A controlled first half and a clinical finish were the key ingredients for Kildare as they claimed their third-ever All-Ireland title at the U21/U20 grade with a 1-17 to 0-12 victory over Sligo in Cavan.
Brian Flanagan's side held off a wholehearted Sligo effort that just ran out of steam, in no small part because of a litany of injuries and absentees.
The Yeats County’s remarkable journey through this campaign saw them take out several heavyweight opponents along the way, but those wins came at a cost, with key men Dillon Walsh and Canice Mulligan among the walking wounded that didn’t make it to Kingspan Breffni in full health.
Those concerns were compounded as they were forced to use all five substitutes by the ninth minute of the second half, and by then they were already in a world of trouble.
Yet even at full health, Sligo would have struggled to deal with what was a very balanced and athletic Kildare side that was packed full of capable, strong performers in every sector of the pitch.
The Lilywhites’ control of the kick-out battle in the first half was a huge factor as they established a solid platform, while ten scorers from play spoke volumes about their ability to hurt Sligo from different parts of the pitch.
With the wind at their backs, they had a four-point lead on the board with just ten minutes played, and they didn’t look back from there.
Niall Dolan, Callum Bolton and a Cormac Barker free, all from distance, made it 0-03 to no score and when big full-forward Hanafin followed up with a close-range point, one of several key plays from the Naas player, Sligo were in huge trouble.
Their possessions all seemed to start from deep positions as Kildare hoovered up break after break under the long kick-out, and while there were good scores from James Donlon and Daire O’Boyle to keep them in touch, Kildare kicked on again in the second quarter to lead by 0-09 to 0-04 at the interval, with Adam Fanning chipping in with two fine hooked kicks in that period.
Injuries continued to hamper Sligo. Centre-forward James Donlon was the next key player to make way, but his replacement Brian Byrne turned out to be one of their best attacking weapons.
As Hanafin did in the first half, Byrne offered a big physical presence in front of goal and his ability to win and convert direct ball yielded two points and one free that Luke Marren converted, while the Sligo-dominated crowd gave perhaps their biggest roar of the day when Tomas Von Engelbrechten appeared to come through the back of the Curry club man inside the square midway through the second half.
Referee Martin McNally was right there and decided that no penalty was warranted, but Sligo kept coming, and Marren's sixth free of the afternoon meant it was 0-13 to 0-11 with just under ten minutes remaining.
It felt like the game was right in the balance until all of a sudden Kildare were out of sight.
Seán Hanafin seized one short kick-out and clipped the ball back over the crossbar, and then from the next restart, the ball also flew a little low, Killian Browne pulled it down with an excellent leap around 25 metres from goal, and his chipped shot was immaculately measured, bouncing on the goal-line before nestling in the net to double the lead.
Having weathered the storm, Kildare knew they were home and hosed, and stylish scores from Callum Bolton and Eoin Cully rounded off their redemption arc, 12 months after losing out to Tyrone in this decider.
Sligo will hope that they can follow the same path, while for Kildare, this represents a huge boost in advance of the All-Ireland senior championship, with several of these players likely to be asked to make the step up.
Kildare: Cormac Barker (0-01 free); Harry O'Neill (0-01), Tomas Von Engelbrechten (0-01), Ryan Burke; James Harris, James McGrath, Jack McKevitt; Niall Dolan (0-01), Shane Farrell (0-01, 0-01 free); Ryan Sinkey (0-01), Callum Bolton (0-02), Colm Dalton; Adam Fanning (0-03), Seán Hanafin (0-02), Oisín O'Sullivan (0-02).
Subs: Eoin Cully (0-01) for O’Sullivan (38), Ethan Mountaine for Harris (45), Killian Browne (1-01) for Sinkey (48), Sam Savage for Dolan (56), Daire Guerin for Fanning (60+2).
Sligo: Ethan Carden; Ross Chambers, Conor Johnston, Luke Casserly; Dylan Walsh (0-01), Dylan McLoughlin, Rossa Sloyan; Conor Sheridan, Ross Doherty; Ronan Niland, James Donlon (0-01), Mark McDaniel; Luke Marren (0-07, 0-07fs), Daire O'Boyle (0-01), Matt Henry.
Subs: Joshua Flynn for Henry (23), Zaak Mahon for Chambers (ht), Robert O’Kelly Lynch for McDaniel (ht), Brian Byrne (0-02) for Flynn (33), Conor McMorrow for Donlon (39).
Referee: Martin McNally (Monaghan).
