Five from five for Group B in Laois GAA SHC as Camross dominate Ballinakill

This weekend saw a clean sweep for Group B in the Laois SHC as Camross defeated Ballinakill by 13 points in the final game of Round 4, making it five wins from five for Group B over their Group A counterparts.

The pair met on Sunday afternoon in Laois Hire O'Moore Park in the second of the day's double header and Camross came in as big favourites, and their manner of victory justified the odds as they had it won by half-time.

Early goals for Tom Cuddy and Mossy Keyes, followed by a third on the stroke of half-time from Zane Keenan, put them eleven points ahead at half-time and they kept their noses in front throughout the second half, matching Ballinakill for every score.

The win sees them move onto five points and though not officially through to the quarter-finals just yet, they are in an excellent position going into their last game against Abbeyleix. Ballinakill, on the other hand, sit bottom of Group A and they will have to win their final game against Castletown if they are to stand any chance of qualification.

Mark Dowling and Mossy Keyes both starred in attack for Camross and since their return to the fold, Camross look like a completely different prospect. Alongside them, David Cuddy has also welcomed back Joe Phelan and Gearoid Burke to further bolster his squad as the business end of the campaign approaches.

Ciaran Collier got the opening score of the game for Camross just seconds after the throw-in and Zane Keenan doubled the lead from a 65, a minute later. Ballinakill did respond through Ethan Drury, but they would suffer a disastrous start to the contest as Mark Dowling won a high ball in the fifth minute and found Tom Cuddy inside to finish from close range.
To make matters worse for Ballinakill, just two minutes later, Dowling repeated the feat and this time it was Mossy Keyes, who was facing Paul Simms with the ball and the Camross man was never going to miss from such a distance in a one-on-one setting.

Brian Duggan split the posts with a 65 and Cha Dwyer fired a long-range effort between the sticks, but Ballinakill were seriously up against it and scores from Keenan and James Cuddy increased their lead again. Ballinakill were finding their scores as Duggan and Seamus Fitzpatrick both struck from play before a second Dwyer effort from well inside his own half and a second excellent score from Ethan Drury out on the left wing after a good pass from Podge Lawlor to find him.

Unfortunately for Ballinakill, they couldn't keep Camross out at the other end with Mark Dowling getting his name on the scoresheet and Keenan knocking over a series of frees, though there were a couple of unexpected misses in there from marksman too.

Camross began the half with goals and the final play before half would be another one. This time, James Cuddy was hacked down as he was making an attempt at goal himself and a 21 metre free was awarded, which Zane Keenan rocketed into the top corner to make it 3-10 to 0-8 at half-time.

Dowling and Keyes each pointed in the opening minutes of the second half, though Ballinakill would have the better of the opening exchanges as they scored five of the next six points. Cha Dwyer was on target twice, along with one each from Drury, Duggan and Gearoid Lynch with a reply from a Zane Keenan free for Camross thrown in the middle.

Even though Ballinakill were picking off some lovely scores, they were never realistically going to be able to claw back the deficit created by the three first-half goals and Camross regained their composure after that spell, going on to hit four in a row themselves, starting with a Keenan 65.

Ciaran Collier flung one over from long distance before another excellent Dowling point followed by a Keenan effort from play before he traded another score with the enigmatic Dwyer. Duggan and Keenan then traded points from placed balls before full forwards Cuddy and Fitzpatrick each pointed from play as tempers began to flare ever so slightly, with Fitzpatrick involved in a couple of heated exchanges.

A masterful strike from Eoin Dowling was followed by efforts from Cuddy and Keyes increased Camross's lead further before Dwyer pulled off an incredible point as he cut over a sideline from outside the 45 between the sticks against the wind.

The teams traded a couple of points each as the game fizzled out to a close and Camross claimed a win that leaves them in a very good position going into the three-week break until Round 5 takes place.

Final Score

Camross 3-24

Ballinakill 0-20

SCORERS - Camross: Zane Keenan 1-12 (1-6 frees, 0-4 65s), Mossy Keyes 1-3, Tom Cuddy 1-0, Mark Dowling 0-3, Ciaran Collier and James Cuddy 0-2 each, Dan Delaney and Eoin Dowling 0-1 each. Ballinakill: Brian Duggan 0-7 (four frees, two 65s), Cha Dwyer 0-6 (one sideline), Ethan Drury 0-3, Seamus Fitzpatrick and Gearoid Lynch 0-2 each.

CAMROSS: Tadhg Doran; Darragh Duggan, Cathal Cuddy, Joe Phelan; Eoin Dowling, Eoin Gaughan, Eoghan Cuddy; Odhran Phelan, Liam Delaney; Ciaran Collier, Tom Cuddy, Zane Keenan; Mossy Keyes, James Cuddy, Mark Dowling. Subs: Dan Delaney for T Cuddy (26, inj), Dwane Palmer for J Phelan (45), Aaron Carroll for Duggan (49 - 53, blood), Robert Tyrell for L Delaney (52), Gearoid Burke for Keenan (55), Ben Deegan for J Cuddy (57).

BALLINAKILL: Paul Simms; Noel Duggan, Ian Shanahan, Andrew McDonagh; Lir McDonald, Cha Dwyer, Podge Lawlor; Gearoid Lynch, Eddie Dwyer; Ben O'Mara, Ryan Quinlan, Ethan Drury; Dylan Byrne Gray, Seamus Fitzpatrick, Brian Duggan. Subs: Cian O'Shaughnessy for Byrne Gray (39), Cathal O'Shaughnessy for E Dwyer (43), Dan Bergin for Quinlan (47).

REFEREE: Brian Farrell (The Harps)

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