Senior Top Four finals success for Portlaoise Panthers

PORTLAOISE Panthers enjoyed their share of MABB Senior Top Four finals success on Sunday, with both their Women’s Division One Black and Men’s White teams lifting their respective titles in St Mary’s Hall.

Having beaten Tullamore in the semi-final on Thursday night, the Portlaoise women set up a title-match date with a Clonaslee team that had beaten them by 14 points in the last four of the Division One Cup earlier in the season.

And, while they were forced to weather another huge challenge on Sunday, Panthers managed to exact revenge as they edged a thrilling 58-55 victory.

Portlaoise enjoyed a bright start to this decider, opening up an eight-point advantage, but Clonaslee were not going away, and while the gap was widened to nine in the third, they fought back to overtake by the narrowest of margins.

The two sides continued to go toe-to-toe throughout the fourth, Portlaoise regaining the lead and managing to stave off their rivals down the stretch.

Under 18 players Chloe Byrne and Vakara Simkus turned in huge performances for Portlaoise, while the experience of Shauna Burke and Amy Byrne also proved vital in seeing Panthers navigate the huge test from Clonaslee who were inspired by the likes of Sarah Corbet.

“Clonaslee are a dogged team,” remarked Portlaoise head coach, Aoife O’Malley.

“One thing I said to the girls before the game started was that Clonaslee were going to come out with fire in their belly and if we didn’t have the same fire, we weren’t going to win the game.

“So we had to match them and we did. Every one of our girls who stepped foot on the floor today did their job and made a huge impact.

“In the third quarter, we were nine points up and Clonaslee clawed it back. We just couldn't seem to pull away. They just had that fight and they just kept pulling it back.

“But our girls just kept their heads. Their composure was brilliant. They didn't let the occasion get to them and they just made it over the finish line,” she told the Laois Nationalist.

Winning the Top Four title was a feat made all the more remarkable by the fact that this Portlaoise outfit is in its first year together, and what’s more, they have not had the opportunity to train as a team throughout the entire season.

“We haven’t actually had a training session as a team all season because we haven’t been able to get hours in the hall with the lack of facilities,” explained O’Malley.

“We have trained with the Super League girls or with the BIDL team, but as a team for the Midland League, we haven't actually had a chance to have a training session as a team on their own.

“So if we can get an hour next year that suits, I’d just like to see where that group can go, because they’re so young. The oldest on the team is 24. I’m hugely proud of them. They listen, they want to learn and go out and improve their own game all the time,” she said.

It was a one-two for Portlaoise in the Women’s Division One regular season, with the Panthers Masters crowned Division One winners following their hard-fought 54-46 victory over Portlaoise Black in the penultimate game of the campaign last month.

That team boasted three players among the league’s top seven average game scorers over the regular season, including Catherine Ashe in fourth on a 16.6 average with Maeve Cahillane just behind on 16.3 and Sinead Melia on 15.7.

Last Sunday’s Senior Top Four Finals saw Portlaoise Men’s White scoop the D2 honour after they emerged victorious over TUS Midlands in their respective decider in St Mary’s Hall.

After finishing fifth in the regular season, they surmounted Kildare Gliders seconds in the penultimate rounds of their Top Four competition before completing their march to the title at the expense of TUS.

A mixture of National League competitors, young players and Over 40s, this team is captained by Greg Dunne and turned in a second half surge to prevail in Sunday’s decider, with James Phelan, Dylan Dunne and Trevor Swayne inflicting the bulk of the damage for them on the day.