Portarlington hit top gear to clinch Division 2 success

Laois Shopping Centre ACFL Division 2 Final 

Portarlington 4-13 

 O’Dempsey’s 1-10 

Portarlington claimed the Laois Shopping Centre Division 2 title after powering past O’Dempsey’s by 12 points in the LOETB Centre of Excellence on Saturday evening.

The victors sent out a statement of intent that they are still the team to beat in the upcoming championship after putting in a simply stunning display of football tonight.

Their pace, power and their ability to kick pass was just superb as O’Dempsey’s just had no answer to their brilliance.

They also welcomed back Robbie Piggot who came on as a second half substitute and they still have Darragh Galvin, Rioghan Murphy and Sean Byrne to come into the fold which is ominous for the clubs in the senior championship It was actually O’Dempsey’s that took an early lead through Ultan Dunne, which was then followed up by Joe Finn to give O’Dempsey’s a 0-2 to 0-0 lead after four minutes.

It was short lived as Portarlington struck for their first goal through the brilliant Sean Moran. Colm Murphy did great work as he ran down thend line and passed it to Moran who palmed it into the net.

Murphy and Connolly followed up that goal with two points as Portarlington were starting to kick into gear.

O’Dempsey’s did dig in for a while after Ultan Dunne responded with a 45 and then Barry Kelly found the net with a brilliantly taken goal as O’Dempsey’s retook the lead.

Portarlington then hit for their second goal which was absolutely brilliant, it involved three kick passes from Paddy O’Sullivan, Ronan Coffey and Colm Murphy which ended with Sean Michael Corcoran finishing to the back of the net ending a brilliant team move.

They would hit the last three points of the half through Eoin McCann who got a brace while Sean Moran added another as Portarlington led 2-5 to 1-3 at half time.

Portarlington upped the gears and tempo in the second half and blew O’Dempsey’s away with their brilliance in attack.

Ronan Coffey, Jason Moore and Curtis Lyons all pointed within three minutes, and it was already a long way back for O’Dempsey’s.

The third goal soon followed after great work from Sean Moran and Hugh Connolly ended up with Darragh Slevin palming the ball into the net and it was all over at that point.

Sean Moran pointed another from play before Ultan Dunne eventually got O’Dempsey’s on the scoreboard in the second half with 41 minutes on the clock.

Moran and Dunne (free) traded points as Portarlington were at their ease and it was a matter how much they were going to win by.

Portarlington would strike for their fourth goal after great work from Keith Bracken resulted in Ronan Coffey palming it into an empty net.

The teams traded points once more with Moran landing another one while Tommy Kehoe hit a brilliant point from play.

Portarlington then hit their final three points in the game with Moran hitting his last capping off a fine performance while Sean Michael Corcoran added a further two points for the victors.

O’Dempsey’s battled away and would hit two late two two pointers through Barry Kelly as Portarlington were deserving champions which also secures Division 1 football for 2027 SCORERS:

Portarlington: Sean Moran 1-4, Sean Michael Corcoran 1-2, , Ronan Coffey 1-1, Darragh Slevin 1-0, Eoin McCann 0-2, Hugh Connolly, Jason Moore, Curtis Lyons and Colm Murphy 0-1 each.

O’Dempsey’s: Barry Kelly 1-4 (2tps), Ultan Dunne 0-3 (0-1f, 0-1 45), Joe Finn 0-2, Tommy Kehoe 0-1.

PORTARLINGTON: Luke O’Reilly; Alex Mohan, Tom Corcoran, Cathal Bennett; Darragh Slevin, Jason Moore, Curtis Lyons; Hugo Connolly; Patrick O’Sullivan, Eoin McCann; Paddy O’Sullivan, Sean Michael Corcoran, Hugh Connolly; Colin Murphy, Ronan Coffey, Sean Moran.

Subs: Robbie Piggot for Moore (43m), Conor Moran for Lyons (48m), Keith Bracken for Emerson (48m), Corey Lyons for Connolly (50m), Benny McCann for Murphy (54m).

O’DEMPSEY’S: Padraig Bannon; Callum Ryan, Shane Nerney, Kevin Garry; Adam O’Leary, Tom Kelly, Joe Lennon; Brian Nugent, Barry Howlin; Cormac O’Hora, Jack Lennon, Daithi Howlin; Joe Finn, Ultan Dunne, Barry Kelly.

Subs: Conor Kearney for O’Hora (15m), Tomas Kehoe for Kearney (ht), Eoin Finlay for O’Leary (37m).

Referee: Hugh Coughlan (Park/Ratheniska)