Rosenallis cruise past winless Castletown in Laois GAA Senior Hurling Championship

Rosenallis cruised past Castletown to register their second win of the Laois Shopping Centre Senior Hurling Championship in Laois Hire O’Moore Park, having 13 points to spare on Saturday evening.

The victors came out of the blocks flying, which laid the foundations for a very impressive victory. As for Castletown, they will have to regroup over the next fortnight and try and pick up points somewhere along the way as they sit rooted to the bottom of Group B with a single point.

There was no stopping Rosenallis in the first quarter as they found themselves in a healthy position leading by 0-10 to no score until Castletown eventually got a score of their own. The brilliant David Dooley, who was fabulous all the way through, accounted for five of those scores. The other points came from Jimmy Hyland, Paddy Keating, Jack Friel and Conor Cosgrove, giving Rosenallis a substantial lead after ten minutes.

Castletown got off the mark in the 13th minute and got three in a row, Conor Doran got the first, while Kyron Cuddy added two frees to reduce the gap to seven. The teams then traded scores twice, Hyland and Dooley for Rosenallis, while Martin Phelan got Castletown’s other two scores.

Cosgrove added another point just before Castletown were handed a lifeline with a penalty, which was saved, but it mattered little as Cuddy was penalised for advancing past the 20-metre line. After that, Rosenallis put the game to bed when a penalty was awarded from their next attack, where goalkeeper Stephen Kelly found the net for Rosenallis. Only minutes later, Keating registered their second goal, and it was game over for sure. Ryan Mullaney and Cuddy got the last scores of the half as Rosenallis led 2-13 to 0-8.

Castletown needed a super-fast start in the second half to stand a chance, but it didn’t come to fruition. Rosenallis hit the first two scores from Cosgrove and Dooley. It was now damage limitation time for Castletown. Martin Phelan and Shane Phelan responded for Castletown, but Rosenallis were at their ease. The impressive Cosgrove raised another white flag for his side. They were fully in control at this stage, and it was just a matter of what the gap was going to be at full-time.

Martin Phelan was Castletown’s best player and added another to his tally with Tadgh Cuddy getting a point of his own. Rosenallis stepped on the gas again and hit the next five points through Dooley, who hit two more points, while Fiachra C Fennell, Charlie Friel and Cosgrove also registered points.

Tadgh Cuddy added a point for Castletown, but the game was up, and all the intensity was gone out of it. Sub Sam Somers added a point for Rosenallis before Dooley nailed a 65 to round off the scoring for his side. Sean Og Byrne and Ryan Mullaney finished the scoring for Castletown as Rosenallis ran out deserving winners.

Final Score

Rosenallis 2-23

Castletown 0-16

SCORERS – Rosenallis: David Dooley 0-10 (five frees, one ’65), Conor Cosgrove 0-4, Paddy Keating 1-1, Stephen Kelly 1-0 (penalty), Jimmy Hyland 0-2, Jack Friel, Brian Fitzpatrick, John Lennon, Fiachra C Fennell, Sam Somers and Charlie Friel 0-1 each. Castletown: Martin Phelan 0-4, Kyron Cuddy 0-3 (all frees), Tadhg Cuddy, Shane Phelan and Ryan Mullaney 0-2 each, Joe Phelan, Conor Doran and Sean Og Byrne 0-1 each

ROSENALLIS: Stephen Kelly; Shane Farrell, Diarmuid Dooley, John Maher; Jimmy Hyland, Fiachra C Fennell, Colin Bennett; Oran Gorman, Charlie Friel; David Dooley, Conor Cosgrove, Paddy Keating; John Lennon, Brian Fitzpatrick, Jack Friel. Subs: Joey Keating for J Friel (49), Tommy Keating for Cosgrove (49), Joey Shelley for Hyland (52), Sam Somers for P Keating (54)

CASTLETOWN: Paddy Mullaney; Evan Cuddy, Aaron Phelan, Rory Kelly; John Gaughan, Ryan Mullaney, Shane Phelan; Callum Peters, Ciaran McKelvey; Tadhg Cuddy, Conor Doran, Joe Phelan; Kyron Cuddy, Martin Phelan, Jack Breen. Subs: Tommy Goode for Gaughan (HT), Raymond Goode for Peters (HT), Brendan Reddin for K Cuddy and Sean Og Byrne for J Phelan (Both 44), Conor Ryan for McKelvey (54)

REFEREE: Kieran Bowe (Rathdowney-Errill)

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