Rosenallis spring a shock but just fall short of securing top spot

Laois Shopping Centre Senior Hurling Championship Gr A Rd 5 

Rosenallis 2-17 

Borris/Kilcotton 1-15 

ROSENALLIS and Borris/Kilcotton came into Sunday’s fixture knowing that they were both guaranteed a spot in the quarter-finals of the Laois Senior Hurling Championship, but there was still a chance for both teams to clinch top spot in their relative groups and fly straight into a semi-final.

Borris/Kilcotton came into the game as favourites and had looked impressive at times throughout the championship, but a slow start left them with too much to do and Rosenallis came away with a five point win.

Rosenallis needed to win by more than eight points to leapfrog Clough/Ballacolla in Group A and send themselves straight into a semi-final and despite making a great start to the game they couldn't quite reach that mark against a determined Borris/Kilcotton side.

Nine points split them at one stage in the first half, but Borris/Kilcotton dug deep as the game went on and used their bench very effectively in the second half as Rosenallis's running game became a little less dangerous as the game wore on.

For Borris/Kilcotton, their task was much mightier as they needed a 27 point victory to overtake Rathdowney-Errill in Group B, and as unlikely as it was before hand it became an impossibility quite early on.

Rosenallis used their athleticism and speed to great effect with the likes of Fiachra C Fennell and David Dooley making charging runs from deep while John Lennon and Brian Fitzpatrick were a pair of menaces in the full forward line, though Lennon was particularly impressive as he slotted four wonderful points from play in a devastating performance.

Lennon was just pipped for man of the match by the excellent Joey Keating who tallied up a hearty 2-2 from play from centre forward and like his compatriots used his own speed and power to make driving runs inside on the Borris/Kilcotton back line.

Borris/Kilcotton now face into a tough task in a fortnight as they take on Camross for the right to face Rathdowney-Errill in a semi-final while Rosenallis are looking ahead to a clash against senior newcomers Ballinakill who left it late on Sunday afternoon to clinch the other semi-final spot in Group A and the winners there will go on to face champions Clough-Ballacolla for a spot in the final.

The game started at a blistering speed with shots raining down at both ends, but Rosenallis' better accuracy saw them hold a three point lead after ten minutes with David Dooley (3), Joey Keating and Brian Fitzpatrick to Niall Coss and Stephen Dunphy, with Borris/Kilcotton having hit three bad wides.

Rosenallis took full control after a reply from Aaron Dunphy as they went on to score 1-4 to no reply, with their running game causing all sorts of problems for the Borris/Kilcotton backs.

Joey Keating and John Lennon both split the posts before a long range free from Dooley dropped into the square and Keating was on hand to strike it home off the ground, Fiachra C Fennell made a charging run up the field and landed a point of his own before a fourth score for Dooley put nine between them with 20 minutes played.

Borris/Kilcotton ended the half well despite losing Eoin Fitzpatrick to an injury with a bad looking gash on his head as Aaron Dunphy struck a brace of frees and Evan Quinlan launched one over from midfield.

Lennon and Stephen Dunphy traded scores at the death to make it 1-10 to 0-7 at half time.

Borris/Kilcotton got to work early in the second half with points from Evan Quinlan and Jer Quinlan but the work was undone in the blink of an eye when Joey Keating received the ball 30 metres from goal at the other end and raced inside to slam home his second goal.

The teams traded a trio of scores in the proceeding 10 minutes, Dunphy landed a brace of frees and Dean Carey struck from play for Borris/Kilcotton and it was similar for Rosenallis with two Dooley frees and a third from play by Lennon.

Borris/Kilcotton emptied the bench and it paid dividend heading into the final 10 minutes as PJ Scully fired over a wonderful brace of scores from play on the left wing and Stephen Phelan was the man on the spot in front of goal to lash it into the net and just four now separated the sides.

A couple of late frees for Dooley increased Rosenallis's advantage, but they couldn't reach the magic number of eight points to win the group.

SCORERS:

Rosenallis: David Dooley 0-9 (0-6fs), Joey Keating 2-2, John Lennon 0-4, Brian Fitzpatrick and Fiachra C Fennell 0-1 each.

Borris/Kilcotton: Aaron Dunphy 0-5 (0-4fs), PJ Scully 0-3 (0-1), Stephen Phelan 1-0, Stephen Dunphy and Evan Quinlan 0-2 each, Jer Quinlan, Dean Carey and Niall Coss 0-1 each.

BORRIS/KILCOTTON: Eoin Fleming; Eoin Daly, Steven Finan, Philip Tynan; Conor Kilbane, Enda Parlon, Evan Quinlan; Noah Quinlan, Colm Stapleton; Stephen Dunphy, Niall Coss, Eoin Fitzpatrick; Aaron Dunphy, Jer Quinlan, Neil Foyle.

Subs: Dean Carey for Fitzpatrick (18m, inj), PJ Scully for Daly (ht), Eoghain Coss for Foyle (42m), Stephen Phelan for N Coss (42m) ROSENALLIS: Stephen Kelly; Shane Farrell, Diarm.uid Dooley, John Maher; Colin Bennett, Fiachra C Fennell, Donnchadh Hartnett; Oran Gorman, Jimmy Hyland; Paddy Keating, Jack Friel, David Dooley; John Lennon, Brian Fitzpatrick, Joey Keating.

Subs: Sam Somers for P Keating (48m), Tommy Keating for C Friel (50m), Joey Shelley for Gorman (52m).

Referee: JJ Gorman (Clough/Ballacolla)