Clough/Ballacolla remain top of the pile after dominating Camross
Clough/Ballacolla team celebrate their Senior Hurling Championship final win over Camross at Laois Hire O'Moore on Sunday Photo Denis Byrne
Sunday saw the finale of the Laois Senior Hurling Championship as Camross and Clough/Ballacolla met in Laois Hire O’Moore Park to battle it out for the Bob O’Keeffe Cup.
Champions Clough/Ballacolla came in to the final not in the richest vein of form having had a couple of blips along the route. They barely overcame Ballinakill in the semi-final but they saved their best until last as they dominated Camross from start to finish to claim yet another championship, arguably their most impressive one yet.
Stephen Bergin was outstanding for Clough/Ballacolla and has been all year as he’s been forced to take on more responsibility in the forward line in the absence of Stephen ‘Picky’ Maher and he finished with a brilliant 1-13.
Camross have been mightily impressive since their poor start to the championship, but they never got going on Sunday and Clough/Ballacolla were set up perfectly by Willie Hyland and company to combat any of the potential threats that Camross could deliver.
Despite hurling against the strong wind that blew in the first half, Clough/Ballacolla held a three point lead at the break and their confidence only grew in the second half to go on and win by six.
Camross hurled with the wind behind them from the off and the strength of it was evidenced by an Eoin Gaughan score from well within his own half to get things underway.
Stephen Bergin got Clough/Ballacolla off the mark with a brace of frees, though Camross bit back with a Zane Keenan free followed with two excellent scores by Mossy Keyes and James Cuddy.
Clough/Ballacolla were operating with a sweeper, leaving Diarmaid Conway free which made life tough for the Camross forwards, allowing for Clough/Ballacolla to attack early on and score through Jordan Walshe and Aidan Corby from range to level.
A 65 from Keenan nudged Camross back in front but the champions came back when Willie Dunphy latched onto a high ball in from Walshe and he turned to bury it in the net, soon followed by a Stephen Bergin point.
Camross were reeling from the goal Zane Keenan saw a golden opportunity when Mark Dowling was fouled by Darren Maher and a 21 metre free was awarded in front of the posts which Keenan duly slotted into the top corner.
Despite the goal their struggles continued however as Stephen Bergin landed a free and followed from play after great work by Cillian Dunne before capping off a mightily impressive three minutes with a brilliant goal, again assisted by Dunne after catching a long pass down the field by his brother Cathal.
Camross were really struggling to mount any dangerous attacks as the Clough/Ballacolla backs were proving dominant in the air with Lee Cleere and Conway the standouts as they cleared a world of ball in to the forwards.
Bergin was again on the mark for Clough/Ballacolla with a well struck free, but Camross came roaring back into contention before half time when Tom Cuddy made a strong run through the middle and handed it out left to the waiting Keenan who fired across the goals amidst an array of airborne hurls.
A seventh first half point from Bergin increased the gap to four, but Camross struck last before the break with a Mark Dowling point to make it 2-9 to 2-6.
Stephen Bergin carried his form into the second half with an early point as he was left completely free in the middle of the field.
He then traded frees with Zane Keenan, but despite Keenan’s free Camross were really struggling still to gain any momentum going forward as Clough/Ballacolla came back with another excellent score from Walshe that again came out of a long ball down the field by Cathal Dunne, a fruitful tactic for the champions.
The sides went score for score in the proceedings six minutes, each landing three points with all of Camross’s from Keenan frees while Cillian Dunne got a deserved point along with a brace from Bergin, one a free and one from play.
Camross did rally for a period midway through the half with a brace of frees from Keenan before getting their first score from play in the half from Eoghan Cuddy as he raced in from the right wing.
The run came to an abrupt end with a point from Jordan Walshe however, and the Clough/Ballacolla spirits were lifted even further with the introduction of Picky Maher who made an immediate impact with an assist for a Joe Corby point followed with a monstrous free from his own 45 and a brilliant score from play.
There was six points between the teams going into injury time and Clough/Ballacolla had all the work done to secure their second championship in a row and their fifth in six years.
Stephen Bergin 1-13 (0-9fs), Jordan Walshe 0-3, Willie Dunphy 1-0, Stephen ‘Picky’ Maher 0-2 (0-1f), Cillian Dunne, Aidan Corby and Joe Corby 0-1 each.
Zane Keenan 2-10 (1-9fs, 0-1 65), Tomas Keyes, Mark Dowling, James Cuddy, Eoin Gaughan and Eoghan Cuddy 0-1 each.
Cathal Dunne; Diarmaid Conway, Darren Maher, Joe Pearson; Lochlainn Conway, Lee Cleere, Eoin Doyle; Aidan Corby, Cormac Hogan; Mark Hennessy, Jordan Walshe, Kevin Mulhall; Cillian Dunne, Willie Dunphy, Stephen Bergin.
Joe Corby for Dunphy (44m), Stephen ‘Picky’ Maher for Hennessy (53m), Brian Corby for Doyle (59m), Padraig Brennan for Cillian Dunne (62m), Kevin Hyland for Bergin (63m).
Tadhg Doran; Darragh Duggan, Cathal Cuddy, Joe Phelan; Eoin Dowling, Eoin Gaughan, Eoghan Cuddy; Odhran Phelan, Liam Delaney; Ciaran Collier, Tom Cuddy, Zane Keenan; Tomas Keyes, James Cuddy, Mark Dowling.
Dwane Palmer for J Phelan (40m), Darren Drennan for J Cuddy (47m), Ashton Keenan for O Phelan (52m), Andrew Collier for T Cuddy (58m).
Kieran Bowe (Rathdowney/Errill)
