Portarlington power into senior final with dominant win over Killeshin
Colm Murphy (Portarlington) driving this penalty kick low and hard to the net in their Senior Football Championship semi-final win over Killeshin Photo: Denis Byrne
Portarlington 2-19
Killeshin 0-10
PORTARLINGTON will get the chance to defend their Laois Shopping Centre Senior Football Championship crown against Courtwood after a comprehensive victory over Killeshin in Sunday’s semi-final at Laois Hire O’Moore Park.
The champions were in control for the entire contest and eventually ran out 15-point winners to move within one game of a sixth title in seven years.
It means there will be a repeat of last year’s final on October 11, when Portarlington and Courtwood required a replay to separate them. Portarlington are now chasing a second successive three-in-a-row of county titles.
Killeshin struggled to make an impact in attack and goalkeeper Killian Roche accounted for eight of their 10 points. In fact, Roche was responsible for all of Killeshin’s scores until the 56th minute, highlighting the difficulty they had in breaking through the Portarlington defence.
Robbie Piggott opened the scoring for Portarlington after three and a half minutes and the champions quickly established control. Jordan Fitzpatrick, Rioghan Murphy, Curtis Lyons and Paddy O’Sullivan all followed with points as Portarlington moved five clear without reply.
Roche finally got Killeshin on the scoreboard after 10 minutes when he converted a two-pointer from play, but Portarlington immediately responded by stretching their advantage again.
Colm Murphy got his first point before he was involved in the opening goal. Murphy was brought down inside the square and took responsibility from the penalty spot, finding the bottom corner to put Portarlington firmly in command.
The second goal arrived soon afterwards. Ronan Coffey picked out Rioghan Murphy with an excellent pass and Rioghan drove towards goal before finishing confidently into the net.
His goal was followed by another Colm Murphy free, leaving Killeshin with a significant deficit to overcome.
Roche produced a moment of quality of his own when he converted a sideline ball from outside the arc, but Portarlington continued to find scores. Fitzpatrick and Colm Murphy added further points before Roche converted a two-point free, his third orange flag of the half, leaving the champions 2-9 to 0-6 ahead at the interval.
There was little sign of a comeback after the restart as Portarlington immediately added three more points. Keith Bracken got the first before Fitzpatrick and Rioghan Murphy also found the target.
Roche responded with another two-pointer for Killeshin, but Portarlington were now well clear and continued to build on their advantage.
Rioghan Murphy converted a free before adding a two-pointer, while Colm Murphy added two further points to his tally. Hugh Connolly and Sean Michael Corcoran also got on the scoresheet as Portarlington moved towards the finish with the outcome long since decided.
Killeshin finally found another scorer when Eoin Lowry registered their first point of the afternoon that did not come from Roche.
Jack Milton added the final score for Killeshin, but it was merely a consolation as Portarlington completed a 15-point victory and booked their place in another Laois SFC final.
SCORERS:
Portarlington: Rioghan Murphy (1tp, 0-1f) and Colm Murphy (1-0 pen, 0-2fs) 1-5 each, Jordan Fitzpatrick 0-3, Robbie Piggott, Curtis Lyons, Paddy O’Sullivan, Hugh Connolly, Keith Bracken and Sean Michael Corcoran 0-1 each.
Killeshin: Killian Roche 0-8 (2tpf, 1tp, 1tp sideline), Eoin Lowry and Jack Milton 0-1 each.
PORTARLINGTON: Evan Grattan; Alex Mohan, Tom Corcoran, Conor Moran; Robbie Piggott, Jason Moore, Curtis Lyons; Keith Bracken, Sean Byrne; Paddy O’Sullivan, Rioghan Murphy, Hugh Connolly; Jordan Fitzpatrick, Ronan Coffey, Colm Murphy.
Subs: Sean Michael Corcoran for Coffey (Blood, 25-27m), Daragh Galvin for Moore (ht), Eoin McCann for Byrne (44m), Sean Michael Corcoran for C Murphy (49m), Sean Moran for Connolly (51m), Hugo Emerson for Bracken (53m).
KILLESHIN: Killian Roche; Jack Brennan, Dave McDermott, Brendan McDonald; Michael Gaffney, James Davis, Leeson Hughes; Michael Doran, Conor Heffernan; Eoin Cawley, Evan English, Jack Milton; Evan Lowry, Eoin Lowry, James Doogue.
Subs: Adam Farrell for Gaffney (35m), Eoin Brennan for McDermott (40m), Kaelum Hand for Cawley (51m), Cathal Byrne for Doogue (53m), Pa Fitzgerald for McDonald (53m).
Referee: Hugh Coghlan (Park/Ratheniska)
