Seriously strong first half ensures victory for the Saints
Brian Daly was on the mark for St Joseph's, scoring 1-5, on Saturday night in the Kelly Cup first round defeat of Courtwood Photo: Paul Dargan
Kelly Cup Group B Rd 1
St Joseph’s 5-14
Courtwood 2-5
CLUB football returned to Laois this week with the advent of the 2025 Kelly Cup. St Joseph’s welcomed Courtwood to Kellyville in Group B on Friday evening with the clubs getting their first chance to play under Gaelic football's new rules.
The home side hit the ground running, and a ran out comfortable winners thanks to seriously one-sided first half. St Joseph’s were up 0-4 to 0-1 after ten minutes thanks to two Brian Daly frees and two delightful scores from play from Josh Lacey.
Courtwood had two points on the board after 15 minutes thanks to a pair of Rory Doyle frees, but they never laid a glove on Joseph’s in the second quarter as the hosts had the freedom of Kellyville.
Mick Keogh raised the first green flag of the evening midway through the first half and St Joseph’s had the ball in the net less than two minutes later thanks to a tap-in from Seamus Farrelly.
Keogh and Farrelly combined to create the third Joseph’s goal, carving up the Courtwood backline before playing in Daly who made no mistake. Points from Daly, Keogh, Mikey Fleming and Gearoid Lynch had St Joseph’s in total control at half time, leading 3-8 to 0-2.
The hosts were fast out of the blocks after the break with Fleming, Farrelly and Daly all on target before Courtwood kicked three points of their own through Michael Doyle, Paul O'Flynn and Robbie Flynn.
Keogh and Lacey pointed in reply before Farrelly bagged his second three-pointer with his shot smashing off the crossbar and in.
It was Courtwood's turn to raise a green flag with the game entering the final quarter when Dan Boland beat replacement goalkeeper Dan Dunne with a tidy finish. Daly pointed in response, but the visitors went on the attack again with substitute Rohan O'Toole firing the ball home for Courtwood's second goal.
St Joseph’s still had enough to win the second half, however, and closed out the game with a goal from Oisin Hooney, who spotted Matthew Byron off his line and lobbed the ball in to complete the rout.
St Joseph’s will travel to Crettyard on Thursday while Courtwood are once again on the road as they prepare for the trip to Rosenallis next Saturday.
SCORERS:
St Joseph’s: Seamus Farrelly 2-1, Brian Daly 1-5 (0-3fs), Mick Keogh 1-3, Josh Lacey 0-3, Oisin Hooney 1-0, Mikey Fleming and Gearoid Lynch 0-1 each.
Courtwood: Dan Boland and Rohan O'Toole 1-0 each, Rory Doyle 0-2 (fs), Michael Doyle (f), Paul O'Flynn and Robbie Flynn 0-1 each.
ST JOSEPH’S: Adam Nickle-Waugh; Jack Gorman, Ciaran Condron, Conor Kealy; Charlie Crehan, Niall Brennan, Eoin Cahill; Gearoid Lynch, Sean Brennan; Eoghan O'Flaherty, Mikey Fleming, Josh Lacey; Mick Keogh, Brian Daly, Seamus Farrelly.
Subs: Matty Campion for Lynch (19m), Oisin Hooney for O'Flaherty (23m), Dan Dunne for Nickle-Waugh (ht), Tom Dunne for Kealy (ht), Jamie Kelly and Cahill (ht).
COURTWOOD: Mathew Byron; Evan Kelly, Adam O'Halloran, Nathan Little; Jake Doyle, Sean O'Flynn, Darragh McEvoy; Rob Tyrell, Michael Doyle; Colm Wilson, Dan Boland, Paul O'Flynn; Rory Doyle, Dylan Keane, Robbie Flynn.
Subs: Cian Bailey for Wilson (ht), Rohan O'Toole for R. Doyle (ht), Ciaran Boland for McEvoy (ht), David Duffy for Kelly (38m), Liam Ward for O'Halloran (inj, 46m).
Referee: Eugene Dowdall (Ballylinan)
