Clough/Ballacolla march into Laois SHC semi-finals after Portlaoise rout

Reigning county champions Clough/Ballacolla’s quest for a third Laois Shopping Centre SHC title in a row rolls on after they hammered Portlaoise by 34 points in Laois Hire O’Moore Park on Friday evening.

The result sees Mick McEvoy’s side finish the group stages with five wins from five and book their place in the semi-finals, where they will have a four-week break. Portlaoise now face a nervous wait to discover if they have done enough to reach the quarter-finals, with their hopes resting on neither Ballinakill nor Abbeyleix winning.

It took Clough/Ballacolla three minutes to open the scoring through midfielder Joe Corby. Willie Dunphy and a second Corby point were followed by a 65 from Picky Maher as the champions raced into a four-point lead after five minutes. Portlaoise got off the mark with a free from DJ White a minute later, but Clough/Ballacolla were in no mood to ease up as they hit four unanswered points through Diarmaid Conway, Joe Corby and two placed balls from Picky.

White tapped over another free for Portlaoise’s second score before the first of Clough/Ballacolla’s five goals arrived. Robbie Phelan’s shot was saved by Brochan O’Reilly, but Mark Hennessy was quickest to the rebound and smashed it into the net. Picky then added two more points to his tally for the county champions.

Portlaoise were restricted to scores from frees, with Cathal Duggan converting this time, while Picky’s sixth white flag and a point from Colm Brennan put Clough/Ballacolla 12 points clear with 19 minutes played. Duggan converted another free before the champions struck for their second goal. It was almost a carbon copy of the first, with O’Reilly saving from Brennan before Cillian Dunne pounced on the rebound and fired into the net. Brennan added another point shortly afterwards.

Sean Culleton and White, from a free, got a point apiece as Portlaoise ended the half with just six points. Clough/Ballacolla added three more points through Dunphy twice and Brian Corby, who scored the final point of the half. They led 2-16 to 0-6 at the break.

Portlaoise’s Ciaran McEvoy got the opening point after the restart, but Clough/Ballacolla continued to fire over scores. They hit five in a row, with Joe Corby and Picky scoring two each and Dunphy getting the other. Duggan converted his third free before there was no let-up from the champions, who scored 2-4 inside five minutes.

Brian Corby got his name on the scoresheet from wing-back before their third goal arrived. Dunne made a superb catch and laid the ball off to Hennessy, who in turn found Picky. He rounded O’Reilly before kicking the sliotar into an empty net. Cormac Hogan then added a point from corner-back before then mashing the ball past O’Reilly after being played through by Lochlainn Conway. Dunphy and Picky added the other two points.

The next six points were traded, with Cormac Rigney converting two frees and White getting his only point from play for Portlaoise. Clough/Ballacolla’s scores came from Joe Corby, Dunphy and Conway. Portlaoise’s final score came from substitute Gary Bergin with 10 minutes remaining.

Clough/Ballacolla finished in style. Their fifth goal came from a Picky penalty after a foul on Robbie Phelan, before they broke the 30-point mark with three more points from Picky, who finished with 2-12. Portlaoise ended the game with 14 players after McEvoy was shown a second yellow card by referee Kieran Bowe.

FINAL SCORE

Clough/Ballacolla 5-31

Portlaoise 0-12

SCORERS- Clough/Ballacolla: Stephen ‘Picky’ Maher 2-12 (1-0 pen, 0-3 frees, 0-2 65’s), Willie Dunphy and Joe Corby 0-6 each, Cormac Hogan 1-1, Mark Hennessy and Cillian Dunne 1-0 each, Diarmaid Conway, Brian Corby and Colm Brennan 0-2 each. Portlaoise: DJ White 0-4 (0-3 frees), Cathal Duggan 0-3 (frees), Cormac Rigney 0-2 (frees), Gary Bergin and Ciaran McEvoy 0-1 each.

CLOUGH/BALLACOLLA: Cathal Dunne; Diarmaid Conway, Darren Maher, Cormac Hogan; Brian Corby, Lee Cleere, Lochlainn Conway; Jordan Walshe, Joe Corby; Robbie Phelan, Willie Dunphy, Stephen Maher; Cillian Dunne, Mark Hennessy, Colm Brennan. Subs: Aidan Corby for D Maher (56 mins)

PORTLAOISE: Brochan O’Reilly; Frank Flanagan, Ciaran McEvoy, Eoin O’Connor; Ross Brennan, Cormac Rigney, Conor Raggett; Dean Lynch, Sean Luke Taylor; David Delaney, Liam Conroy, Matthew Dempsey; DJ White, Cathal Duggan, Sean Culleton. Subs: Cian Dowling Byrne for Taylor, Gary Bergin for Dempsey and Jamie Keenan for Delaney (All HT), Cormac Keegan for Lynch and Sean Powders for Raggett (57 mins)

Referee: Kieran Bowe (Rathdowney-Errill)