Camross blow Rathdowney-Errill away in the second-half to reach yet another Laois GAA SHC County Final

Camross are back into a Laois Shopping Centre Senior Hurling Championship final after they came good in the second-half to defeat Rathdowney-Errill by 12 points on Sunday afternoon.

They'll face Clough-Ballacolla in the County Final, in a repeat of the 2022 final. The sides have also met already when they clashed in Round 3, where Camross defeated the county champions.

The second of Sunday's semi-final double-header saw Camross take on Rathdowney-Errill, where there was little between the sides in the first 30 minutes. Eoin Gaughan opened the scoring after 30 seconds for the 2023 champions. Mark Kavanagh pointed a free to get Rathdowney-Errill off the mark before Thep Fitzpatrick pushed them a point ahead with three minutes played.

Liam Delaney got his first of the contest from the next puck-out as the sides went tit for tat. The sides were still level come the 10th minute as Gaughan launched over two monster frees while Kavanagh added two more frees to his name. Camross had a great goal chance soon after when Mossy Keyes had the goal at his mercy, but John Purcell somehow blocked his thunderous goal-bound effort. Jack Kelly put his side ahead again with a point from play.

Camross took over for the next few minutes as they added four points in as many minutes. Mark Dowling, James Cuddy, Delaney and a free from Zane Keenan saw them into a three-point lead, eight points to five. Paddy Purcell and a fourth free from Kavanagh cut the gap once again. The half ended with Odhran Phelan and Fitzpatrick trading scores as Camross led 0-9 to 0-8 at half-time.

Rathdowney-Errill would soon be ahead after the restart, as Purcell's second point was followed by Kavanagh's fifth free. Eoin Gaughan's third free and his fourth point was matched by Jack Kelly from play. Camross, down by one, hit a purple patch and scored six points in a row. Gaughan pointed a free before Mossy Keyes scored three points in a row. Keenan pointed a free while Mossy Keyes took his tally to four points, having gone 35 minutes without scoring.

Jack Kelly finally got a score back for Rathdowny-Errill before Ciaran Collier got his first of the afternoon to keep Camross ahead by five points with 10 minutes to play. Kelly would take his tally four points, but Camross would put the game to bed in the next two minutes.

Mossy Keyes set up substitute Darren Drennan to raise a green flag before Collier scored two points. Liam Delaney took his total to three points while Mossy scored his fifth point of the second-half. Collier scored Camross' second goal as he put the ball past Damian Madden one-handed. Mossy finished the game with six points to his name. Ross King and Padraig Rafter added a point each late on, but Camross eased into the County Final with 12 points to spare.

FINAL SCORE

Camross 2-21

Rathdowney-Errill 0-15

SCORERS - Camross: Tomas Keyes 0-6, Ciaran Collier 1-2, Eoin Gaughan 0-4 (three frees), Zane Keenan (frees) and Liam Delaney 0-3 each, Darren Drennan 1-0, Odhran Phelan, Mark Dowling and James Cuddy 0-1 each. Rathdowney-Errill: Mark Kavanagh 0-5 (frees), Jack Kelly 0-4, Paddy Purcell and Thep Fitzpatrick 0-2, Padraig Rafter and Ross King 0-1 each

CAMROSS: Tadhg Doran; Darragh Duggan, Cathalm Cuddy, Joseph Phelan; Eoin Dowling, Eoin Gaughan, Eoghan Cuddy; Odhran Phelan, Liam Delaney; Ciaran Collier, Tom Cuddy, Zane Keenan; Tomas Keyes, James Cuddy, Mark Dowling. Subs: Darren Drennan for J Cuddy (45 mins), Dwane Palmer for O Phelan (55 mins), Ashton Keenan for T Cuddy (58 mins), Ben Deegan for Keenan (59 mins), Robert Lalor for J Phelan (61 mins)

RATHDOWNEY-ERRILL: Damian Madden; John Purcell, Liam O’Connell, Shane Madden; Kevin O’Dea, Padraig Rafter, Shane Bracken; Dylan Carroll, Thep Fitzpatrick; James Ryan, Jack Kelly, Paddy Purcell; Brandon McGinley, Mark Kavanagh, Tadgh Dowling. Subs: Ray Bowe for Dowling (27 mins), Eoin Bracken for McGinley (45 mins), Paddy McCane for Kavanagh (53 mins), Ross King for Ryan (56 mins), John Keane for P Purcell (58 mins)

Referee: Padraig Dunne (Colt)