Portarlington march into quarter-finals with emphatic Stradbally win

Portarlington 4-19 

Stradbally 0-16 

PORTARLINGTON’S bid for a third successive Laois SFC title gathered further momentum as they became the first team to secure their place in the quarter-finals with a commanding victory over Stradbally at Laois Hire O’Moore Park on Friday evening.

Despite being without several established players, Portarlington eventually proved far too strong for Stradbally, pulling away decisively after half-time to record a comprehensive victory. Given the strength of the players still to return, the defending champions look capable of getting even stronger as the championship progresses.

Goalkeeper Luke O’Reilly, Paddy O’Sullivan and Jake Foster were all absent, with O’Sullivan serving the second game of his suspension following his red card against Athy in the 2025 Leinster Club SFC. Daragh Galvin, Keith Bracken, Sean Byrne and Robbie Pigott all started on the bench and were introduced as the county champions managed their resources effectively.

They were dealt a slight setback when Colm Murphy was forced off after just 18 minutes, but that didn’t prevent them from producing another statement performance as they continued their pursuit of a sixth SFC crown in seven years.

Rioghan Murphy was the outstanding figure, finishing with 3-4, although his evening could have looked even better if he scored directly from two penalties that he missed; however, he scored both rebounds. Hugh Connolly also enjoyed an excellent outing, contributing five points from play.

Portarlington started brightly and had two points on the board inside the opening two minutes. Connolly needed just 20 seconds to open the scoring before Murphy followed up.

Stradbally responded with a strong spell and reeled off five points without reply. Tom Shiel opened their account with a two-pointer before Garry Comerford converted a two-point free. Conor Buggie then punished a loose Portarlington kick-out, sending the ball over Evan Grattan’s head and between the posts to leave Stradbally 0-5 to 0-2 ahead after five minutes.

Portarlington steadied themselves with scores from Sean Moran and Murphy, while Stradbally’s Jack Deegan added an advanced mark in between.

The first goal arrived when Comerford’s kick-out, following their first wide, went directly to Portarlington and Colm Murphy was fouled inside the square. Rioghan Murphy took responsibility from the spot, but Comerford made the save. Murphy reacted quickest to the rebound, however, and finished to the net.

Benny Lawlor brought Stradbally level once again from a free before Portarlington lost Colm Murphy to injury. It was a significant blow, with the player having also been forced off against The Heath in Round 1 with what appeared to be the same issue.

Stradbally regained the lead when Shiel struck his second two-pointer, but Portarlington immediately shifted through the gears.

Four consecutive points from Moran, Tom Corcoran, Hugo Emerson and Ronan Coffey put the champions two ahead. David Donohue converted a free for Stradbally, but Portarlington closed out the half with three more unanswered scores.

Murphy, Coffey from a free and Connolly all found the target, with Connolly ending the half as he had started it by scoring the final point. Portarlington went into the break 1-11 to 0-10 ahead.

The gap continued to grow after the restart. Connolly added another point before Murphy produced a composed finish with his right foot for his second goal.

Portarlington were awarded another penalty when Comerford fouled Murphy, with the Stradbally goalkeeper shown a black card. Murphy was denied again, this time by substitute goalkeeper Jack Larkin, but once more he reacted fastest and slammed the rebound into the net. Shiel converted a two-point free for Stradbally, but it proved little more than a brief interruption as Portarlington went on to score seven points without reply.

Connolly added two, Jordan Fitzpatrick landed a two-pointer, Darragh Slevin contributed two and Murphy completed his personal tally with another point.

Cillian Maher converted a two-point free for Stradbally before substitute Daragh Galvin added Portarlington’s fourth goal.

Stradbally finished with points from David Dineen and Maher from a free, but the outcome had long since been settled, with Portarlington’s quality and strength in depth carrying them comfortably into the quarter-finals.

SCORERS:

Portarlington: Rioghan Murphy 3-4, Hugh Connolly 0-5, Daragh Galvin 1-0, Sean Moran, Darragh Slevin, Ronan Coffey (0-1f) and Jordan Fitzpatrick (tp) 0-2 each, Hugo Emerson and Tom Corcoran 0-1 each.

Stradbally: Tom Shiel 0-6 (2 tp, 1 tpf), Cillian Maher 0-3 (1 tpf, 0-1f), Garry Comerford 0-2 (tpf), Jack Deegan (mark), Conor Buggie, David Dineen, Benny Lawlor (f) and David Donohue (f) 0-1 each.

PORTARLINGTON: Evan Grattan; Alex Mohan, Tom Corcoran, Cathal Bennett; Darragh Slevin, Jason Moore, Curtis Lyons; Hugo Emerson, Eoin McCann; Rioghan Murphy, Sean Michael Corcoran, Hugh Connolly; Colm Murphy, Ronan Coffey, Sean Moran.

Subs: Jordan Fitzpatrick for C Murphy (18m, inj), Daragh Galvin for Moran (40m), Robbie Pigott for Moore (43m), Sean Byrne for S M Corcoran (50m), Keith Bracken for McCann (50m).

STRADBALLY: Garry Comerford; Sean Maher, Liam Knowles, Conor McDonald; Eoin Buggie, James Devoy, Ben Dillon; Jack Deegan, Fionn McEvoy; Conor Goode, Conor Buggie, Joe Larkin; Benny Lawlor, Tom Shiel, David Donohue.

Subs: Jack Larkin for McEvoy (35m), David Dineen for Buggie (40m), Cillian Maher for Donohue (43m), Jody Dillon for Comerford (48m).

Referee: Seamus Mulhare (The Heath)