Portarlington comeback falls short as Portlaoise win U-20 Championship opener
The Town had led 3-6 to 0-4 just after half-time before Portarlington got back to within two points with less than 10 minutes to play
Portlaoise have gotten their 2026 Laois U-20 Football Championship off to a winning start with a victory over Portarlington in McCann Park on Friday evening.
The victors dominated the majority of the first half to lead by 11 points shortly after half-time, but Portarlington came roaring back to get the margin back to two points with 51 minutes on the clock. However, Portlaoise ended up winning by three points in the end to get the two points on the board.
Many of those playing on Friday night faced off against one another in the 2024 Laois Minor Football final, a game in which Portlaoise won.
Mark O’Connor kicked the visitors into an early lead, with Lucas Coleman replying down the other end. Then came the game’s first goal as David Timmons finished to the back of the net after good work to turn his marker. Finn Dawson’s turnover in the Port defence set up Darren Brennan to score as Portlaoise led by four points after five minutes.
The home side kicked the next three scores without reply as Sean Moran kicked two frees, one after being fouled himself, with Ben McCann getting the other point from play. Portlaoise went up another gear for the remainder of the half and started to win all the kick-outs as they fired in 2-3 unanswered. Aaron McCormack played a one-two with David Valanius before smashing the ball low and hard past Adam O’Reilly. Valanius then scored his first of two points on the night.
McCormack tapped over a free before a third green flag was raised for Portlaoise. A shot dropped short and looked to be landing in the hands of O’Reilly, but Finn Dawson got to the ball first to intercept it and kick it into an empty net. McCormack almost had a second goal, but his soccer-style effort just went past the post. Davy Delaney pointed from wing-back for the final score of the half with Portlaoise ahead by 10 points, 3-5 to 0-4.
Valanius pushed Portlaoise 11 points ahead with the first point after the restart. Port started to create goal chances, with Cillín Hoey denied by Liam Conroy just after Rio LaCumber had made a superb block to tip Sean Moran’s shot onto the crossbar. Moran ended up pointing a free to get his side’s first score in 20 minutes.
The momentum swung in Port’s favour as they scored a further 1-5 to cut Portlaoise’s lead to two points. Matthew O’Sullivan and two Sean Moran frees got three of the Portarlington points. Down the other end, Port had Callum Doody to thank after he made a great save from McCormack. The home side then got in for their goals as Conroy’s attempted clearance went straight to Hugo Emerson and with Conroy out of the goals, Emerson squared the ball for James Saunders to palm into an empty net.
Both sides were then forced to play 10 minutes with a player less after a bit of scuffle ended with both Aaron McCormack and Max O’Reilly having their jerseys ripped clean off them. Jordan Downey and Mark O’Connor were shown black cards by referee Colin Bailey. Portlaoise then handed the home side a chance to cut the gap even further as Bruno McCormack, part of the Portlaoise management, was shown a yellow card and Bailey brought the ball forward. Moran opted to take the free from outside the arc and slotted it over for two points.
Portlaoise managed to register just their second point of the half thanks to a McCormack free after Port didn’t have the required number of players in their own half. LaCumber was immense for Portlaoise at corner-back as he made another outrageous block from Conor Maher. O’Sullivan and Jake Byrne traded late scores as Port went in search of a goal to rescue a point, but they couldn’t manage it. Callum Doody, who replaced O’Reilly at half-time, denied Portlaoise a fourth goal with the last kick of the game after saving from McCormack.
Portlaoise’s next game comes against Stradbally Parish Gaels on Friday, October 23, while Portarlington will make the trip to Killeshin the following day.
FINAL SCORE
Portlaoise 3-8
Portarlington 1-11
SCORERS — Portlaoise: Aaron McCormack 1-2 (0-2 frees), Finn Dawson and David Timmons 1-0 each, David Valanius 0-2, Mark O’Connor, Darren Brennan, Davy Delaney, and Jake Byrne 0-1 each. Portarlington: Sean Moran 0-7 (one two-point free, 0-4 frees), James Saunders 1-0, Matthew O’Sullivan 0-2, Lucas Coleman, and Ben McCann 0-1 each.
PORTLAOISE: Liam Conroy; Rio LaCumber, Sean Powders, Danny Rooney; Davy Delaney, Ben O’Connor, Finn Dawson; Rory Tully, Ryan Morrin; Mark O’Connor, Darren Brennan, David Valanius; Conor O’Callaghan, Aaron McCormack, David Timmons. Subs: Shane Carroll for Dawson (42 mins), Josh Finn for Valanius (50 mins), Jake Byrne for LaCumber (62 mins),
PORTARLINGTON: Adam O’Reilly; Ciaran Connell, Jordan Downey, Jack Murphy; Matthew O’Sullivan, Conor Moran, Patrick Murray; Hugo Emerson, Tom Corcoran; Cathal Ward, Cillín Hoey, Lucas Coleman; Ben McCann, Conor Maher, Sean Moran. Subs: Max O’Reilly for Connell (19 mins), James Saunders for Murray (inj) and Callum Doody for O’Reilly (Both HT)
Referee: Colin Bailey (Mountrath)