Laois GAA senior hurling championship witnesses winning Abbeyleix comeback

A remarkable late comeback from Abbeyleix saw them come from seven points down with 15 minutes left on the clock to secure a draw with Castletown in their Laois SHC clash in Laois Hire O’Moore Park on Saturday evening.

It was the curtain raiser for the round two triple header and though it wasn’t a hugely free flowing game there was plenty of excitement in the latter stages as St Lazerians clawed away at the deficit and scored eight of the last nine points to rescue a point, a feat which looked most unlikely for a long period.

Both sides came into this off the back of opening round losses and now both sit one one point after two games.

Callum Peters starred in midfield for Castletown in just his second game at adult championship level and his early goal got his side off to a great start, setting the tone for a wildly energetic performance from the youngster.

Ryan Mullaney and Shane Phelan were also fantastic in the backs for Castletown, playing major roles in a unit that held the lively Abbeyleix forward to just five points from play.

Cormac Byrne kept Abbeyleix GAA in contention for long periods as he slotted 12 of their 17 points, ten of which came from frees, as they struggled to break down their opponents.

On the other hand, Castletown had eight different scorers, and by half time they had six unique scorers from play after looking much the better team in the opening half, but they were unable to drive it home and pull away in the second.

Castletown led from the off after an early goal from Callum Peters. They were the dominant side right up until the midway stage of the second half when Abbeyleix began to creep back in slowly.

Abbeyleix managed just a single score from play in the first half, with all scores coming from Cormac Byrne while Castletown had six different scorers from play in the opening 30 minutes. MORE BELOW PHOTO.

Colin Byrne, Abbeyleix, points this sliotar with Rory Kelly, Castletown looks to block.

The second half opened with Castletown adding to their five points half time lead but a late flurry of Abbeyleix scores and eventually a Colin Byrne score in the depths of injury time saved a point for Abbeyleix.

Castletown raced into a five point lead early on with a score from Ciaran McKelvey from range kicking things off followed by a Jack Breen effort.

They then raised a green flag when Callum Peters took off on a pacey run from the 45 and battled past several Abbeyleix backs before coolly slotting underneath the onrushing Enda Rowland.

Abbeyleix got off the mark through a Cormac Byrne free and he followed with another six minutes later, though Castletown were able to fire back with a second point from Jack Breen and a quick double from the on form Peters to put them five ahead after 15 minutes.

A trio of frees in succession for Byrne within five minutes cut the gap back to two but Abbeyleix were struggling to make anything work inside as the Castletown backs were applying serious pressure.

Jack Breen made it three first half points as he and McKelvey traded scores with Byrne, who got Abbeyleix's first from play in the 26th minute.

Castletown rallied again late in the half with a fantastic pair scores from Martin Phelan and a late single via Conor Doran to put them in a 1-10 to 0-8 lead at the break.

Ciaran McKelvey, Jamie Conroy and Sean Og Byrne all pointed early in the second half in response to one from Colin Byrne, as the sides managed just four points in the opening 15 minutes.

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Abbeyleix upped the pressure as the half wore on with Cormac Byrne firing over another trio along with points from Eoghan Fennelly and Ciaran Byrne.

A pointed free from Kyron Cuddy slowed the tide momentarily, but Abbeyleix's tails were up as Sam Quinn hit back in response and just two split them approaching injury time after a great save by Patrick Mullaney.

Cormac Byrne was again on target with a free to put one in it and despite the best efforts of the Castletown backs, Colin Byrne found himself in space in the 62nd minute to bring the sides level after an extremely tense end.

Rosenallis await Castletown in the next round and Abbeyleix will face Rathdowney-Errill in what will be two massive games for all involved.

Final Score: 

CASTLETOWN 1-14
ABBEYLEIX 0-17

TEAMS & SCORERS BELOW PHOTO.

Martin Phelan, Castletown firing this sliotar on goal.

Abbeyleix: Cormac Byrne 0-12 (ten frees), Colin Byrne 0-2, Eoghan Fennelly 0-1, Ciaran Byrne 0-1, Sam Quinn 0-1.

Castletown: Callum Peters 1-2, Jack Breen 0-3, Ciaran McKelvey 0-3 (one free),Martin Phelan 0-2, Conor Doran 0-1, Jamie Conroy 0-1, Sean Og Byrne 0-1 (free), Kyron Cuddy (free) 0-1

ABBEYLEIX: Enda Rowland; Lewis Churchouse, Oisin Carroll, Eamon Fitzpatrick; Aaron Carroll, Lawson Obular, Liam Doyle; Jack Finlay, Colm Walsh; Ciaran Byrne, Killian Byrne, Cormac Byrne; Colin Byrne, Fionan Mahony, Sam Quinn. Subs: Eoghan Fennelly for Finlay (37), Liam Kavanagh for Walsh (50)

CASTLETOWN: Patrick Mullaney; Rory Kelly, Shane Phelan, Evan Cuddy; Tommy Goode, Ryan Mullaney, John Gaughan; Callum Peters, Ciaran McKelvey; Ray Goode, Jack Breen, Jamie Conroy; Conor Doran, Martin Phelan, Sean Og Byrne. Subs: Tadhg Cuddy for Conroy (44), Ryan Peters for Gaughan (53), Kyron Cuddy for Byrne (54), Brendan Reddin for Doran (58)

REFEREE: JJ Gorman (Clough-Ballacolla)