Courtwood earn home semi-final against Stradbally with victory over Portlaoise
Ryan Little and Alan Kinsella starred as the home side won by five points
Courtwood secured second place in this year’s Laois Shopping Centre ACFL Division 1 with victory over Portlaoise on Friday evening, earning a home semi-final against third-placed Stradbally.
Playing into a stiff breeze in the opening half, Courtwood handled the conditions superbly and led 2-5 to 0-2 at the break. Portlaoise, meanwhile, were left to rue a hugely wasteful opening 30 minutes, kicking 10 wides despite having the benefit of the wind.
The Town responded impressively after the restart and had reduced the deficit to just a point after 38 minutes, but Courtwood regained control to pull away for a five-point victory and secure second place in the table.
Alan Kinsella opened the scoring with a free after just a minute. It was another 10 minutes before the next score arrived as Kinsella found the net. During that spell, Portlaoise's shooting was wayward, with the visitors registering five wides despite playing with the strong breeze. Ryan Little then added a fine point after a superb dummy solo created the space for him to curl an effort over with the outside of his boot.
DJ White finally got Portlaoise on the scoreboard after 13 minutes before Sean O’Flynn replied almost immediately for Courtwood. Kieran Lillis picked out White with an excellent pass and the Portlaoise forward added his side’s second point after 17 minutes, but they failed to score again before the interval.
Another well-worked move saw Little register his second point before Conor Brown produced an excellent save to deny Kinsella a second goal. Kinsella then converted a free to extend the advantage to 1-5 to 0-2.
Courtwood finished the half in the best way possible when Little struck their second goal, beating Brown to leave his side 2-5 to 0-2 ahead. Having coped so well against the wind, they looked firmly in control with the breeze to come after the break.
Just as Courtwood had done in the opening half, Portlaoise produced their best football while playing into the wind. David Seale was introduced at half-time and made an immediate impact as Damon Larkin set him up for a goal. Brown then ventured forward to convert a free before Larkin struck again, firing to the net and suddenly reducing the deficit to just a point after 38 minutes.
Courtwood responded when Little and Kinsella landed their first scores of the second half to halt Portlaoise’s momentum. Larkin cut the gap back to two points with a quarter of an hour remaining, but that proved as close as the visitors would get as Courtwood replied with 1-2 unanswered.
Little’s effort for a point came back off the crossbar, but Dylan Keane reacted quickest to gather the rebound and blast the ball over. Niall Dunne then took full advantage of the breeze to land the game’s only two-pointer. Courtwood’s was an excellent example of swift transition, with a long delivery out of defence finding Dan Boland, who in turn released Kinsella before he set up Keane for the finish.
White grabbed Portlaoise’s third goal to reduce the deficit to five points with eight minutes remaining, while Little and White (free) traded late scores. The result ensured Courtwood finished second in the standings by virtue of their head-to-head advantage over Stradbally.
They will now welcome Stradbally in the semi-finals, while St Joseph’s host Ballyroan-Abbey in Kellyville.
FINAL SCORE
Courtwood 3-11
Portlaoise 3-6
SCORERS– Courtwood: Ryan Little 1-4, Alan Kinsella 1-3 (0-3 frees), Dylan Keane 1-1, Niall Dunne 0-2 (two-pointer), Sean O’Flynn 0-1. Portlaoise: DJ White 1-4 (0-3 frees), Damon Larkin 1-1, David Seale 1-0, Conor Brown 0-1 (free).
PORTLAOISE: Conor Brown; Gary Whelan, Chris Finn, Conor Raggett; Emmett Maloney, Colin McEvoy, Ben O’Connor; Kieran Lillis, Ciaran McEvoy; Oisín Fitzpatrick, Mark O’Connor, Ross Brennan; DJ White, Damon Larkin, Aaron McCormack. Subs: Conor Dunphy for M O’Connor and David Seale for Brennan (Both HT), Ryan Morrin for Maloney (44 mins, inj), Cathal Duggan for McCormack (49 mins), Sean Powders for Finn (57 mins, inj)
COURTWOOD: Luke Doyle; Darragh McEvoy, Dan Boland, Collins Ugochukwu; Jake Doyle, Niall Dunne, Ciaran Boland; Sean O’Flynn, Mark O’Halloran; Niall Donoher, Cian Doyle, Tadhg Slattery; Ryan Little, Alan Kinsella, Barry Donnelly. Subs: Danny Luttrell for C Boland (HT), Dylan Keane for Donnelly (44 mins), Paul O’Flynn for C Doyle and Colm Wilson for Slattery (57 mins).
Referee: Des Cooney (St Joseph’s)