Portarlington edge Rathvilly in dramatic finish to reach Leinster semi-finals
Colm Murphy hit 1-6 as the Laois champions held on for victory in Netwatch Cullen Park
Portarlington are safely through to the semi-finals of the AIB Leinster Club Senior Football Championship after they had to withstand a late comeback from Rathvilly to win by a single point in Netwatch Cullen Park on Sunday afternoon.
The 2026 Laois SFC champions were dealt a double blow with neither Paddy O’Sullivan nor Jason Moore fit to start. Sean Byrne, who was immense in the county final, came into the team, and then youngster Conor Moran replaced Moore at half-back.
Portarlington led by four points with four minutes to play before a late Liam Gavin goal set up a tense finish. Rathvilly finished the game with 13 players after Padhraig Bolger and Ed Finnergan were both sent off for second yellow cards.
Their win sets up a bumper semi-final clash away to Cuala in Parnell Park in two weeks.
Portarlington got off to a good start and led two points to nil after five minutes. Their first score came from a Colm Murphy free after Eoin McCann was fouled by Brendan Murphy. The Rathvilly midfielder was shown a yellow card for the foul and the ball was also brought up by referee Ian Howley. Ronan Coffey was the scorer of the second point for the Laois SFC champions.
Rathvilly’s first score also came from a free as Liam Gavin tapped over a point from the 13-metre line. Portarlington hit the front again and Murphy added his first point from play before he got a goal in the 12th minute. Rioghan Murphy’s shot dropped short and Colm fisted the ball past Regan Murphy. The Carlow side cut Portarlington’s lead to just a point shortly after as Gavin kicked a brace of two-point frees.
Colm Murphy took his total to 1-3 for Portarlington with his white flag from play. Peter Burgess had a big goal chance for Rathvilly, but he blasted the ball over the bar and had to settle for a point instead. A Colm Murphy free was the final score of the half with the Portarlington number 15 having contributed 1-4 of his side’s 1-5 first half tally. The half ended with Coffey almost forcing a goal when his handpass across the goal bounced off a Rathvilly defender and hit the post; Portarlington led 1-5 to 0-6 at the sounding of Howley’s full-time whistle.
Rathvilly halved the deficit almost immediately after the restart as Conor Doyle kicked a free. He was matched by a free from Rioghan Murphy before Burgess scored his second point of the contest and the margin was back to one. Robbie Pigott came up with a huge score before a length stoppage in play due to an injury to Colin Byrne, which required him to be stretchered off the field.
When the game resumed, Portarlington scored the next three points to lead 1-10 to 0-8 with 52 minutes on the clock. The scores came from Coffey (two) and Colm Murphy. Then Rathvilly were shown the first of two red cards when Padhraig Bolger got a second yellow for a foul on Keith Bracken, who had only come onto the field. Colm Murphy tapped over the resulting free and Port looked to be sailing towards the last four.
There was to be drama yet however as Rathvilly raised two orange flags inside a minute from the boot of Gavin. Their first two-pointer came after someone from the Portarlington sideline threw a second ball onto the field. Portarlington manager Ronan Sweeney was shown a yellow card by Howley and the Dublin official brought the ball forward.
Substitutes Keith Bracken and Sean Moran both scored an insurance point each for Portarlington, but deep into six minutes of injury time, Liam Gavin put the ball into the net and suddenly just a point separated them. From the resulting kick-out, Darragh Slevin caught the ball before Ed Finnegan fouled him and became the second Rathvilly player to see red.
Portarlington held the ball for the remainder of what was left to see them into the last four. They will play Dublin champions Cuala in Parnell Park this day two weeks.
Final Score
Portarlington 1-13
Rathvilly 1-12
SCORERS — Portarlington: Colm Murphy 1-6 (0-3 frees), Ronan Coffey 0-3, Rioghan Murphy (free), Robbie Piggot, Keith Bracken, and Sean Moran 0-1 each. Rathvilly: Liam Gavin 1-9 (four two-point frees, 0-1 free), Peter Burgess 0-2, Conor Doyle 0-1.
PORTARLINGTON: Evan Grattan; Alex Mohan, Tom Corcoran, Cathal Bennett; Darragh Slevin, Robbie Pigott, Conor Moran; Hugo Emerson, Eoin McCann; Rioghan Murphy, Ronan Coffey, Sean Byrne; Jordan Fitzpatrick, Sean Michael Corcoran, Colm Murphy. Subs: Hugh Connolly for R Murphy (44 mins), Keith Bracken for McCann (54 mins), Sean Moran for Byrne (57 mins), Paddy O’Sullivan for S M Corcoran (61 mins)
RATHVILLY: Regan Murphy; Paraic Deering, Josh Moore, Robbie Ryan; Peter Burgess, Dara Curran, Padhraig Bolger; Brendan Murphy, Conor Doyle; Adam Burgess, Liam Gavin, Colin Byrne; Brian Smith, Brynn Nolan, Brandon Kelly. Subs: Eric Molloy for Smith (36 mins), Ed Finnegan for A Burgess (39 mins), Darragh Murphy for Byrne (44 mins, inj), Diarmuid Gavin for Nolan (59 mins)
Referee: Ian Howley (Dublin)