Camross advance to the semi-finals while Ballyfin's attention turns to the relegation play-off

Camross 4-25 

Ballyfin 0-22 

CAMROSS have joined Clough/Ballacolla in the semi-final stage of the Laois Shopping Centre SHC with a comfortable 15-point victory over Ballyfin in the first of Saturday’s double header in Laois Hire O'Moore Park.

While Camross had to get at least a point to guarantee themselves the four-week break, this game was a dead duck for Ballyfin as they knew their fate after Round 4, after four losses in succession there was no way they could move up the table in Group B.

It has been a long campaign for Ballyfin and they’ll have one final battle to come when they face Ballinakill in the relegation play off as they finished bottom in Group A.

Camross will be keeping a close eye on the quarter-final clash between Rosenallis and Abbeyleix, as the winners of that game will be facing the table toppers in the semi-final.

Despite nothing but pride being on the line for Ballyfin they battled very well against a strong Camross outfit and kept them on their toes for periods in the first half, but Camross looked inevitable despite hurling against the wind in that period and two goals ensured they held a half time lead.

The floodgates began to open slightly in the second half and Camross pulled away to a healthy lead with their bench adding further to the scoring, no doubt much to the delight of boss Mossy Burke ahead of the four-week gap with places up for grabs.

Oisin Bennett was awarded a starting spot in the forwards with some of the regulars not in the first 15 like Mossy Keyes and Mark Dowling, and Bennett took full advantage of the chance with an excellent display alongside fellow forwards Odhran Phelan and James Cuddy, while Eoin Gaughan was exceptional in midfield for the victors.

A strong gale blew towards Portlaoise on Saturday evening and Ballyfin had the use of it to open the game, but it was James Cuddy that opened the scoring in the Abbeyleix end with a point after just fifteen seconds.

Ballyfin took the lead in a matter of seconds with quick scores from the midfield duo of Ronan Carroll and Darragh Connolly before Camross midfielder Eoin Gaughan replied in kind.

Shane Connolly opened his account with a free and Eanna Lyons struck from play, but Camross were applying serious pressure high up the field early on and James Cuddy was almost in for a goal but his shot just skimmed the bar.

Points from Odhran Phelan, Zane Keenan and Oisin Bennett saw Camross into a two point lead before the underdogs came firing back with two long range efforts by their captain Allan Connolly and another free from Shane Connolly.

There was an inevitable feeling about a Camross goal and the breakthrough came on 20 minutes when Ciaran Collier did very well to win possession inside the 30 metre line and play it inside to Phelan to hammer the net.

Ballyfin responded will with a brace of Connolly frees before Camross broke the last line of defence once again, this time James Cuddy the finisher after a driving run and lobbed pass from Bennett to assist.

The sides traded points for the final five minutes of the half with Eanna Lyons on target twice for Ballyfin along with another from Darragh Connolly and Chris Dunne also chipped in from close range.

Camross kept them at arms' length however with scores from Collier, Tom Cuddy and Aaron Carrol to make it 2-11 to 0-13 at the break.

Now with the wind at their backs Camross began to pull away early in the second half with a trio of points from Mark Dowling, Darren Drennan and Gaughan within the opening two minutes.

To their credit, Ballyfin battled back with a brace of frees from Connolly and one from Lyons, though a double from Gaughan and a Zane Keenan 65 matched their tally.

Eoghan Cuddy and Odhran Phelan raised white flags to increase the gap even further before the game was totally put to bed when Mark Dowling took aim from well outside the 21 and rifled the ball into the bottom corner.

The Camross subs continued to fire with Gearoid Burke landing a brace and Dwane Palmer adding a single, following up on Dowling and Drennan's efforts earlier int he half.

Ballyfin continued to battled and managed scores from Darragh Connolly, Allan Connolly, Shane Connolly and Lyons but Camross continued to tip away at the other end with Bennett firing from play and Gaughan landing two frees from well inside his own half.

Oisin Bennett capped off an excellent performance at corner forward with a well taken finish for the final score of the game to send Camross through to the semi-finals on a high.

SCORERS:

Camross: Eoin Gaughan 0-7 (0-3fs), Odhran Phelan 1-3, Oisin Bennett and James Cuddy 1-2 each, Mark Dowling 1-1, Darren Drennan, Ciaran Collier, Zane Keenan 0-2 (f, 65) and Gearoid Burke 0-2 each, Tom Cuddy, Aaron Carroll, Eoghan Cuddy, Dwane Palmer 0-1 each.

Ballyfin: Shane Connolly 0-7 (fs), Eanna Lyons (0-1f) and Darragh Connolly 0-4, Allan Connolly 0-3, Ronan Carroll 0-2, Chris Dunne and Garreth Dunphy 0-1 each.

CAMROSS: Tadhg Doran; Aaron Carroll, Darragh Duggan, Conor Mortimer; Eoghan Cuddy, Cathal Cuddy, Tom Cuddy; Eoin Gaughan, Liam Delaney; Zane Keenan, Ciaran Collier, Odhran Phelan; James Cuddy, Dan Delaney, Oisin Bennett.

Subs: Mark Dowling for Delaney (ht), Darren Drennan for J Cuddy (ht), Gearoid Burke for Collier (40m), Dwane Palmer for E Cuddy (46m), Ciaran Collier for Dowling (57m, inj).

BALLYFIN: Eoin Connolly; Shane Conroy, Sean O'Neill, Cillian Rowney; David Connolly, Conall Rowney, Allan Connolly; Ronan Carroll, Darragh Connolly; Shane Connolly, Eanna Lyons, Garreth Dunphy; Jack Heffernan, Chris Dunne, Gary Hofmeister.

Referee: Anthony Stapleton (Rathdowney/Errill)