Portarlington at their ease as they seal Leinster quarter-final place with victory over Old Leighlin

Laois SFC champions Portarlington are safely through to the quarter-finals of this year's AIB Leinster Club Senior Football Championship after they eased past Old Leighlin of Carlow.

Port never looked like they would lose this Round 1 clash as they bossed the game from start to finish to record a comprehensive nine-point victory.

Portarlington made the relatively short trip to Netwatch Cullen Park on Saturday evening to face Carlow champions Old Leighlin in the first round of this year's AIB Leinster Club Senior Football Championship, seven days after they were crowned Laois SFC champions for the fifth time in six years.

Two notable absentees for Port were Jake Foster and Sean Byrne, both of whom returned to Australia during the week. They were quick off the blocks and had a white flag raised inside 40 seconds when Rioghan Murphy split the posts. The Laois champions would soon make it two points to no score as Colm Murphy, the County Final Man of the Match, slotted a free between the uprights.

Portarlington were getting a good bit of joy off the Old Loughlin restarts as they allowed them to play it short before pressing them, and more often than not, it forced the Carlow side into giving up possession. Old Leighlin did manage to get their first point with eight minutes on the clock as Seamus Kinsella pointed a free. It would be the same for their second point as Kinsella took his and Old Leighlin's tally to two points. 

It was from here that Port took over as they kicked five scores on the trot in eight minutes. Paddy O'Sullivan kept up his good form in front of the posts as he opened his account. However, Old Leighlin almost caught Pat Roe's side on the hop when they broke down the field at pace, but James Dowling blasted the ball wide of Luke O'Reilly's goal. Jordan Fitzpatrick, who came into the team in place of Foster, scored a lovely point off his right.

Colm Murphy was given an easy opportunity to add to Port's lead as Old Leighlin were penalised for over-carrying and then didn't hand the ball back, which led to referee Ian Howley marching the ball up to the 13-metre line. Rioghan Murphy then pointed a free before Ronan Coffey pointed after playing a one-two off a 45'. The 45' came about after Darragh Galvin's attempted lobbed effort for a goal was saved by Steven Scallan.

Mikey Bambrick was the scorer of Old Leighlin's third point before Fitzpatrick, and a third Colm Murphy free saw Portarlington into the dressing rooms with a six-point advantage, 0-9 to 0-3.

The second-half began with more of the same for the Laois champions as Colm Murphy pointed a fourth free of the evening. Paddy O'Sullivan's second point of the game put Port eight points up with a quarter of an hour to be played. Port would then be forced to play 10 minutes with 14 players, as their captain, Ronan Coffey, was shown a black card.

Having not scored since the 25th minute, Mikey Bambrick finally managed to raise a white flag in the 50th minute for the Carlow side. Aaron Amond cut Port's lead to six points with eight minutes to play before substitute Sean Taylor made it a five-point game shortly after.

Portarlington substitute Sean Michael Corcoran made an instant impact as he scored within seconds of his introduction. Pat Roe's side held onto the ball for the last few minutes with Rioghan Murphy getting a late goal, as they sealed their place in the quarter-finals, where they'll face Naomh Mairtin (Louth) in two weeks.

Final Score

Portarlington 1-12

Old Leighlin 0-6

SCORERS- Portarlington: Rioghan Murphy 1-2 (0-1 free), Colm Murphy 0-4 (frees), Jordan Fitzpatrick and Paddy O'Suillivan 0-2 each, Ronan Coffey and Sean Michael Corcoran 0-1 each. Old Leighlin: Seamus Kinsella (frees) and Mikey Bambrick 0-2 each, Aaron Amond and Sean Taylor 0-1 each.

PORTARLINGTON: Luke O’Reilly; Mikey Bennett, Robbie Pigott, Curtis Lyons; Alex Mohan, Jason Moore, Patrick O’Sullivan; Keith Bracken, Sean Byrne; Darragh Slevin, Ronan Coffey, Rioghan Murphy; Colm Murphy, Darragh Galvin, Jordan Fitzpatrick. Subs: Tom Corcoran for Galvin (49 mins), Sean Michael Corcoran for Fitzpatrick (58 mins)

OLD LEIGHLIN: Steven Scallan; Jordan Kelly, Seán Bambrick, Tadhg Roche; Tadhg O'Neill, Niall Roche, Jamie Doyle; Ian Atkinson, Mikey Bambrick; Darragh Fitzgerald, David Bambrick, James Dowling; Cathal Coughlan, Seamus Kinsella, Aaron Amond. Subs: Sean Taylor for D Bambrick (42 mins), Mark Brennan for Coughlan (58 mins)

Referee: Ian Howley (Dublin)