The Harps dig deep against Rosenallis to stay in contention in Laois GAA SHC

The Harps have set up a titanic clash with Clough-Ballacolla in Round 5 of the Laois SHC after they overcame Rosenallis in their Round 4 fixture to open Sunday’s double header in Laois Hire O'Moore Park.

Rosenallis came in as the form team, having beaten both Camross and Castletown in recent weeks, while The Harps have struggled since their opening round victory over Abbeyleix, having lost to Portlaoise and Ballinakill in their games since.

Victory here was certainly more important for The Harps as a loss would have seen them completely out of contention for a quarter-final spot, but the win now sees them in with a chance if they can overcome champions Clough-Ballacolla, though they will also need Borris-Kilcotton, Camross or Rathdowney-Errill to slip up to help their cause.

Rosenallis are still in a good position despite the loss as every team in their group lost their Round 4 games, meaning that they remain in second place in Group A behind Clough-Ballacolla and are in a good position heading into their Round 5 game in three weeks against Borris-Kilcotton.

Sunday’s game had the potential to be a fast and electrifying contest between two young and fit teams, but it didn’t pan out that way as scores were hard to come by and there was a tense under current flowing throughout the hour that was unexpected between two teams that aren’t particularly well acquainted with each other as they haven’t had too many championship encounters in recent years.

Ciaran Comerford was the top scorer with 13 points, the majority of which came from frees won by James Duggan, who was a real handful throughout the contest for the Rosenallis backs and even at that, he wasn’t allowed too much time on the ball before being hauled down or wrestled into submission.

After doing most of the hurling and having the wind behind them, Rosenallis were no doubt disappointed to be going in level at half-time as they left themselves a tough job for the second half when The Harps were able to take full advantage of the breeze and get their noses in front early in the half and see it out.

Rosenallis set their stall out early on as it was evident they were taking a no-nonsense approach to defending the potentially electric forward line of The Harps and Ciaran Comerford pointed a brace of frees in the opening two minutes as a result.
John Lennon and Brian Fitzpatrick each pointed from play into the Town end with the breeze behind them and a David Dooley free put Rosenallis into the lead seven minutes in before Lennon doubled the gap with his second from play.

James Duggan was being guarded extremely tightly by Diarmuid Dooley, but when he did manage to escape the Rosenallis captain's grasp, Duggan found enough space to fire off a shot at the posts and get his side's first score from play in the ninth minute. Tempers flared on The Harps' 45 metre line when Padraic Dunne and David Dooley found themselves in a tussle, which escalated to a shemozzle as both teams converged, though there was little to no malice and the only caution as a result was a yellow card to Dunne.

Rosenallis acted first after the incident as Lennon fired over his third of the game and Jimmy Hyland launched a bomb from his own 45 that just crept over the black spot. A score from John Brophy settled The Harps once again, as Comerford would go on to hit four points in a row after an initial reply from a Dooley free. Two of Comerford's four points from James Duggan-won frees and the other two from 65’s that Duggan was again involved in the making of, and The Harps now led by one.

The score swung back in favour of Rosenallis with points from Lennon and Cosgrove, but the sides couldn't be split at half-time as Comerford raised his first flag from play to make it 0-9 apiece at the break. The teams traded early on in the second half with frees from Comerford and Dooley, but it was all one-way traffic from there on. Comerford struck two frees in a row before Podge Delaney launched over from inside his own half and Rian Edwards added another from play.

James Duggan was again fouled and Comerford slotted the free before a great score by Justin Duggan, putting six between the teams. Rosenallis found a few late scores through Dooley, but there was no real sense of a comeback as they were just left with too much to do late on and The Harps continued to look dangerous with Eoghan Murphy, Michael Monahan and Comerford on target to keep them ahead.

Final Score

The Harps 0-20

Rosenallis 0-15

SCORERS - The Harps: Ciaran Comerford 0-13 (nine frees, two 65s), James Duggan, John Brophy, Podge Delaney, Justin Duggan, Rian Edwardds, Eoghan Murphy and Michael Monahan 0-1 each. Rosenallis: David Dooley 0-6 (frees), John Lennon 0-4, Brian Fitzpatrick, Conor Cosgrove, Jimmy Hyland, Joey Keating and Charlie Friel 0-1 each.

THE HARPS: Michael Lanigan; Ciaran Flynn, Cody Comerford, Rory Dunne; Rian Edwards, Padraic Dunne, Cathal Phelan; Daniel Comerford, Hugh Whelan; Podge Delaney, Ciaran Comerford, John Brophy; Justin Duggan, James Duggan, Eoghan Murphy. Subs: Jack Kennedy for Phelan (ht), Ross Deegan for Kennedy (45, inj), Pat Walshe for James Duggan (50), Michael Monahan for Edwards (56), Cathal Murphy for E Murphy (58).

ROSENALLIS: Stephen Kelly; John Maher, Diarmuid Dooley, Shane Farrell; Jimmy Hyland, Fiachra C Fennell, Colin Bennett; Charlie Friel, Oran Gorman; Paddy Keating, Conor Cosgrove, David Dooley; John Lennon, Brian Fitzpatrick, Jack Friel. Subs: Joey Shelley for Bennett (ht), Donnchadh Hartnett for Gorman and Joey Keating for J Friel (both 42), Sam Somers for Cosgrove (52).

REFEREE: Mick Cleere (Rathdowney-Errill)

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