Ballyfin push Portlaoise right to the wire

Laois Shopping Centre Senior Hurling Championship Rd 1 

Portlaoise 2-15 

Ballyfin 1-15 

 THE opening game of the 2026 Laois Shopping Centre SHC went right down to the wire in Laois Hire O'Moore Park on Friday as Portlaoise were forced to dig deep to etch out a three point win over their neighbours Ballyfin.

Ballyfin come into this year's championship as the rank outsiders, but they will feel that this is maybe an opportunity that was missed as Portlaoise were missing some of their marquee players in Ryan Denny, John Mark Foley, Aaron Bergin and Sean Culleton while county-man Ciaran McEvoy was forced off with an injury at half time.

To their credit, Pat Critchley's charges battled extremely well after being put under the cosh early on with a great start from Ballyfin.

Liam Conroy found the net at a crucial stage in the first half to get The Town back on track, though Ballyfin maintained their lead at half time, led by Eamon Duff and Garreth Dunphy, but they were ultimately left to rue a huge amount of efforts that trailed wide of the posts.

A 15 minute blitz in the second half from David O'Mahoney and Conroy saw Portlaoise into the lead for the first time, though they had to find more gears down the home stretch to hold on for a valuable two points.

The first score of the 2026 Laois SHC came from the stick of Garreth Dunphy who landed a free and Cathal Duggan soon made it level from one of his own.

Ballyfin made a blistering start to the contest as they went on to hit the next five scores in succession, starting with a free from Dunphy and Eamon Duff pointed from play just seconds later.

Dunphy added two more frees from midfield and Ciaran Quinn pointed well after a driving run inside putting five between them, but The Town came back strong in a matter of minutes with points from Duggan and Delaney before Liam Conroy received the ball on the 21 with his back to goal before turning and lashing it into the far corner.

Ballyfin held their nerve and regained the lead with a point from Dunphy, to which Cian Taylor marked his surprise return with a point in reply.

Two points split the teams at the midway stage of the half with Darragh Connolly and Allan Connolly both on target for Ballyfin as the continued to keep their noses in front.

Davy Delaney and Duggan levelled things up as the Ballyfin wides count crept into double figures towards the end of the half.

Despite the wayward shooting they held a one point lead at half time thanks to Gary Hofmeister and Duff, with a late Duggan free keeping the minimum between them at 0-11 to 1-7.

Portlaoise were dealt a big blow before coming out for the second half as Ciaran McEvoy was forced off with an injury, but his replacement David O'Mahoney more than made up for McEvoy's absence with two excellent scores in the opening five minutes, adding to an early Duggan free and Portlaoise led for the first time.

Cian Taylor also had to step off the field for a period to be patched up, though his replacement Matthew Dempsey also impressed and was brought on permanently for Dean Lynch after Taylor was ready for action.

Portlaoise compounded their early dominance when a strike from DJ White moved travelled awkwardly in the wind and fell to Conroy to smash home his second goal.

Points from Delaney and Conroy saw The Town take a seven point lead by the 42nd minute, before Ballyfin could even register a meaningful second half shot.

Despite their lacking attack, Ballyfin shot back into contention when Chris Dunne won a high ball in from Dunphy and turned to fire it past Brochan O'Reilly for a goal, putting four between them.

A free from Duggan settled Portlaoise momentarily, though Ballyfin soon found their fire and struck the next four points in succession, in the midst of another array of wides balls.

Hofmeister got his second of the game before Eamon Duff rattled over three points from three possessions, making it a one point game as the clock ticked into the three minutes of injury time signalled.

The resurgence came to an end at a crunch time as Cormac Rigney fired over from well inside his own half and Duggan fired over one final free to ensure the win for Portlaoise.

SCORERS:

Portlaoise: Cathal Duggan 0-7 (0-5fs), Liam Conroy 2-1, Davy Delaney 0-3, David O'Mahoney 0-2, Cian Taylor and Cormac Rigney 0-1 each.

Ballyfin: Garreth Dunphy 0-5 (0-4fs), Chris Dunne 1-0, Eamon Duff 0-5, Gary Hofmeister 0-2, Ciaran Quinn, Darragh Connolly and Allan Connolly 0-1 each.

PORTLAOISE: Brochan O'Reilly; Conor Raggett, Frank Flanagan, Eoin O'Connor; Ross Brennan, Cormac Rigney, Cian Dowling Byrne; Cian Taylor, Sean Luke Taylor; Dean Lynch, Ciaran McEvoy, Cathal Duggan; Davy Delaney, Liam Conroy, DJ White.

Subs: David O'Mahoney for McEvoy (ht, inj), Matthew Dempsey for C Taylor (32-38m, temp), Matthew Dempsey for Lynch (48m), Cormac Keegan for O'Mahoney (55-61m, temp).

BALLYFIN: Eoin Connolly; Cillian Rowney, Sean O'Neill, Sean O'Neill; Alan Connolly, Conall Rowney, David Connolly; Darragh Connolly, Ciaran Quinn; Garreth Dunphy, Eanna Lyons, Eamon Duff; Gary Hoffmeister, Shane Conroy, Christopher Dunne.

Sub: Ronan Carroll for Conroy (37m).

Referee: Mick Cleere (Rathdowney/Errill)