Portlaoise plummeted by Clough/Ballacolla who advance to SHC semi-final

Clough/Ballacolla 5-31 

Portlaoise 0-12 

CLOUGH/Ballacolla have cruised through to The Laois Shopping Centre SHC semi-final after hammering Portlaoise 34 points in Laois Hire O'Moore Park on Friday night.

From start to finish they had too much for the town side and once again find themselves in a semi-final place and will get a four-week break.

There will be bigger tests to come, but Clough/Ballacolla are exactly where they want to be back in a semi-final.

There were some brilliant performances from Stephen 'Picky' Maher, Willie Dunphy and Joe Corby, but in truth Clough/Ballacolla won all their individual battles.

The victors got off to a fast start and reeled off four quick scores through Joe Corby who got two in that scoring spurt with Willie Dunphy and Picky Maher all scoring.

DJ White got Portlaoise off the mark, but it was all Clough/Ballacolla. They hit another four points in a row as they looked to run riot.

Diarmaid Conway, a brace from Picky Maher and Joe Corby added another point. White responded with another free as Portlaoise had no answer to Clough/Ballacolla.

Mark Hennessy then got the first goal of the game after Brochan O'Reilly made a brilliant save from Robbie Phlean, but Hennessy was there to finish the rebound.

Maher then added another brace, and it was game over after 18 minutes 1-10 to 0-2.

Cathal Duggan then got a free for Portlaoise, but the victors hit over another two points from Maher and Colm Brennan.

Duggan added another free, before the second goal of the game came through Cillian Dunne, after O'Reilly saved another effort from Colm Brennan, Dunne was on hand to find the net.

Sean Culleton and then Willie Dunphy then traded points before half time, before Dunphy and DJ White would hit two more points.

Brian Corby hit the last point of the half with the scores 2-16 to 0-6 at the break.

The second half was the same as the first half, a dominant display from Clough/Ballacolla.

Ciaran McEvoy got the scoring under way for Portlaoise, but Clough/Ballacolla would respond with another four-points in a row from another brace from Picky Maher while Joe Corby and Willie Dunphy added further points.

Cathal Duggan added another free for Portlaoise, but it was all Clough/Ballacolla and it was matter how much they wanted to win by.

Picky Maher found another goal through his boot while Cormac Hogan would hit a fourth goal for Clough/Ballacolla.

In that period there was also points from Hogan, Willie Dunphy, and Picky Maher to leave the scores at 4-25 to 0-8 points with still a chunk of normal time to go.

Both sides then traded points on three occasions with Joe Corby, Willie Dunphy and Diarmaid Conway on target for the victors while DJ White and two points from Cormac Rigney were the Portlaoise scorers.

Clough/Ballacolla added a fifth goal through a Picky Maher penalty and his side cruised home with a further three points from Maher himself saw Clough/Ballacolla cruise to the semi-finals.

SCORERS:

Clough/Ballacolla: Stephen Maher 2-12 (1-0 pen, 0-2 65s, O-5fs), Willie Dunphy and Joe Corby 0-6 each, Cormac Hogan 1-1, Mark Hennessy and Cillian Dunne 1-0 each, Diarmaid Conway, Colm Brennan and Brian Corby 0-2 each,.

Portlaoise: DJ White 0-4 (0-3fs), Cathal Duggan 0-3 (fs), Cormac Rigney 0-2, Sean Culleton, Ciaran McEvoy, Gary Bergin 0-1 each.

CLOUGH/BALLACOLLA: Cathal Dunne; Diarmaid Conway, Darren Maher, Cormac Hogan; Brian Corby, Lee Cleere, Lochlainn; Jordan Walshe, Joe Corby; Robbie Phelan, Willie Dunphy, Stephen Maher; Cillian Dunne, Mark Hennessy, Colm Brennan.

Subs: Aidan Corby for D Maher (57m).

PORTLAOISE: Brochan O'Reilly; Frank Flanagan, Ciaran McEvoy, Eoin O'Connor; Ross Brennan, Cormac Rigney, Conor Raggett; Dean Lynch, Sean Luke Taylor; David Delaney, Liam Conroy, Matthew Dempsey; DJ White, Cathal Duggan, Sean Culleton.

Subs: Jamie Keenan for Flanagan (ht), Cian Dowling Byrne for Luke Taylor (ht), Gary Bergin for Delaney (ht), Sean Powders for Lynch (58m), Cormac Keegan for Raggett (58m).

Referee: Kieran Bowe (Rathdowney/Errill)