Hyland and Athy delighted to prove doubters wrong

Athy captain David Hyland blasted the doubters in a rousing speech after his side's surprise Kildare SFC final victory over Naas.

The veteran county star stuck it to the bookies, the Leinster Council and a local newspaper after the south Kildare outfit had been widely written off beforehand.

“If you were following the form book, we probably haven’t been too far away from Naas,” he said.

“To have reckoned we were so far out of the loop, the odds looked like a mismatch on paper.”

Hyland also remembered his late mother Maura after lifting the Dermot Bourke Cup.

“I felt her there today. I went up to the graveyard this morning and, as I was coming out, Barry Kelly was going in to see his grandad. It was emotional.”

Athy certainly weren't lacking in motivation as they stunned Philly McMahon's Naas team with a 1-17 to 0-18 win to end their five-in-a-row hopes.

The aforementioned Barry Kelly bagged 1-3 in a man of the match display, newly-crowned Tailteann Cup Player of the Year Alex Beirne contributed 0-10, while former Tyrone defender Cathal McCarron turned back the clock with a three-point haul from play as the Reds claimed their first title since 2020.