Simon Fingleton stars as Park-Ratheniska book Round 3 spot in Laois GAA SFC

Park-Ratheniska became one of the first teams to secure their place in Round 3 of this year’s Laois Shopping Centre Senior Football Championship after seeing off Crettyard in Stradbally on Thursday evening.

It was a meeting of the last two Intermediate champions, with 2025 winners Park-Ratheniska prevailing thanks to goals in each half from Matt Cunningham (first half) and Simon Fingleton (second half), recording a deserved five-point victory.

The defeat ends Crettyard’s involvement in the senior championship, with their campaign now continuing in the Senior ‘B’ competition after two successive losses.

Crettyard made the ideal start as Alex Whelan exchanged passes with Jonah Kelly before opening the scoring after just 25 seconds. Park-Ratheniska responded quickly, with Matt Cunningham splitting the posts from outside the arc for a two-pointer to edge his side in front.

Evan O’Carroll’s sharp solo-and-go restored Crettyard’s lead, but Park-Ratheniska hit back with 1-2 without reply. Conor Headen converted a free that had been advanced before Simon Fingleton and Tom Fingleton combined for another point. The opening goal arrived in the 10th minute when Cunningham finished off a sweeping move that started deep inside the Park-Ratheniska defence and ended with the ball in the Crettyard net.

Crettyard struggled to build any rhythm during the opening half, with misplaced passes and handling errors proving costly. O’Carroll reduced the deficit with a well-struck left-footed free before he was denied moments later by an excellent one-handed save from Cathal Tierney.

Simon Fingleton was outstanding throughout and rounded off the first half scoring with a powerful burst through the middle before drilling over the bar. O’Carroll accounted for four of Crettyard’s five first-half points as they trailed 1-6 to 0-5 at the interval.

Park-Ratheniska nearly struck for a second goal just 40 seconds after the restart, only for Eoin O’Shea to deny Simon Fingleton. The Laois star wasn't to be denied for long, however, as he reacted quickest two minutes later to palm home after O’Shea had initially saved from Paul Byrne.

Fingleton added a free soon afterwards to leave his side eight points clear after 34 minutes. O’Carroll and Headen traded two scores apiece as Park-Ratheniska continued to keep their opponents at arm’s length. Crettyard then gave themselves renewed hope when Ciaran Burke picked out Cormac Murphy, who fired to the net to cut the gap to five points.

The response from Johnny Nevin’s side was immediate. Headen converted another free before Simon Fingleton added his third point from play to steady the ship. O’Carroll curled over a superb two-pointer before Tierney produced another fine save, this time getting down low to keep out Patrick O’Reilly after Whelan’s delivery dropped short and he had flicked the ball goalwards.

Another O’Carroll point reduced the margin to four with three minutes remaining, but Crettyard could get no closer. Their frustrations were compounded when Jack Doyle was shown a straight red card for an elbow to the head of Simon Fingleton.

Podge Dunne and O’Carroll exchanged late scores before O’Carroll's final two-point attempt dropped short. Dunne added another point in stoppage time to put the seal on a five-point victory for Park-Ratheniska.

FINAL SCORE

Park-Ratheniska 2-13

Crettyard 1-11

SCORERS– Park-Ratheniska: Simon Fingleton 1-4 (0-1 free), Matt Cunningham 1-2 (one two-pointer), Conor Headen 0-4 (0-2 frees), Podge Dunne 0-2, Tom Fingleton 0-1. Crettyard: Evan O’Carroll 0-10 (one two-pointer, 0-3 frees, 0-1 mark), Cormac Murphy 1-0, Alex Whelan 0-1

PARK-RATHENISKA: Cathal Tierney; James Newell, Colm Brennan, Benny Greene; Paul Byrne, Ritchie Hitchcock, Killian O’Connor; Podge Dunne, Simon Fingleton; Jimmy Langton, Matt Cunningham, Aaron Fitzpatrick; Tom Fingleton, Noah Fingleton, Conor Headen. Subs: Kieran Delaney for T Fingleton (45 mins), Brian Fingleton for Langton (55 mins), Barry Connolly for O’Connor (58 mins).

CRETTYARD: Eoin O’Shea; Cormac Brennan, Pierce Nash, Fionn O’Sullivan; Dara Kelly, John Brennan, Jack Doyle; Patrick O’Reilly, Alex Whelan; Tiernan Patterson, Jonah Kelly, Sean Browne; Cormac Murphy, Ciaran Burke, Evan O’Carroll. Subs: Evan Dunne for O’Sullivan (17 mins, inj), Podge Lawlor for Patterson (HT), Michael Nash for Browne (39 mins), Brian Brennan for Burke (56 mins, inj).

Referee: Michael Tarpey (Kilcavan)