Portlaoise retain their status, and Castletown hold out hope of retaining theirs
Aaron Bergin scored 1-11 in Portlaoise's SEnior Hurling Relegation final win over Castletown Photo: Denis Byrne
PORTLAOISE may have ensured their senior hurling status for another year, but not before getting a mighty fright from Castletown last Saturday. Granted they were playing into the strong wind in Colt in the opening half of their Relegation final, but they still had to put in a determined performance on the restart to shake off the Noresiders’ challenge.
But by a bizarre anomaly, the loss might not necessarily result in Castletown being relegated.
Rathdowney/Errill defeated Mountmellick in the much delayed Premier Intermediate semi-final which means they will face Ballyfin in the final.
Should Rathdowney/Errill win the final they cannot be promoted as they already have a team in the Senior championship.
It is not clear what will happen if that is how events unfold. It if does, there appears to be a general understanding that Ballyfin will play Castletown to determine who is promoted/relegated.
If that is the case and Ballyfin win then Castletown will be relegated while Ballyfin will win promotion to Senior.
On Saturday Castletown made a great start as a goal from Martin Phelan saw them lead by 1-2 to 0-3 after ten minutes. But they failed to kick on and some abysmal shooting did not help their cause and by the Portlaoise kept trailed by just four points at half time, 1-7 to 0-6.
No sooner had play resumed when DJ White struck for a goal and turned the game on its head. They went ahead in the 42nd minute when Aaron Bergin converted a penalty.
Once they got there noses in front, Portlaoise never looked back. They held their nerves and even a late Joe Phelan goal could not deny them.
Aaron Bergin 1-11 (1-0 pen, 0-10fs), DJ White 1-1, Dean Lynch 0-2, Cathal Duggan, Conor Raggett, John Mark Foley and Eddie Critchley 0-1 each.
Kyron Cuddy 0-5 (0-4fs, 0-1 65), Martin Phelan 1-1, Joe Phelan 1-0, Ciaran McKelvey 0-2 (0-1f), Brendan Reddin, Callum Peters, Tadhg Cuddy, Jack Breen and Ryan Mullaney 0-1 each.
Brochan O’Reilly; Bryan Naughton, John Mark Foley, Eoin O’Connor; Conor Raggett, Cormac Rigney, Cian Dowling Byrne; Dean Lynch, Jamie Keenan; Sean Culleton, Aaron Bergin, Cathal Duggan; DJ White, Ben Brennan, Eddie Critchley.
David O’Mahony for Critchley (44m), Colin McEvoy for Keenan (57m).
Patrick Mullaney; Rory Kelly, Shane Phelan, Killian Cuddy; Callum Peters, Ryan Mullaney, Ciaran McKelvey; Tommy Goode, Tadhg Cuddy; Martin Phelan, Conor Doran, Ryan Peters; Jack Breen, Brendan Reddin, Kyron Cuddy.
Joe Phelan for Peters (44m), Shane Cuddy for R Peters (50m).
John Lalor (Shanahoe)
