Portarlington into last four after dogged battle with Louth champions
Darragh Galvin scored four points for Portarlington in the Leinster Club Senior Football Championship quarter-final win over Naomh Mairtín Photo: Denis Byrne
PORTARLINGTON’S story in the Leinster Senior Football Club Championship will continue after they overcame Naomh Mairtin in Drogheda on Sunday afternoon.
It was a dogged affair with the Louth champions putting up a big battle to their Laois counterparts, but Portarlington were excellent at both ends of the field against a dangerous opponent.
The Louth men were led by Louth captain and All-Star, Sam Mulroy, as he picked up four points and was the focal point of their attacks, though perhaps their over reliance on their talisman proved costly in the finish as his supporting cast struggled against the Portarlington back unit.
Jason Coffey was outstanding at centre back for Pat Roe’s men in a typical all action performance, while Robbie Piggott and Mikey Bennett were both also on top form in a game which played into Portarlington’s hands at times as they relished the tough tackling and hard hitting nature of the contest.
Portarlington were dealt a major blow before a ball was even kicked as Jordan Fitzpatrick was ruled out with an injury picked up in the warm up and Tom Corcoran was drafted in to take his place.
Despite the loss of Fitzpatrick, Portarlington still proved to be potent up front, with Darragh Galvin putting in a show stopping performance as the full forward kicked four excellent points from play and ran “The Jocks” backs ragged at times.
Portarlington have been improving consistently all year and a clash with Athy awaits in a fortnight, and Portarlington will be on the road once again as they head to Newbridge for a more local clash.
The Louth champions drew first blood in the contest through a fine score by Mulroy before Jack Murphy doubled the lead just two minutes in.
The first of Galvin’s four points got Portarlington off the mark and Rioghan Murphy levelled the game on 10 minutes with a fine strike from the left wing off his left boot.
Mulroy continued to be dangerous early on, kicking Naomh Mairtin ahead twice, the first after a deft jink to make space and the second from a free.
Colm Murphy replied to the jinked point with a free and Rioghan Murphy levelled up after Mulroy’s free with a score after Colm Murphy played a quick free out to the wing in the 20th minute.
After the early tit for tat scoring, Portarlington eventually began to settle and take control of proceedings, going on to kick a further five points in a row before half time.
They began to turn up the heat on The Jocks, with their pressuring high up the field paying off with points for Mikey Bennett and Ronan Coffey.
Jason Moore kicked a score after a trademark driving run through the centre of the field and Murphy kicked a brace of frees in the midst to make it 0-9 to 0-4 at half time to the visitors.
Naomh Mairtin got to work early in the second half as they chased down the gap and a brilliant two pointer from Dara McDonnell put a decent dent in it.
They were then awarded a free from close range and somewhat bizarrely, Mulroy went for goal but was denied by the foot of Robbie Piggott and to add insult to injury, Mulroy fired the resulting 45 wide.
Mulroy continued to work hard however and won back possession from the kickout and the ball made its way into Tom Grey to rattle the net from close range and bring the sides level with 37 minutes gone.
It was a disastrous start to the half for Portarlington, but their mettle is never in question and Galvin kicked them in front with a brilliant point and Murphy doubled it again from a free.
Mulroy replied with a free for the hosts, but they were starting to struggle as Portarlington were winning the physical battles in the middle of the field.
The Portarlington defence was called into action late in the half as Jason Moore and Paddy O’Sullivan pulled off two excellent blocks in quick succession to deny shots at goal.
Darragh Slevin put two points between the sides again before Galvin capped off a fantastic performance with a brace of exquisite scores at the death to put Portarlington four points to the good and seal a huge win for them as they now march on to tackle Athy.
Darragh Galvin and Colm Murphy 0-4 (fs), Rioghan Murphy 0-2, Ronan Coffey, Darragh Slevin, Mikey Bennett and Jason Moore 0-1 each.
Sam Mulroy 0-4 (0-2fs), Val Leddy 1-0, Dara McDonnell 0-2 (two-pointer), Darragh Dorian and Jack Murphy 0-1 each.
Luke O’Reilly; Alex Mohan, Robbie Pigott, Curtis Lyons; Mikey Bennett, Jason Moore, Paddy O’Sullivan; Sean Byrne, Keith Bracken; Daragh Slevin, Ronan Coffey, Rioghan Murphy; Tom Corcoran, Darragh Galvin, Colm Murphy.
Diarmuid Bennett for Lyons (44m), Sean Michael Corcoran for T Corcoran (58m).
Darren Morgan; Cian Sands, Thomas Sullivan, Conor Healy; Evan Whelan, Sean Healy, Jack Murphy; Adam Booth, Dara McDonnell; Darragh Dorian, Sam Mulroy, Wayne Campbell, Eoghan Callaghan, Tom Gray, Val Leddy.
Joe McGrane for Dorian (ht), Shane Morgan for Sands (42m), Jack Lynch for Campbell (50m), Darragh Dorian for S Healy (60m).
Patrick Coyle (Meath)
