Portarlington pull away to see off spirited Graiguecullen
Stephen McKeon (Portarlington) breaking against Graiguecullen in their JFC 'B' semi-final at the Centre of excellence on Wednesday evening Photo: Denis Byrne
PORTARLINGTON are through to the Laois Shopping Centre JFC 'B' final after running out eight-point winners over Graiguecullen in the LOETB Centre of Excellence on Wednesday night.
The victors were made to work very hard for the win as Graiguecullen led early on and produced a spirited comeback in the second half when Port led, but in the end Portarlington's pace moving the ball was the difference as Graiguecullen never got to grips of it.
It was Graiguecullen that got off to the better start as they went into a deserved early lead by kicking over three-points in a row.
Conor Harte, James Doogue and Dean Malone all pointed to seize control for Graiguecullen.
It took Portarlington ten minutes to get on the scoreboard through Evan Lyons as they started to settle after a slow start to the game.
Graiguecullen would respond again with points from Dean Malone and Conor Harte, but that was as good as it got for their side as Portarlington took over the game.
It took them time to get going but when they did, they were very impressive in attack. They reeled off three points in a row through Cathal Ward, Corey Lyons and Jack Whelan narrowing the gap to a point.
Port then struck for their first goal of the game which came through Ben McCann. The forward turned over the ball and ran down the end line and blasted the ball to the net to give Port the lead for the first time in the 26th minute and they never looked back.
Corey Lyons and Matthew O'Sullivan to open up a two-point lead. Graiguecullen got on the scoreboard in response with a point from Luke Alysbury as they were digging deep to stay in the contest.
Cathal Ward then got another point to his name before the brilliant Ben McCann found the net for a second time of the game to give Portarlington a 2-7 to 0-6 lead at half time, but they were made to work for it.
Evan Lyons and Conor Harte swapped points after the break as Portarlington tried to add to their lead.
Evan Lyons and Cathal Ward added further points, and it looked like the game was over early in the second half.
But Graiguecullen weren't finished as Dean Malone gave Graiguecullen a boost with a well taken goal in the 40th minute to renew hope for Graiguecullen.
A minute later, Malone hit the net for his second goal after great work from Chris Hurley and now it was game on as Graiguecullen now had all the momentum.
However, Portarlington settled again and would kick the next four points in a row to halt the Graiguecullen comeback.
Ben McCann, Corey Lyons, Cathal Ward and Evan Lyons all pointed to restore the Portarlington lead to seven-points.
Malone would hit another free, but time was against his side. PJ Ward and Matthew O'Sullivan rounded off the scoring as Portarlington booked their place in the final.
Portarlington: Ben McCann 2-1, Evan Lyons and Cathal Ward 0-4 each, Corey Lyons 0-3, Matthew O'Sullivan 0-2, Jack Whelan and PJ Ward 0-1 each.
Graiguecullen: Dean Malone 2-3 (0-2fs), Conor Harte 0-3 (0-1), Luke Alysbury and James Doogue 0-1 each.
Adam O'Reilly; Jack Murphy, Dylan Murphy, Conor Moran; Stephen McKeon, Matthew O'Sullivan, Lucas Coleman; Corey Lyons, Jack Whelan; Cathal Ward, Evan Lyons, Jordan Fallon; Ben McCann, PJ Ward, Conor Maher.
Sub: Conor McCarthy for PJ Ward (40m).
Cody W Tucker; Eoghan Kavanagh, Denis Byrne, Conor Holohan; Jamie Duggan, Luke Alysbury, Adam Kerfah; Oisin Harte, James Doogue; Conor Hayden, Chris Hurley, Shane O'Neil; Lee Murphy, Conor Harte, Dean Malone.
Subs: Ciaran Scully for Hayden (40m), Conor Hayden for Harte (48m).
Eamon O'Connell (Courtwood)
