Courtwood rise to the occasion with statement victory over Portlaoise in Laois GAA SFC

Courtwood have pulled off one of the shocks of the championship after they hammered Portlaoise in Saturday's quarter-final in Laois Hire O'Moore Park.

Portlaoise came into the game as strong favourites, but were cut open by Courtwood on multiple occasions as centre-forward Cian Doyle and midfielder Sean O'Flynn ran the show for Courtwood from start to finish.

The Town started the game without two of their more experienced players, as Benny Carroll and Ricky Maher were replaced by Kieran O'Donnell and Mick O'Connell. The pair came on in the second-half, but couldn't do much to stop Courtwood in their quest for a place in the last four.

Darren Brennan was the scorer of the game's first point as he split the posts from a free. Courtwood replied with the next four scores courtesy of Paul O'Flynn, Cian Doyle and two from Alan Kinsella. Doyle had a great chance for a goal when Conor Brown's kick-out went straight to him, but he chose to kick the ball first time and it ended back in the arms of Brown. Kinsella's point came from a great driving run from Sean O'Flynn, with Kinsella fisting it over the bar. Kinsella pointed a free to give Courtwood a 0-4 to 0-1 lead with 14 minutes played.

Portlaoise would be level come the 21st minute as they kicked the next three scores. Brennan got his second before Ben Dempsey and a free from Josh Hogan left it all square at four points each. Courtwood then got in their first green flag as a great run from Ryan Little ended with the Courtwood number 14 slotting the ball through Brown's legs.

A minute later, they scored a second goal as Cian Doyle rattled the back of the net and they were six points up. In reply, Kieran Lillis kicked over a two-pointer along with a score from Damon Larkin. Courtwood ended the half with a point from Kinsella after Lillis had kicked the ball straight to Cian Doyle and he fed a great direct ball into Kinsella, who turned and curled the ball between the posts. Courtwood led 2-5 to 0-7 at the break.

Portlaoise introduced Carroll off the bench for the start of the second-half, but he only lasted 15 minutes before he was replaced by John Mark Foley. Another Portlaoise substitute, Conor O'Callaghan, cut Courtwood's lead to three before Ryan Little pushed it back to four when his effort went over with the aid of the upright. Portlaoise were then found guilty of gifting Courtwood an easy opportunity to increase their lead as a free on the halfway line was brought forward for back chat to referee Maurice Deegan. Matthew Byron came forward and nailed a free from outside the arc to see Courtwood six points up.

Josh Hogan got a point back for Portlaoise after a great pass from Kevin Swayne with Brown having to make a great save from Kinsella to keep Portlaoise in the contest. Two minutes later, Kinsella ended up raising a green flag after Cian Doyle played him in on goal.

Portlaoise, down by eight points with 17 minutes to play, hit their only purple patch of the game as they got the next five points. Scores from Conor O'Callaghan, Ben Dempsey, Kieran Lillis and a two-point free from Maher, off the bench, put the game back in the melting pot. Three points separated the sides at this stage.

To their credit, Courtwood controlled the game from here and finished with 1-3 without reply to seal their place in an SFC semi-final. Cian Doyle was again rewarded for all his hard work when he scored Courtwood's fourth goal. Breakaway points from Niall Dunne and Ryan Little (2) saw Courtwood finish nine points better than Portlaoise.

FINAL SCORE

Courtwood 4-11

Portlaoise 0-14

SCORERS– Courtwood: Cian Doyle 2-1, Ryan Little 1-3, Alan Kinsella 1-2 (0-1 free), Matthew Byron 0-2 (two-point free), Niall Dunne, Paul O'Flynn and Sean O'Flynn 0-1 each. Portlaoise: Kieran Lillis 0-3 (one two-pointer), Ricky Maher (two-point free), Darren Brennan (0-1 free), Josh Hogan (0-1 free), Conor O'Callaghan and Ben Dempsey 0-2 each, Damon Larkin 0-1 

COURTWOOD: Matthew Byron; Darragh McEvoy, Dan Boland, Adam O'Halloran; Jake Doyle, Rob Flynn, Eoghan Slattery; Sean O'Flynn, Rob Tyrrell; Niall Dunne, Cian Doyle, Paul O'Flynn; Niall Donoher, Ryan Little, Alan Kinsella. Subs: Nathan Little for McEvoy (49 mins), Mark O'Halloran for Flynn (52 mins), Dylan Keane for P O'Flynn (59 mins)

PORTLAOISE: Conor Brown; Gary Whelan, Conor Raggett, Ben Reddin; Colin McEvoy, Ben Dempsey, Ben O'Connor; Damon Larkin, Josh Hogan; Darren Brennan, Kevin Swayne, Mick O'Connell; Kieran O'Donnell, Kieran Lillis, Emmet Maloney. Subs: Conor O'Callaghan for O'Donnell (12 mins), Benny Carroll for O'Connell (HT), Ricky Maher for Brennan (37 mins), John Mark Foley for Carroll (46 mins, inj), DJ White for Maloney (59 mins).

Referee: Maurice Deegan (Stradbally)