Laois GAA hurling kingpins suffer another shock in senior championship

For the second week in succession, Camross have been on the wrong side of a huge shock in the Laois SHC as Rosenallis came away from today's clash with a well deserved five points victory on Saturday evening in Laois Hire O'Moore Park.

Rosenallis took a big defeat against Rathdowney-Errill in their opener and despite Camross drawing, after the final whistle, to Portlaoise in dramatic scenes, they came into this contest as strong favourites.

Today's victors failed to read the script however, as they really dominated Camross from the off after racing into a six point lead within the opening 10 minutes.

A first half goal from a penalty by Stephen Kelly increased the gap, and a second half goal from Brian Fitzpatrick gave them a second win as Camross threatened a revival.

David Dooley was outstanding in midfield for the victors with the Laois captain putting in an incredible shift as he covered both ends of the field excellently, taking a couple of fine scores to keep his side ticking over while also making life tough for the Camross forwards with a fine display of tackling.

The result throws a cat amongst the pigeons in both groups, with Rosenallis now on two points in Group A and Camross only on one after two games in Group B.

Rosenallis made a roaring start to the contest with two early scores from Jimmy Hyland and Paddy Keating.
Despite a score back from Zane Keenan, the underdogs raced into a six point lead by the 10th minute as Keating landed his second, followed by excellent strikes by Conor Cosgrove and David Dooley.

John Lennon and Dooley added another point each as Rosenallis continued to keep Camross pinned inside their own half with serious work rate and aggression.

Ciaran Collier fired back for Camross, however, and Zane Keenan struck two frees in a row, with the umpires at both sides now being kept busy as the rate of scoring continued to increase. MORE BELOW PHOTO.

Zane Keenan scores for Camross. Pic: Denis Byrne

Scores from Brian Fitzpatrick and Dooley were cancelled out by a Keenan brace either side before Keenan went on to land two in a row, one of them being a fine effort after plucking a high ball over his man.

Just a point split the teams when Odhran Phelan split the posts from the terrace side into the breeze and after a reply from Lennon, Camross equalised with scores from Keenan and Collier.

Rosenallis continued to threaten however as Dooley followed a free with a menacing run inside and he was hauled down as he advanced on Tadhg Doran, resulting in a penalty that Stephen Kelly leathered into the net.

Keating and Cosgrove added to their tallies with strikes from distance before the final scores of the half went the way of Camross with Keenan and James Cuddy on target to make it 1-13 to 0-12 in favour of Rosenallis at half time.

Scores were much harder to come by after the restart, with the first coming eight minutes into the second half via a Dooley free before Zane Keenan replied after missing two earlier in the half.

Ben Deegan and Keenan were both on target as Camross tried to claw back the deficit, but a brace from Lennon restored the four point gap.

Keenan and Fitzpatrick traded scores before the latter raised Rosenallis's second green flag when Tadhg Doran's effort at blocking a Fiachra C Fennell rebounded into Fitzpatrick's path and he poked home off the ground in the 50th minute to put his side seven ahead.

Ashton Keenan pointed for Camross before Tom Cuddy went on a blazing run through the middle of the field and found Zane Keenan free just to the left of the goals and he buried it in the far corner to put a goal between them with three minutes of normal time left.

Camross scrambled as they attempted to find an equalising goal, but it eluded them as Rosenallis worked incredibly to keep them at bay and ultimately points from Jack Friel and David Dooley late on secured the win.

Final Score: 

ROSENALLIS 2-19
CAMROSS 1-17

TEAMS & SCORERS BELOW PHOTO:

Former Laois intercounty star John McLoughlin celebrates atates victory over Camross. Pic: Denis Byrne

SCORERS:

Rosenallis: David Dooley 0-6 (five frees), Brian Fitzpatrick 1-2, John Lennon 0-4, Paddy Keating 0-3, Stephen Kelly 1-0 (penalty), Conor Cosgrove 0-2, Jimmy Hyland 0-1, Jck Friel 0-1.

Camross: Zane Keenan 1-12 (0-8 frees), Ciaran Collier 0-2, Ben Deegan 0-1, Odhran Phelan 0-1, Ashton Keenan 0-1.

CAMROSS: Tadhg Doran; Darragh Duggan, Cathal Cuddy, Dwane Palmer; Eoghan Cuddy, Eoin Gaughan, Tom Cuddy; Odhran Phelan, Robert Tyrrell; Liam Delaney, Ciaran Collier, Zane Keenan; James Cuddy, Ben Deegan, Dan Delaney. Subs: Ashton Keenan for Delaney (47), Andrew Collier for J Cuddy (56), Darren Drennan for Deegan (60)

ROSENALLIS: Stephen Kelly; Shane Farrell, Diarmuid Dooley, Oran Gorman; John Maher, Fiachra C Fennell, Colin Bennett; Charlie Friel, David Dooley; Paddy Keating, John Lennon, Jack Friel; Jimmy Hyland, Brian Fitzpatrick, Conor Cosgrove. Subs: Joey Shelley for Maher (25), Tommy Keating for Cosgrove (48), Sam Somers for Gorman (56)

REFEREE: Anthony Stapleton (Rathdowney-Errill)