Injury time point sees Rosenallis pull off the shock of the championship to date

Rosenallis 1-19 

Rathdowney/Errill 1-18 

ROSENALLIS came out on top in a hugely exciting contest with Rathdowney/Errill on Saturday evening to cause a big shock in the Laois Shopping Centre SHC, winning by a single point in injury time.

Now with two losses on their record, Rathdowney/Errill are under serious pressure to advance from their group having lost to Camross in Round 2, meanwhile Rosenallis are in a great position in the other group with two wins from three and a positive score difference.

They came in as big underdogs to this game but Rathdowney/Errill were reduced to 14 men midway through the second half when Mark Kavanagh received a red card moments after Brian Fitzpatrick scored a goal for Rosenallis, and after a good start from the victors that was a big added boost.

Conor Cosgrove was excellent for the victors from centre forward with his placed balls making a big difference on the scoreboard, while Fiachra C Fennell was outstanding at half back and David Dooley caused a huge amount of damage inside for Rosenallis, winning a series of frees in the second half.

A point in the first minute from Jack Friel gave Rosenallis the lead from the off and the sides went tit for tat in the opening minutes, Mark Kavanagh striking two frees for Rathdowney/Errill while scores from Conor Cosgrove and Brian Fitzpatrick kept Rosenallis ahead.

Matthew Bennett and Shane Bracken then traded scores from play before the Rosenallis lead was increased to three thanks to a brace of frees from Cosgrove.

The opening quarter of the game was relatively tame before it burst into life 15 minutes in when Paddy Keating made a great run inside from the right and found Brian Fitzpatrick in front of the posts who finished brilliantly for a goal.

When that goal went in and all the focus was up there, Charlie Friel ended up on the ground on the Rosenallis 45 and after deliberation with his sideline official, Patrick Phelan brandished Mark Kavanagh with a red card for the incident, a major blow to Rathdowney/Errill.

To their credit, they reacted brilliantly in the minutes after by scoring three points in quick succession, two frees from Thep Fitzpatrick and a fantastic score from play by Cleary.

Rosenallis battled back with a trio of frees from Cosgrove late in the half, two of which coming as a result of their high pressing up the field, putting the opposition backs under serious pressure.

Rathdowney/Errill did hit back with scores of their own before the break however with Cleary from play, two frees by Kelly and a fantastic sideline cut by Kelly from 40 metres out, though his side still trailed at half time with the score 1-9 to 0-10.

Kelly got the second half opener with a free before a reply from his Laois teammate David Dooley after showing great athleticism to break clear, though Paddy Purcell flexed his own abilities to do something similar at the other end.

A free won by Purcell and pointed by Kelly brought the sides level four minutes into the second half, before Cosgrove pointed a brace of frees himself either side of an excellent point in reply by Fitzpatrick.

Purcell was continuing to cause damage up front and he was forced a foul from Oran Gorman to avoid conceding a goal, resulting in another Kelly point from a free and Kelly added to that with another score from play after intercepting a stray pass.

Two excellent scores from David Dooley brought the sides back level once again after Rathdowney/Errill fought their way ahead before Purcell pounced again but this time he got his wish as Rosenallis failed to clear at the back and he chased down the loose ball and scooped it past Stephen Kelly for a goal in the 50th minute.

David Dooley's impact continued to increase as he won two frees at the other end moments later for Cosgrove to point and Charlie Friel won another on the right flank that Cosgrove also stuck between the posts to bring it level going into injury time.

The lead went back to Rathdowney/Errill through a Kelly free before Cosgrove hit back again with a free to level it in injury time.

Battles for possession commenced all over the field but it was Rosenallis who came up trumps and Charlie Friel broke free up front and took possession from Sam Somers to stick it over the bar to claim the win.

SCORERS:

Rosenallis: Conor Cosgrove 0-12 (0-11), Brian Fitzpatrick 1-1, David Dooley 0-3, Matthew Bennett, Jack Friel and Charlie Friel 0-1 each.

Rathdowney/Errill: Jack Kelly 0-9 (0-7fs, 0-1 sideline), Paddy Purcell 1-1, Thep Fitzpatrick 0-3 (0-2fs), Micheal Cleary and Mark Kavanagh (fs) 0-2 each, Shane Bracken 0-1.

ROSENALLIS: Stephen Kelly; John Maher, Diarmuid Dooley, Oran Gorman; Alex Marron, Cathal C Fennell, Fiachra C Fennell; Charlie Friel, Matthew Bennett; David Dooley, Conor Cosgrove, Jimmy Hyland; Jack Friel, Brian Fitzpatrick, Paddy Keating.

Subs: Joe Shelley for C C Fennell (temp 25m-ht), Joe Shelley for C C Fennell (40m), Sam Somers for Hyland (45m), Tommy Keating for Maher (temp, 44-47m).

RATHDOWNEY/ERRILL: Damien Madden; Shand Madden, Kevin O'Dea, David Poynton; Liam O'Connell, Dylan Carroll, Thep Fitzpatrick; Padraig Rafter, Paddy Purcell; Jack Kelly, Mark Kavanagh, James Ryan; Micheal Cleary, Tadgh Dowling, Jack Dowling.

Subs: Shane Bracken for S Madden (temp, 11-13m), Eoin Bracken for J Dowling (40m), Shane Bracken for Ryan (temp 42-43m), Ray Bowe for Dowling (53m), Paddy McCane for Poynton (55m).

Referee: Patrick Phelan (Castletown)