Abbeyleix St Lazarian's dispatch of Rosenallis to seal quarter-final spot with Rosenallis knocked out

Abbeyleix advanced to the quarter-finals of the Laois Senior Hurling Championship with a narrow victory over Rosenallis at O’Moore Park on a windy Sunday afternoon.

With the wind at their backs in the first half, Abbeyleix took full advantage, surging to a 10-point lead by halftime. This lead was built on the back of goals from Colin Byrne and Enda Rowland.

ABBEYLEIX 3-16

ROSENALLIS 2-22

Rowland's performance was exceptional, both in attack and in the traditional goalkeeping sense as he put in a very assured performance at the back and his distribution was excellent, and he also contributed 1-3 to his team’s tally at the other end.

Rosenallis fought back admirably in the second half, striving to close the gap that Abbeyleix had established. Despite their determined effort and a stretch of outstanding hurling, time was not on their side.

This loss spells the end of Rosenallis’ campaign in the Senior Championship. Even with one game remaining against Clough-Ballacolla, their path to the quarter-finals is closed. The silver lining for Rosenallis is that they won't face relegation concerns with no teams facing the drop in this year’s championship.

Abbeyleix took the lead initially through an Eoghan Fennelly free, but David Dooley was quick to reply with an excellent effort after showing some impressive speed to break away.

The wind was playing a big factor as Abbeyleix saw efforts from Eoin Relly and Ciaran Byrne sail between the sticks before Enda Rowland bombed a puckout and it flew all the way into the Rosenallis net to put six between the sides after just five minutes.

Rosenallis were reeling, but they managed to hit back through Dooley once more, only for Rowland to send the resulting puckout back over the bar at the other end for an unbelievable score.

Abbeyleix consolidated their dominance when Colin Byrne ran through in possession and buried the ball in the net after taking a couple of belts in the process and Abbeyleix were flying.

Conor Cosgrove and John Lennon settled things somewhat for Rosenallis with a couple of scores, though the aforementioned Byrne was on hand to reply with a point for his side.

A free from Fennelly followed by an excellent attempt from his own half by Aaron Carroll saw Abbeyleix edge further ahead, though they were reeled back by Dooey and Lennon.

A couple of stoppages made for a slow end to the half and Rosenallis left a couple of scores behind them with poor wides and they were punished by Colm Walsh from midfield and an wonderful point from his own 21 metre line by Rowland to bring the half to a close with a scoreline of 2-10 to 0-6.

Rosenallis came out now with the wind behind them and a target of 10 points to close the gap, which Lennon cut to nine just a minute into the half.

Fennelly struck a couple of frees either side of one back from Dooley as Rosenallis were beginning to find their feet and settle into the contest. John Lennon struck another from midfield and Jimmy Hyland was almost in for a goal but his shot was excellently blocked by Aaron Carroll and deflected over the bar.

Abbeyleix went on the attack from the resulting puckout and with Cormac Byrne claiming possession deep in enemy territory things were looking ominous for Rosenallis and Byrne fired it hard into the corner of the net for a crucial goal. Rosenallis responded well with points from Cosgrove and Dooley, but they were matched by Cormac Byrne and Fennelly just as quick.

At ten points down and thirteen minutes to play Rosenallis truly kicked into gear as they went on to hit seven points to no reply from their opponents over a ten minute period.

Jimmy Hyland was proving to be a handful and his got the first of the lot with a fabulous effort from range and Dooley followed up with a brace from placed balls. Conor Cosgrove added the fourth after taking a couple of big shots as he advanced and Fiachra C Fennell popped up with a great score on the run before Dooley added two more.

Abbeyleix were able to curtail Rosenallis with a Fennelly free, but Rosenallis kept coming late on with Jimmy Hyland launching one between the sticks on the turn before Dooley added one from a 65 and Cosgrove struck from play to put two between the sides in injury time.

Rowland was called upon once again for Abbeyleix when they were awarded a free around midfield against the wind and given the form the man was in all day the ball was only ever going over the bar to seal a huge win.