'Like true champions' - Portarlington GAA boss Pat Roe on Laois GAA triumph

Pat Roe steered Portarlington to their second Laois Shopping Centre Senior Gaelic Football Championship title in just two years, praising his players for their grit against Courtwood.

It now means that Port have won five Laois GAA championships in the last six years.

“I thought they were heroic, particularly in the second half. It was a dogged game. It wasn't a great game, but it was a proper scrap. I thought our lads were absolutely brilliant, I'm so proud of them,” Roe said.

Man of the match Colm Murphy appeared to be carrying an injury, but Roe revealed that the physio returned each time, saying that he wanted to stay on. He also highlighted the leadership of his senior players during the tense closing minutes.

“We never jeopardise a player. Rachel, each time she went out to him, she came back and said no, he's staying on. Of course we're pleased because, when it came to managing the game in the last six or seven minutes, I really thought our key players, Ronan, Rioghan, Robbie, Jay Moore and Colm really stood up, Keith Bracken until he went off and Sean Byrne. Around that middle third, I thought they were tremendous,” he said.

Courtwood focused their defensive attention on Portarlington's Paddy O’Sullivan, handing Collins Ugochukwu his first start in this year's championship to man-mark him. Roe noted just how hard it is to contain O’Sullivan for a full game.

“They managed him very well. It was clear that Courtwood’s plan was to pay close attention to our three key players. I thought they did it very well for long periods, particularly on Paddy. But, for 60 plus minutes you cannot keep that man bottled up, not for 60 plus anyhow. In the last 15, he was magnificent,” Roe said.

The decisive moment came when Colm Murphy converted a penalty after 45 minutes. Roe pointed out that it was always going to be difficult for Courtwood as they failed to score from play.

“That was the pivotal point in the game. The difference between the two teams was the penalty. I thought Courtwood battled tremendously well. Again, I thought they were tremendously well-organised. Look, if you don't score from play, you're always going to be struggling, and we had more scorers from play,” he added.

Captain Ronan Coffey noted in his victory speech that Roe had been due in South America around this time, but returned at the players’ request. Roe said this year’s triumph felt tougher and more rewarding than last year’s.

“I’m more pleased with this one, I suppose, than last year because it was much harder. After winning last year, we were up there to be knocked down. Everyone had a right good shot at us, and like true champions, here we are again. They're magnificent men,” Roe commented.

Portarlington will now represent Laois in the AIB Leinster Club Senior Football Championship against Carlow champions Old Leighlin.

“That's exactly it, and we will represent Laois with pride. We'll celebrate this as we should, but we'll get back to training during the week and we'll get ourselves as ready as we possibly can be for Old Leighlin next week,” he ended.

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