Mountrath book IHC semi-final place after Ballypickas battle

Laois Shopping Centre IHC Gr B Rd 3 

St Fintan’s Mountrath 2-25 

Ballypickas 3-19 

MOUNTRATH booked their place in the semi-finals of the Laois Shopping Centre IHC after edging out Ballypickas by three points in an entertaining contest in Mountrath on Friday evening.

It was a third victory from three games for the hosts, who finish top of Group B and now have a five-week wait before their semi-final.

Ballypickas made Mountrath work extremely hard for the win, repeatedly battling back whenever the home side appeared to be pulling clear. The decisive spell came just before half-time, when Mountrath produced 1-4 without reply to establish a lead they would ultimately hold onto.

Donnacha Carroll got the game’s first score. Conor Headen opened Ballypickas' account with two early points, but Mountrath responded through Paddy Williams and Gavin Sydes before Conaire Gee levelled matters after eight minutes.

Mountrath goalkeeper Alex Phelan then produced a superb save to deny Headen a goal. Mountrath used that moment to their advantage, hitting four unanswered points through Caelum O'Brien, two from Gearoid Williams and a Donnacha Carroll free.

Ballypickas refused to let them away, with Headen replying from a free before Calum Costigan and MJ Lalor added scores.

The visitors then struck for the game's first goal. A Headen sideline cut dropped into the square and Costigan reacted quickest to fire past Phelan. Headen added another free shortly afterwards to put Ballypickas a point ahead.

Mountrath responded in style between the 23rd and 26th minutes. Tom Kirwan, Sydes and Fahy pointed before Gearoid Williams then found the net after Fahy had gathered a long ball from Carroll and laid it off.

Carroll added his third point of the half to put Mountrath six ahead, but Ballypickas finished the half strongly. Headen struck three points, with Daire McWey also on target, leaving Mountrath 1-13 to 1-11 ahead at the interval.

Headen immediately reduced the deficit to a single point after the restart, but Mountrath again found another gear. Fahy, Williams and Kirwan restored some breathing room before Costigan added his second point.

Kirwan was proving particularly influential and added three more scores, while Fahy landed a fine sideline before Carroll also found the target.

Ballypickas continued to fight and Headen and Gearoid Williams exchanged scores before the visitors hit 1-1 to close the gap to two. Headen finished the goal and Lalor added the point.

Mountrath responded immediately, with Fahy again providing the assist for Kirwan to smash home their second goal. Headen converted another free, but Mountrath stretched their advantage once more through Josh Dempsey and Cian Hill. Headen and Williams exchanged further points, with Williams finishing with 1-5.

Conaire Gee struck Ballypickas' third goal with the final puck of the game, but it was Mountrath who prevailed by three points.

Ballypickas finish third in Group B and will face The Harps in the quarter-finals in three weeks.

SCORERS:

Mountrath: Tom Kirwan 1-6 (0-3fs), Gearoid Williams 1-5, Donnacha Carroll 0-4, James Fahy (0-1 sideline) and Gavin Sydes 0-3 each, Cian Hill, Josh Dempsey, Paddy Williams and Caelum O’Brien 0-1 each.

Ballypickas: Conor Headen 1-12 (0-10fs), Conaire Gee and Calum Costigan 1-2 each, MJ Lalor 0-2, Daire McWey 0-1.

ST FINTAN'S MOUNTRATH: Alex Phelan; Kevin Murphy, Kevin Moore, Zach McGuinness; Donnacha Carroll, Jake Walsh, Paul Rice; Cian Hill, Glen Tobin; Gavin Sydes, Gearoid Williams, Paddy Williams; Tom Kirwan, James Fahy, Caelum O’Brien.

Subs: Josh Dempsey for O’Brien (40m), Jack Larkin for Sydes (49m).

BALLYPICKAS: Noel Concannon; Tim Cass, James Hennessy, Colin Rowan; William McDonald, Aaron O’Dea, Micheal Downey; Conor Headen, James McWey; Daire McWey, MJ Lalor, Noel Leech; Calum Costigan, Conaire Gee, Ben Freeman.

Subs: Kieran Bowe for Leech (27m), Colin Kinsella for J McWey (51m), Christian Concannon for Costigan (53m).

Referee: Sean Higgins (Camross)