Goals prove key as Portlaoise get the better of Graiguecullen in Division 1

Two goals, one in either half, proved key as Portlaoise defeated Graiguecullen in Round 4 of the ACFL Division 1 in Fr Maher Park this evening.

Portlaoise 2-9

Graiguecullen 0-13

Graiguecullen wasted no time in opening the scoring as Shane O’Neill got the game’s first score in the opening minute. Portlaoise hit the front as they rattled in 1-2 without reply. Ricky Maher pointed a free for Portlaoise’s first score.

Damon Larkin went on a good run which resulted in a score for Larkin as he dissected the posts. The next score would be a green flag as Maher rattled the back of the Graiguecullen net.

Both sides scored two points each as Portlaoise held a four-point lead. David Seale and Kevin Swayne getting the Portlaoise points while Conor Kelly (free) and Jack Byrne pointing for the home side.

Graiguecullen would reduce the deficit to one at the break as Kelly pointed from play and from a free while a point from Aaron Forbes made it 1-4 to 0-6 at half-time.

Portlaoise would hit the game-defining score within two minutes of the restart as the midfield partnership Ciaran McEvoy and Kieran Lillis combined with the latter setting up McEvoy to blast the ball into the goal.

Graiguecullen responded well to the Portlaoise goal as they hit three scores unanswered. Kelly pointed another free while Lee Nolan and Forbes scored from play. The next four points would be scored by the eventual victors as Ciaran McEvoy added to his earlier goal with two successive points.

Portlaoise Goalkeeper Conor Brown ventured upfield and he set up the next score as he kicked a long ball into Lillis who caught a mark and pointed it. Lillis would add to his point with another score from play.

The home side weren’t going down without a fight as they replied with four points without any Portlaoise resistance. Kelly pointed another three scores, one from a free while Jamie Sheehan got a point from play.

In the middle of that dominant period, Graiguecullen thought they had levelled the game as Ben Dargan found Byrne with the young man palming into the net. However, he was adjudged to have been in the square and the goal was ruled out.

The game ebbed and flowed late on as Graiguecullen went in search of an equaliser but to no avail as Conor Boyle pushed Portlaoise two ahead in injury time with Des Cooney blowing the full-time whistle.