Late drama sees Borris/Kilcotton overhaul Rosenallis

Borris/Kilcotton 0-19 

Rosenallis 0-17 

BORRIS/Kilcotton will head into their quarter-final clash with The Harps off the back of a win after they left it late to defeat Rosenallis in their Laois Shopping Centre SHC Round 5 clash on Sunday afternoon, the final game of the group stage.

The loss matters little in the grand scheme of things for Rosenallis as they were already guaranteed a quarter-final place ahead of the Sunday fixtures and they will be facing Abbeyleix in a fortnight to see who will go on to play Camross in the semi-final.

After a bright start to the contest which saw some fine scores and tough tackles, the pace of the game slowly dwindled as the clock ticked down with both teams well aware there was bigger things to come for them.

Jer Quinlan and David Dooley were the stars of the show for their respective side with Quinlan slotting six from play while Dooley struck four from play and added another four from frees.

Another impressive display for Borris/Kilcotton was that of Neil Foyle who was on the free-taking duties and he went nine from nine in an impeccable display on placed balls.

Despite the game being a total dead rubber the sides did bring a decent level of intensity to the early stages of the contest and Jimmy Hyland opened the scoring within ten seconds.

Borris/Kilcotton are without PJ Scully for the remainder of the year with an achilles injury and Aaron Dunphy was a late omission from the starting fifteen so it was up to Neil Foyle to hit the frees and he nailed his first two with no qualms.

On the flip side, Rosenallis welcomed Donnachadh Hartnett back to the action from a long term injury and he levelled things up with a score before Fiachra C Fennell launched one over from out the field to nudge Rosenallis back ahead.

Jer Quinlan then traded two brilliant points with Jimmy Hyland just as the fizz began to dwindle out of the game, with noticeably fewer hard hits going in as the game progressed.

Two more frees from Foyle and a score from play by Joe Campion saw Borris/Kilcotton back into the lead after nineteen minutes, but they wouldn't score again.

Rosenallis saw out the half on a high with four score from Jack Friel, Charlie Friel and two David Dooley frees to take a 0-10 to 0-7 lead at half time.

Jer Quinlan opened the second half with an outstanding brace of points from play with the breeze at his back, he and Dooley were the top performers for their teams and not to be outdone, the Rosenallis man hit back with two from play himself and added another from a free to put four between the teams.

Joe Campion slotted from play and Foyle added another before an eight minute lull in the scoring until Foyle slotted another placed ball.

By this stage a practice match would have been more competitive as both sides laid off, hard to blame them when they have quarter-finals in two weeks.

Dean Carey and Jer Quinlan both split the posts for Borris/Kilcotton and they saw replies from Dooley and Paddy Keating before Fiachra C Fennell made an incredible run up through the middle of the field before popping over the back to keep Rosenallis two in front.

Foyle and Dooley traded frees with two minutes left of normal time, but crucially Rosenallis wouldn't score again.

A third point from Joe Campion set up a strong finish for Borris/Kilcotton as Foyle slotted a free from close range to level it and put his side ahead with a monstrous effort from his own 65.

The final touch was left to Jer Quinlan who stroked over the score of the game out on the right wing under serious pressure from his man to put two between them with the final puck of the game.

SCORERS:

Borris/Kilcotton: Neil Foyle 0-9 (fs), Jer Quinlan 0-6, Joe Campion 0-3, Dean Carey 0-1.

Rosenallis: David Dooley 0-8 (0-4fs), Jimmy Hyland 0-3, Fiachra C Fennell 0-2, Donnchadh Hartnett, Jack Friel, Charlie Friel and Paddy Keating 0-1 each.

BORRIS/KILCOTTON: Eoin Fleming; Connor Kilbane, Enda Parlon, Steven Finan; Evan Quinlan, Matthew Whelan, Niall Coss; Eoin Fitzpatrick, Philip Tynan; Colm Stapleton, Joe Campion, Stephen Dunphy; Neil Foyle, Jer Quinlan, Eoghain Coss.

Subs: Dean Carey for Stapleton (18-22m, blood), Dean Carey for Coss (38m), Kyle Abraham for Whelan (38m), Cillian O'Riordan for Dunphy (58m), Ciaran Coss for Tynan (61m).

ROSENALLIS: Stephen Kelly; Paul Maher, Diarmuid Dooley, Oran Gorman; Alex Marron, Fiachra C Fennell, Colin Bennett; Charlie Friel, Jimmy Hyland; David Dooley, Donnchadh Hartnett, Sam Somers; Jack Friel, Brian Fitzpatrick, Paddy Keating. # Subs: Darragh McEvoy for Somers (ht), Joey Keating for Fitzpatrick (49m), Scott Kelly for C Friel (51m), Eoin McEvoy for P Keating (55m), Jack Conroy for J Friel (59m, inj).

Referee: Colin Bailey (Mountrath)