Portarlington maintain bragging rights after defeating local rivals O'Dempsey's

A rematch of the 2022 county final was in store on this beautiful Friday evening in McCann Park. Portarlington had comprehensively defeated their neighbours O'Dempsey's when the sides met back in October for the big one, and they once more triumphed here again.

Portarlington, who are now under the guidance of former Galway Senior hurling manager Anthony Cunningham, opened the scoring on their home patch in front of a sizeable crowd.

Portarlington 1-14

O'Dempsey's 1-8

Colm Murphy kicked over the first score of the day. O'Dempsey's responded strongly though and rattled off the next three scores, with their main man Mark Barry back available to give them a boost.

Lorcan O'Sullivan landed the men in blue and gold's first point before Barry fired over two on the trot. They were both quality scores as well, as he managed to find the target twice under pressure and from tight angles.

Portarlington hit back with the next three points of their own though. Ronan Coffey, who put in a top-class display throughout, placed over two nice points from play. 

Colm Murphy then intercepted an O'Dempsey's kick-out before setting up Daragh Galvin for a score which saw them edge back ahead. Eoin Finlay levelled matters down the other end though, as he spun and curled over from an acute angle.

Portarlington had the first real sight of a goal. Dylan Murphy made a driving run from corner-back but his shot was straight at Padraig Bannon in the O'Dempsey's net and was subsequently saved.

That was a sign that Portarlington were beginning to turn the screw though. They dominated the second quarter of this match and that was ultimately where this game was won.

Ronan Coffey floated over a classy outside-of-the-boot score. Colm Murphy then intercepted another O'Dempsey's kick-out that ended up with him winning a free and placing it over.

Portarlington then got their goal after a swift and powerful counter-attacking move. It started with Robbie Pigott turning O'Dempsey's over and ended with Ronan Coffey calmly slotting the ball into the back of the net.

Colm Murphy kicked the final score of the first half, as Portarlington enjoyed a comfortable 1-8 to 0-4 cushion at the interval.

The county champions picked up where they left off at the start of the second half. Colm Murphy converted a free before they almost got in for goal number two.

Portarlington's Jordan Fitzpatrick's hard work and pressing meant that O'Dempsey's were turned over close to their own goal. It looked like Daragh Galvin was going to palm home from close range, but O'Dempsey's corner-back Eimhin O'Neill denied him by clearing the ball off the line.

Nevertheless, Portarlington continued to build on their advantage. Colm Murphy converted two more frees either side of a booming long-range score from Robbie Piggott.

O'Dempsey's, to their credit, finished the final quarter on top. Mark Barry and Matthew Finlay fired over frees before the two combined for an O'Dempsey's goal.

Matthew 'Hatch' Finlay fired a perfectly weighted pass into Barry that caught Portarlington's defence on the back foot. Barry the played a one-two with Eoin Finlay before drilling a low shot into the bottom right corner.Eoin Finlay planted over a fantastic

score from distance to leave five points between the teams with ten minutes of normal time remaining. However, Portarlington composed themselves to see out the result.

Rioghan Murphy was introduced off the bench and he curled over a fine point shortly after he came on. Coffey then completed his scoring for the night with another excellent outside of the boot score.

The result leaves O'Dempsey's rooted to the bottom of ACFL Division 1, while Portarlington jump up to second behind St Joseph's.