made no mistake this time around.
In the drawn game it was Moorefield who made the lightning-quick start by scoring two goals inside the first 10 minutes but this time it was Sarsfields who flew out of the traps and they led by 0-5 to 0-1 after 13 minutes.
Moorefield weren’t chasing a third consecutive title by accident and their reaction to that early onslaught was the stuff of champions. Niall Hurley-Lynch’s 22nd-minute goal was the highlight of a spell that saw them score 1-5 without reply in the space of eight minutes.
The champions were still ahead by half-time, 1-7 to 0-8, but they were completely overshadowed in the second half by the hard-working and well-drilled Sarsfields side.
Sarsfields got back level by the midway point of the half and kicked on from there. Two Coffey points put them ahead and to cap off a wonderful spell for them, Cian Costigan hit the back of the net in the 50th minute after being set up by the excellent Ben McCormack.
Coffey’s 57th-minute free made it 1-15 to 1-8 but Moorefield, who had only scored one point in the second half up to that point, pushed hard in the closing stages.
Adam Tyrrell pointed for Moorefield but then saw a penalty in the fourth minute of injury time saved by Paddy O'Sullivan. There was another foul once the ball was rebounded and Moorefield were awarded a second penalty in a matter of seconds. This time Éanna O'Connor stepped up and he made no mistake to leave just three points in it.
Moorefield had one last chance to launch a ball into the Sarsfields goalmouth and pushed goalkeeper Tom Kinsella out as a 15th outfielder but when Cian O'Connor's pass was blocked down in the middle of the field by Matt Byrne, Shane Doyle had the simple task of taking the ball forward and scoring into the empty net from outside the 20-metre line to spark huge celebrations on one side of Newbridge.
SARSFIELDS: P O'Sullivan; S Campbell, T Aspell, C McInerney-Aspell; D Ryan (0-2), C Kavanagh, S Ryan; M Byrne, C McDonnell; D McKenna (0-2), B McCormack (0-4), C Hartley (0-2); B Coffey (0-3, two frees), C Costigan(1-0), R Cahill (0-2, two frees).
Subs: D Shalvey for McDonnell (37 mins), D Hartley for Campbell (40), A Smith for Cahill (45), S Doyle (1-0) for Costigan (51), B McDonnell for McInerney-Aspell (57).
MOOREFIELD: T Kinsella; L Callaghan, L Healy, S Healy; K Murnaghan, S Dempsey, J Murray; A Masterson, C O'Connor (0-1); A Tyrrell (0-3, one free), E Heavey (0-1), E O'Connor (1-3, 1-0 pen, two frees); N Hurley-Lynch (1-0), J Philips, C Kelly (0-1).
Subs: A Durney for Murnaghan (19 mins), D Whyte for Philips (34), E Callaghan for Kelly (43), D Flynn for Hurley-Lynch (45), D Dunne for Heavey (60+1), E O'Connor for L Callaghan (60+3).
Referee: Liam Herbert.
