Clough-Ballacolla’s second string storm to ACHL Division 2 success against The Harps

Clough-Ballacolla and The Harps met in the Laois Shopping Centre ACHL Division 2 final on Friday evening, with Clough-Ballacolla leaving the LOETB Centre of Excellence with the crown.

The game was nip and tuck for the majority of the first half, but a late flurry from Clough-Ballacolla gave them a five-point lead at the interval. The Harps pulled a goal back early in the second half, but there was no stopping Clough-Ballacolla, who romped home to an eight-point victory.

Clough-Ballacolla 2-21

The Harps 2-13

Having finished the round robin in first place, Clough-Ballacolla beat Camross in the semi-finals, while The Harps beat Rosenallis in the final four after they finished in fourth place overall. Clough-Ballacolla won by seven points when these two sides met three weeks ago, and they once again proved to be the better team in this hotly anticipated decider.

The scores were flying over left, right and centre in the opening 15 minutes, with both sides desperate to assert dominance. Clough-Ballacolla got out in front early with two frees from Kevin Hyland, two scores from play from Chris Rafter and one from Gary Whelan.

The Harps had two points on the board through Mark Downey and equalised when Liam Kirby found Ross Deegan, who played in Downey for a great goal. Clough-Ballacolla added scores through Hyland, Rafter and two from Padraigh Brenna,n but only led by a point midway through the half as Michael John Monahan pointed two frees for The Harps and Hugh Whelan scored from play.

There were another four points after that from the Durrow/Cullohill club, with one each from Monahan and Jack Kennedy, plus two more from Whelan. Clough-Ballacolla picked off five more points of their own, coming from five different forwards - Rafter, Evan Cassin, Colin Doheny, Sean Corby and Gary Whelan - before Whelan raised a green flag to leave his side up 1-14 to 1-9 at half time.

The Harps scored their second goal shortly after the restart thanks to a sublime solo effort from Ross Deegan, but that was almost immediately cancelled out when Rafter hit the net at the other end.

Clough-Ballacolla then added four points through Cassin, Hyland, Corby and Brennan to go eight points up approaching the final quarter. The Harps pointed three in a row through Kennedy, Monahan and Deegan, but Clough-Ballacolla closed out the game with three unanswered scores of their own as Peter Rafter, Chris Rafter and Sean Corby put the finishing touches on an excellent all-round performance.

As this is Clough-Ballacolla's second team, they cannot be promoted to Division 1, meaning Portlaoise avoid relegation from the top tier by default, despite finishing bottom.

SCORERS - Clough-Ballacolla: Chris Rafter 1-5 (0-1 free), Gary Whelan 1-2, Kevin Hyland 0-4 (two frees), Padraig Brennan and Sean Corby 0-3 each, Evan Cassin 0-2, Peter Rafter (free) and Colin Doheny 0-1 each. The Harps: Mark Downey 1-3, Ross Deegan 1-1, Michael John Monahan 0-4 (all frees), Hugh Whelan 0-3, Jack Kennedy 0-2.

CLOUGH-BALLACOLLA: Peter Rafter; Aaron Boyhan, Emmet Saunders, Joseph Pearson; Paddy Meade, Lochlainn Conway, Darragh Hogan; Padraigh Brennan, Jim Hyland; Evan Cassin, Colin Doheny, Chris Rafter; Kevin Hyland, Sean Corby, Gary Whelan. Subs: Sean Hayes for Pearson (inj, 34), Eoin Duggan for Hogan (51), Ben Delaney for J Hyland (54), TJ Hally and Bill Bryan for Corby and Doheny (both 58).

THE HARPS: Peter Walsh; Will Duggan, Pat Walshe, Jack Dunphy; Jimmy Whyte, Conor Dunne, Ben Dunphy; Donal Deegan, Jack Kennedy; Darren Maher, Hugh Whelan, Michael John Monahan; Liam Kirby, Ross Deegan, Mark Downe. Subs: Lochlainn Curran for Maher (38), David Doheny for Whyte (45), Liam Dunphy for Monahan (56).

REFEREE: Patrick Phelan (Castletown)