Brennan stars for Portlaoise in top-class Laois LGFA final

Portlaoise have won the Laois Ladies Football League Division 2 title after a hugely impressive win over St Conleth's on Sunday afternoon in the LOETB Centre of Excellence.

St Conleth's started the game well, but the sides went score for from the 15th minute to the 45th until Portlaoise, inspired by Leah Brennan, took control in the closing stages to run out eight-point winners.

Portlaoise beat Ballyfin by 1-12 to 1-5 in the semi-finals while St Conleth's got the better of Timahoe on a scoreline of 2-9 to 2-4. When the sides met in the round robin in June it was Portlaoise who came out on top, beating St Conleth's by 3-10 to 1-4.
The Town once again showed their superiority here, coming out on the right side of an excellent final.

Conleth's were on top early and kicked the opening three scores of the game to take control after ten minutes through Sinead Coffey, Shauna Connolly and Claire Fox. Anna Mulligan hit back with a free for Portlaoise, but St Conleth's were in charge again after that and restored their three-point lead thanks to a lovely score from Naomi Luttrell.

Conleth's goalkeeper Sile Burbage then made a brilliant save from point-blank range to deny Portlaoise's Aine Cuddy what looked to be a certain goal. Mulligan pulled a score back for Portlaoise before The Town went in front midway through the first half with a goal from Aoibheann Dalton after some great work from Cuddy.

St Conleth's were back in front almost immediately, however, with scores from the Luttrell and Fox - both of whom were outstanding on the day - before a brilliant strike from Cuddy brought the sides level after 20 minutes. Luttrell landed a pair of frees for St Conleth's but a score from play from Cuddy and a free from Jasmine Burke meant Portlaoise were level at the interval on a scoreline of 1-5 to 0-8. MORE BELOW PHOTO.

Ellen Bergin on the attack for Portlaoise. Pic: Denis Byrne

Portlaoise introduced Lara Culleton and Leah Brennan at half time and what a difference the pair made off the bench. Brennan pointed a free just after the restart but Conleth's cancelled that out almost immediately thanks to Sinead Coffey.

Referee Michael Tarpey then awarded a penalty to St Conleth's in what turned out to be a double blow for Portlaoise with Sarah McDonald penalised and sent to the sin bin for ten minutes following her yellow card. Claire Fox played in safe and knocked the penalty over the bar to put her side back in front in the 36th minute.

Portlaoise did incredibly well in the ten minutes they were down to 14 players and hit back with scores from Ellen Bergin and captain Faydagh Dunne. St Conleth's drew level again at the end of the third quarter thanks another score from the excellent Naomi Luttrell.

READ ALSO: Laois fans urged to 'get off their backsides' to support teams in Croke Park

Then came the turning point in the game when Portlaoise Dunne raised a green flag to give her side the lead. Conleth's grabbed two more scores - both from Luttrell - to make it a one-point game with just ten minutes of normal time remaining.

But the final period of the game belonged to those two half-time subs from Portlaoise, beginning with a great individual score from Culleton. Brennan then pointed before putting the result beyond any doubt when she scored a third goal for Portlaoise with time running out.

She pointed two late frees to skew the score somewhat, but her impact on the second half could not be denied as Portlaoise finished eight points to the good as they claimed the Division 2 crown.

Final Score:

PORTLAOISE 3-12
ST CONLETH’S 0-13

SCORERS & TEAMS BELOW PHOTO

Laois LGFA Chair Martina Phelan presenting the Division 2 Cup to Portlaoise captain Faydagh Dunne

Portlaoise: Leah Brennan 1-4 (0-1 free), Faydagh Dunne 1-1, Aoibheann Dalton 1-0, Anna Mulligan (one free) and Aine Cuddy 0-2 each, Amy Walsh, Ellen Bergin and Lara Culleton 0-1 each.

St Conleth's: Naomi Luttrell 0-7 (three frees), Claire Fox 0-3 (one penalty), Sinead Coffey 0-2, Shauna Connolly 0-1.

PORTLAOISE: Doireann Brennan; Aoife Morris, Sarah Fleming, Charlie Walsh; Sarah McDonald, Rachel Byrne, Ellen Bergin; Faye Brown, Jasmine Burke; Faydagh Dunne, Tori Byrne, Anna Mulligan; Aoibheann Dalton, Amy Walsh, Aine Cuddy. Subs: Lara Culleton and Leah Brennan for Mulligan and Dalton (both HT), Grainne O’Reilly for Burke (43), Sahuna Dooley and Rebecca Keane for A Walsh and Morris (both 54).

ST CONLETH'S: Sile Burbage; Jane Ridgeway, Alice Keirns, Michelle Byrne; Sharon Boland, Grainne Cotter, Ciara Doyle; Sinead Coffey, Naomi Luttrell; Sarah Lee Harkin, Emma Doyle, Shauna Connolly; Aoibhinn McCann, Claire Fox, Niamh McCann. Subs: Holly Hanaway and Rachel Donagher for Doyle and Dunne (both 43).

REFEREE: Michael Tarpey (Kilcavan)