Portarlington pull away late on to be crowned ACFL Division 5 champions

Portarlington beat local rivals O'Dempsey's to win the Laois Shopping Centre ACFL Division 5 title after a thoroughly entertaining final in the LOETB Centre of Excellence on a sunny Thursday evening.

The sides were level with ten minutes remaining, but Portarlington scored 2-6 without reply, including goals from Ceilum Maher and Hugo Connolly, to not only win the title but gain promotion to Division 4 in the process. Evan Lyons was on the assist for both goals, putting in a serious shift that also saw him kick ten points.

Portarlington 2-21

O'Dempsey's 2-9

Portarlington beat O'Dempsey's by eight points in the opening round of Division 5, but O'Dempsey's won every game since, finishing top of the table before going on to beat Mountmellick in the semi-finals.

Portarlington lost their final two games in the round-robin but still had enough in the tank to get past Ballylinan in the other semi-final. They made hard work of it here for an hour, but eventually got over the line in what was a thoroughly entertaining league final.

Portarlington kicked two early points through Hugo Emerson and Tom Corcoran but O'Dempsey's responded by going route one as big full forward Dan McCormack claimed high balls to twice raise green flags in the opening ten minutes.

O'Dempsey's added scores through Micheál Finlay and a free from Eoin Garry but Portarlington stalwart Evan Lyons landed five frees midway through the half - including one from outside the arc - to keep the game on a knife-edge.

O'Dempsey's were on the board again thanks to Garry, a '45 from Dylan Quick and another two from Finlay to lead by four points with five minutes to go before half-time. But Portarlington finished well with a score each from Connolly, Conor Maher and Corey Lyons to leave their side just a point adrift at the interval, down 2-6 to 0-11.

Dan McCormack pointed for O'Dempsey's just after the restart but scores from Corey Lyons and Tom Corcoran had Port level by the 40th minute. Eugene Nolan pointed two frees for O'Dempsey's while Evan Lyons responded in kind at the other end to leave the sides level going down the final stretch.

Portarlington introduced Ceilum Maher for the final quarter and what a difference he made, combining with Evan Lyons and Hugo Connolly as the trio scored the final 2-6 of the game that proved to be the winning of the tie for Portarlington.

Maher and Connolly scored 1-2 apiece, with Lyons kicking the other two scores as well as assisting both goals. It was an excellent passage of play from Portarlington who left the Centre of Excellence as deserved champions.

SCORERS - Portarlington: Evan Lyons 0-10 (0-7 frees), Hugo Connolly 1-3, Ceilum Maher 1-2, Tom Corcoran and Corey Lyons 0-2 each, Hugo Emerson and Conor Maher 0-1 each. O'Dempsey's: Dan McCormack 2-1, Micheál Finlay 0-3, Eoin Garry and Eugene Nolan (frees) 0-2 each, Dylan Quick 0-1 (45').

PORTARLINGTON: Evan Grattan; Graham Weldon, Adam Kirwan, Conor McCarthy; Tom Corcoran, Patrick Murray, Curtis Lyons; Daniel Stefanov, Hugo Connolly; Corey Lyons, Conor Maher, Matthew O’Sullivan; Hugo Emerson, Evan Lyons, Alex Dunne. Subs: Jordan Fallon for Dunne (HT), Cian Kelly for McCarthy (39), Ceilum Maher for Stefanov (45), John Cooney for C Maher (inj, 47).

O'DEMPSEY'S: Richard Dowling; Eimhin O'Neill, Thomas Finlay, Lorchan Coleman; Dylan Quick, Thomas Kehoe, Jack Doris; Patrick Maher, Derek Dunne; Joe Finn, Eoin Garry, Sam Molloy; Micheál Finlay, Dan McCormack, Eoin Finlay. Subs: Eugene Nolan for Garry (20), Aaron Fitzpatrick for E Finlay (HT), Darragh Fox for Doris (45), Ross McMahon and Gerry Carlin for Molloy and McCormack (both 60).

REFEREE: Maurice Deegan (Stradbally)