Abbeyleix power their way into the U/20 hurling semi-final
Riain Mahony (Abbeyleix) bringing this sliotar under control on Sunday Photo: Denis Byrne
St Lazarian’s Abbeyleix sealed their spot in the semi-finals of the Laois U/20 Hurling Championship on Sunday with a comfortable victory at home to Ballyfin Mountrath.
The teams came into this contest with everything to play for as they sat level on points, with both defeating Rathdowney-Errill and losing to Castletown in their opening two contests in the championship.
Ballyfin Mountrath made a bright start to the game, but goals cost them throughout the contest as Abbeyleix raised five green flags from five different men, including two in the opening 10 minutes which nullified five early points for the visitors.
Though it was bitterly cold, the sun shone making conditions are ideal as you could hope for in November, but it was tough underfoot for the players and as expected there was very little run on the ball, making goals all the more important.
Ballyfin Mountrath just about kept in the fight by half time though trailing by nine having conceded four goals.
The game was all but put to bed within 10 minutes of the restart when Cathal Noone rattled the net brilliantly and Ballyfin Mountrath were out of the fight.
Cian Hill opened the scoring with a point from the throw in but the first goal came in reply minutes later from Jack O'Dea after Abbeyleix applied pressure high up the field.
The visitors responded well with a trio of points from Eoin Brennan and one from Shane Connolly, though they left themselves open at the back again and Stephen O'Donnell finished well for Abbeyleix's second goal.
They were almost in for a third goal, though O'Dea saw a shot fizz over the bar before a Brennan 65 at the other end.
It didn't take long for the third goal to come however, this time O'Dea turned provider with a great ball inside to Cormac Byrne who was never going to miss from close range.
Goals were proving key for Abbeyleix in the early stages though they eventually found their range and popped over four points in a row, with Cormac Byrne slotting a free to kick things off, followed by a brace from Joe Cole and a first for Eli Quinn.
Their dominance was compounded late in the half when failure to clear their lines proved costly again for Ballyfin Mountrath and Dan Jones took the chance to strike low into the net.
Brennan struck the final score of the half from a free for Ballyfin Mountrath, but they trailed 4-6 to 0-9 at the break.
Quinn added to his first half point with a quick brace after the restart as he traded scores with Brennan, with Abbeyleix now having the gentle breeze behind them.
The teams traded scores again through Hill and Byrne before Abbeyleix found the net for a fifth time after another excellent pass by O'Dea, this time to his fellow corner forward Cathal Noone to hammer home.
That goal effectively ended the game as a contest, though Ballyfin Mountrath continued to battle with Brennan continuing to impress from placed balls.
Abbeyleix were denied a sixth goal by Alex Phelan when he made a great diving save to deny Cormac Byrne from the penalty spot, though Quinn slotted the resulting 65.
Ballyfin Mountrath got a consolation goal late on when one of Cian Hill's floated passes into the danger zone paid dividends as Mark Cusack won the aerial battle and guided the ball over the line and a goal was awarded by the umpire and referee, despite protests from the hosts.
Late points from Quinn and O'Dea saw out the game for Abbeyleix however and they will now go on to face The Harps in a semi-final, leaving Castletown to play Clough-Ballacolla in the other one.
Cormac Byrne 1-5 (0-3fs), Eli Quinn 0-6 (0-2 65s), Jack O'Dea 1-2, Cathal Noone and Dan Jones 1-1 each, Stephen O'Donnell 1-0, Joe Cole 0-2.
Eoin Brennan 0-11 (0-9fs, 0-1 65), Mark Cusack 1-0, Cian Hill 0-2, Shane Connolly 0-1.
Darragh Ryan; Tom O'Keeffe, Daniel Bergin, Riain Mahony; Liam O'Keeffe, Jack Finlay, Adam Jones; Eli Quinn, Kyle Mullen; Stephen O'Donnell, Cormac Byrne, Joe Cole; Cathal Noone, Dan Jones, Jack O'Dea.
Sam Farrell for O'Donnell (50m), Tadhg Fahey for Jones (50m).
Alex Phelan; Sean Dunne, Zach McGuinness, Ben Meade; Tadgh Gilligan, Kyle Moore, Tomas Lynch; Cian Hill, Sean Duff; Shane Connolly, Eoin Brennan, Michael Kirwan; Ronan Carroll, Mark Cusack, Leon Doheny.
Adam Doheny for L Doheny (55m), Zach Makim for Carroll (55m).
Alan Doheny (Castletown)
