Clonalsee Community School out gunned by Hacketstown in Leinster Senior football final

Clonaslee Community School went on the hunt for South Leinster football  glory on Tuesday afternoon but they left Stradbally empty handed as a more well rounded and clincial Colaiste Eoin from Hacketstown spoiled the party.

Colaiste Eoin were the better team on the day but had the Laois men had a bit of luck in the final quarter when they saw two shots cleared off the line, the result could have been a lot tighter.

CLONALSEE COMMUNITY SCHOOL 0-5

COLAISTE EOIN, HACKETSTOWN 1-9

SOUTH LEINSTER SENIOR FOOTBALL 'D' FINAL

After and opening five minutes of nervous play on both sides and with the scoreboard yet to be hit, it was the Hacketstown men who took a firm grip on the game.

Clonaslee were making chances but all too often in the opening half, they were either taking too much out of the ball or snapping at shots that weren't the best option at the time.

Hacketstown midfielder Ciaran Harmon opened the scoring with two impressive scores from distance, one with the right and the other with the left. His dominance around the middle sector was a huge factor in the opening half with Clonaslee also hampered by regular midfielder Jimmy Hyland unable to start due to injury.

Aaron Kelly then hit the net for the school on the Carlow/Wicklow border and they held a commanding 1-2 to 0-0 lead after 10 minutes.

Jack O'Toole and James Whelan put them 1-4 to 0-0 up at the water break before Sean Harmon tagged on another with the next play to put Clonaslee eight points in arrears.

Finally, on the 23rd minute, Clonaslee registered their opening score with Alex Marron clipping over. Hacketstown responded again but John Kellett did manage to kick a second point for Clonaslee before the break as they went in trailing 1-6 to 0-2 at the break.

Hacketstown stretched their lead to eight points shortly after the restart but for the remaining 25 odd minutes, Clonaslee really came back into the game and were unlucky not to be a lot closer in the end.

Cian Callaghan got Clonaslee got motoring in the second half with a fine score after a neat pass from John Kellett and with two frees from full forward Cathal Lee, the Laois school had it down to a six point game at the second water break - 1-8 to 0-5.

It was the few minutes after the water break that Clonaslee missed the chance to make a right game of it in the final quarter. Joe Conroy saw his close range effort cleared off the line and a minute later, he had another effort deflected out for a '45'.

From that '45', Eoin McEvoy also then saw a shot deflected out for another '45' with that few minutes of play summing up the luck of the Clonaslee men on the day.

A goal at that stage would have made for an interesting closing 10 minutes but instead, Hacketstown had the lead built up to hold out for the win. Clonalsee weren't helped by Padraig Glancy being sent to the sin bin with 11 minutes to go and try as the may to find more scores at the end, it wasn't Clonaslee's day as Hacketstown took home the title with seven points to spare.

CLONALSEE

Scorers: Cathal Lee 0-2 frees, Cian Callaghan, Alex Marron and John Kellett 0-1 each.

Team: Paul Egan (Rosenallis); Paddy Purcell (St Manmans), Aodh Bowes (Rosenallis), Gerard Glancy (Rosenallis); Tom Smith (St Manmans), Cian Conroy (St Manmans), Padraig Glancy (Rosenallis); Noah Flynn (St Manmans), Cian Callaghan (St Manmans); Senan Barrett (St Manmans), John Kellett (Rosenallis), Alex Marron (Rosenallis); Joe Conroy (St Manmans), Cathal Lee (St Manmans), Fion Owens (St Manmans). Subs: Eoin McEvoy (Rosenallis) for Fion Owens (40), James Dunne (St Manmans) for Alex Marron (44), Bryon Walsh (Ballyfin) for Cian Callaghan inj (53), Denis Grehan (Rosenallis) for Joe Conroy (60)

HACKETSTOWN

Scorers: Ciaran Harmon 0-3, Aaron Kelly 1-0, James Whelan and Jack O'Toole 0-2 each, Sean Harmon and Conor Byrne 0-1 each.

Team: Aaron Corless; Ciaran Mooney, Caolin Goetelen, Marty Walsh; Sean Murphy, Adam Kinsella, Mark Kinsella; Cathal Sheehan, Ciaran Harmont; Conor Byrne, Sean Harmon, Jack O'Toole; Adam Byrne, Aaron Kelly, James Whelan.