14-man Castletown strike late in injury-time to deny Portlaoise in Laois GAA SHC

Castletown secured their first win of the 2025 Laois SHC on Friday evening after overturning a four-point deficit in the dying embers of the game to claim a vital victory over Portlaoise.

There was very little between the teams for most of the game, with Castletown leading for the majority of the first half before a goal on the stroke of half-time put The Town ahead. Man of the match Conor Doran goaled early in the second half for Castletown to put them back in front before they were reduced to 14 men and forced to pull off a miracle comeback in injury time to secure victory.

Castletown were close to a dream start as a clever attempt at goal from Kyron Cuddy was denied by the post, though Conor Doran opened the scoring with a point seconds later. Aaron Bergin was a late inclusion to the Portlaoise team and he slotted their opening scores with a brace of frees before Jack Breen levelled with a point from play.

The woodwork denied Castletown again in the opening stages as Martin Phelan's shot cannoned off the crossbar, points from Brendan Reddin and Joe Phelan were some solace, however, as Castletown took a two-point lead. Sean Culleton made amends for a missed free with a tidy score from play, but Castletown replied with a fine score from Ryan Peters and a Kyron Cuddy free before a second from Culleton.

Castletown took control after the water break and went on to notch three points in a row through Conor Doran, Kyron Cuddy and Peters, with the final score coming off the back of an excellent passing move down the field. A free from Bergin got Portlaoise back on track as though Reddin replied initially after a clever sideline pass from Tadhg Cuddy, Portlaoise went on to score the next four in succession.

Bergin fired over an excellent pair of scores from play around the midfield and he added another from a free before Eddie Critchley took a point rather than heading for goal to put just one between them with five minutes left. A third point from Reddin stopped the rot for Castletown momentarily, but they would be dealt a real sucker punch before half-time as Cathal Duggan struck a point from midfield and Bergin rattled the net for the final score of the half after a driving run down the field from Dean Lynch to make it 1-10 to 0-11 at the half time break.

After the restart, Castletown did get the dream opening as Conor Doran found himself one-on-one with Brochan O'Reilly two minutes in and expertly lobbed it over the advancing keeper for a goal. Scores were hard to come by early in the half as the sides traded just a further point each until a major talking point when Evan Cuddy was red carded for an off-the-ball incident with Sean Culleton, though the Portlaoise man received just a yellow before being replaced by James Conroy a minute later.

Conroy proved to be a handful as he had a shot blocked for a 65, which Bergin put over the bar and a minute later, he was on the receiving end of a pass from John Mark Foley to rifle home from close range. Down to 14 men and now trailing by three, Castletown were under pressure before a free from Kyron Cuddy, followed by two outstanding strikes from play by the youngster, got them back on level terms in the 45th minute.

Portlaoise were able to take advantage of the extra man as they rallied to slot four points in a row through a Bergin brace, followed by one each by subs David O'Mahoney and Jamie Keenan to put them four ahead with just two minutes remaining.
There was no quit in Castletown, however, as they dug in and rattled Portlaoise in the latter stages, and a Sean Og Byrne free brought the gap back to a goal approaching injury time.

Castletown began to apply serious pressure and they got their breakthrough when Callum Peters made an excellent run inside to team up with Martin Phelan. Then the latter took possession at the tightest of angles to the right of the net and beautifully fired it into the far corner to level. All the momentum was with Castletown as they pressured the Portlaoise puckout and Kyron Cuddy once again appeared in possession and split the posts majestically to put them one ahead.

Conor Doran then capped off a fantastic performance at centre forward with a point from under the stand which appeared to be the insurance scores, but things are never that simple as Portlaoise were awarded a free in the 63rd minute on the 21, which Brochan O'Reilly stepped up to take, but he was denied by his opposite number Patrick Mullaney to ensure Castletown claimed their first win.

Final Score

Castletown 2-18

Portlaoise 2-16

SCORERS - Castletown: Conor Doran 1-3, Kyron Cuddy 0-6 (two frees), Benny Reddin 0-4, Martin Phelan 1-0, Ryan Peters 0-2, Sean Og Byrne (free), Jack Breen and Joe Phelan 0-1 each. Portlaoise: Aaron Bergin 1-10 (0-7 frees, 0-1 65), James Conroy 1-0, Sean Culleton 0-2, Jamie Keenan, David O'Mahoney, Cathal Duggan and Eddie Critchley 0-1 each.

CASTLETOWN: Patrick Mullaney; Evan Cuddy, Shane Phelan, Rory Kelly; Tommy Goode, Ryan Mullaney, John Gaughan; Tadhg Cuddy, Jack Breen; Joe Phelan, Martin Phelan, Ryan Peters; Kyron Cuddy, Conor Doran, Benny Reddin. Subs: Callum Peters for R Peters and Ciaran McKelvey for J Phelan (both ht), Aaron Phelan for Gaughan (53), Sean Og Byrne for Reddin (56)

PORTLAOISE: Brochan O'Reilly; Bryan Naughton, Ciaran McEvoy, Colin McEvoy; Cormac Rigney, Eoin O'Connor, Cian Dowling Byrne; Dean Lynch, Conor Raggett; John Mark Foley, Aaron Bergin, Ben Brennan; Sean Culleton, Cathal Duggan, Eddie Critchley. Subs: James Conroy for Culleton (40), David O'Mahoney for Lynch (48), Jamie Keenan for Dowling Byrne (51), Liam Conroy for Foley and Matthew Dempsey for Naughton (both 56)

REFEREE: Kieran Bowe (Rathdowney-Errill)

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