St Joseph’s show their class to win a third ACFL Division One title in four years

St Joseph's are once again the Laois Shopping Centre ACFL Division 1 champions after an impressive win over Ballyroan-Abbey in a sun-drenched LOETB Centre of Excellence on Saturday evening. Ballyroan-Abbey led for most of the game, but an unbelievable fourth quarter saw St Joseph's score 1-9 without reply to retain their league title. 

This was Ballyroan-Abbey's first ACFL Division 1 final since 1999, which is in stark contrast to St Joseph's, who came into the game as defending champions, with this their fourth consecutive appearance in the Division 1 final. 

St Joseph's 2-17 

Ballyroan-Abbey 0-13

Ballyroan-Abbey made a stuttering start to their league campaign, but a late surge saw them squeeze into the semi-finals, where they beat top side Portlaoise, while St Joseph's came through the other side of the draw with a win over Stradbally. 

Conditions were perfect in Portlaoise, but the sides took time to find their groove, with only two points scored at either end in the first 15 minutes. Josh Lacey and Gearoid Lynch pointed early for Joseph’s, but Ballyroan-Abbey battled back well and kicked five points on the bounce through Colm Walsh, Marty Scully, Ciaran Byrne and frees from James McWey and Enda McWey. 

With five minutes left in the first half, Conor Brennan was shown a black card as Ballyroan-Abbey were temporarily reduced to 14 men. But they still managed to outscore St Joseph's three points to two before the break, with two from James McWey and one from Walsh. Eoghan O’Flaherty and Matty Campion pointed for Joseph's, but their side ended the half four points down, 0-8 to 0-4 at the interval.

The third quarter was electric, with St Joseph’s kicking four points in the first ten minutes - two from Mick Keogh and one each from Lynch and Brian Daly. Ballyroan-Abbey were still in front thanks to frees from James McWey and Diarmuid Whelan, but with the momentum turning in St Joseph's' favour, Keogh got in for the game's first goal to give his side the lead.

Whelan kicked a two-point free to put Ballyroan-Abbey back in front heading into the final quarter, but Joseph's went up a gear after that, turning the game completely on its head. 

They began with a two-pointer from play from Keogh, followed by three points from Dylan Doyle, who made a massive impact off the bench, and one each from Lacey, O’Flaherty, Danny Hickey and Mikie Dempsey. 

With the clock ticking over to injury time, Dempsey put the cherry on top for St Joseph's when he raised their second green flag to confirm his side as the 2025 champions. 

SCORERS - St Joseph’s: Mick Keogh 1-4, Mikie Dempsey 1-1, Dylan Doyle 0-3, Gearoid Lynch, Josh Lacey and Eoghan O’Flaherty 0-2 each, Matty Campion, Brian Daly (free) and Danny Hickey 0-1 each. Ballyroan-Abbey: James McWey 0-5 (four frees), Diarmuid Whelan 0-3 (all frees), Colm Walsh 0-2, Martin Scully, Enda McWey (free) and Ciaran Byrne 0-1 each. 

ST JOSEPH'S: Aaron Cooney; Conor Kealy, Ian Shanahan, Tom Dunne; Josh Lacey, Danny Hickey, Sean Brennan; Mikie Dempsey, Gearoid Lynch; Matty Campion, Eoghan O’Flaherty, Adam Campion; Mick Keogh, Brian Daly, Seamus Farrelly. Subs: Jack Lacey for Dunne (HT), Dylan Doyle for M Campion (39), Eoin Johnson and Jamie Kelly for Hickey and Lacey (both 57), Ciaran Condron for Brennan (59).

BALLYROAN-ABBEY: Robbie Eyres; Ned Fitzpatrick, Conor Brennan, Danny Brennan; Conor McWey, Aaron McEvoy, Conaire Gee; Killian Byrne, Sean Murphy; Colm Walsh, Marty Scully, Ciaran Byrne; James McWey, Diarmuid Whelan, Enda McWey. Subs: Adam Jones for Eyres (41), Cathal Doyle for Scully (48), Padraig McMahon for E McWey (52), Paudi McDonald for C Byrne (55).

REFEREE: Michael Tarpey (Kilcavan)

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