St Joseph’s withstand Ballyroan-Abbey fightback to reach last four of SFC

St Joseph’s are into the last four of the Laois Shopping Centre SFC, but it wasn’t without drama as Ballyroan-Abbey came from eight points down at half-time to draw level come the 56th minute.

The game looked destined to go to extra-time, but St Joseph’s scored 1-3 in the five added minutes to take their place in the semi-finals.

The game started at a frenetic pace, with both sides having a goal chance inside the first two minutes. Oisin Hooney was first denied for St Joseph’s before Marty Scully drilled the ball wide for Ballyroan-Abbey.

Martin Murphy’s side were the first to register a score after also kicking three wides as the returning Diarmuid Whelan kicked a two-pointer. St Joseph’s also registered a two-pointer for their first score as Michael Keogh raised an orange flag. It was a game of two-pointers early on as Ballyroan-Abbey went 0-4 to 0-2 ahead thanks to a second two-pointer from Whelan.

Then came the first goal as Keogh rattled the back of the net after getting the ball from Oisin Hooney. St Joseph’s went four points up soon with three scores on the trot. Darragh Farrell kicked a mark, Eoghan O’Flahery pointed a free after a Ballyroan-Abbey breach and he then kicked a score from play. Cathal Doyle caught a mark and split the posts off his left foot to end their scoreless period.

St Joseph’s were now dominating the ball and stretched their advantage to nine points with another spell of unanswered scores. This time around they fired over six points in a row. Robbie Murphy got the first of those, followed by a white flag from James Kelly. Eoin Johnson, Brian Daly, Keogh and Farrell all put the ball over the black spot as St Joseph’s led 1-11 to 0-5 with the game approaching half-time.

Whelan, having kicked the first score, ended the half with a free to take his first half total to five points. St Joseph’s went into the dressing rooms in Portlaoise with an eight-point lead.

Ballyroan-Abbey got off to a great start in the second half by kicking the first three points courtesy of Killian Byrne, Diarmuid Whelan (free) and substitute Brian Whelan. Eoghan O’Flaherty finally got St Joseph’s up and running with 10 minutes of the second period played. By the time St Joseph’s scored again, their lead was down to just a single point after they had led by eight at the break.

Ballyroan-Abbey reeled off 1-2 unanswered to get back into the contest. Brian Whelan added a second point to his name before their goal arrived from Shaun Fitzpatrick. Conaire Gee played him the ball and he buried it to give his side some renewed hope. Davin McEvoy, who had been quiet up to this point, got his only score of the game and the gap was down to one.

Keogh had a great chance to get a second goal, but was denied by Adam Jones. However, he gathered the rebound and kicked the ball between the posts. The sides were level shortly after as James McWey pointed a free before Diarmuid Whelan gave a fist pump after kicking the point to draw the sides level with 56 minutes played.

Five minutes of added time were announced and it saw St Joseph’s grab the game by the scruff of the neck. Josh Lacey played in Gearoid Lynch for their second goal. There was still time left for Joes to get three more points as Mick Keogh kicked a two-pointer and Lynch rounded off the scoring with a point from play.

FINAL SCORE

St Joseph's 2-16

Ballyroan-Abbey 1-13

SCORERS- St Joseph’s: Michael Keogh 1-6 (two two-pointers), Gearoid Lynch 1-1, Eoghan O’Flaherty 0-3 (0-1 free), Darragh Farrell 0-2 (0-1 mark), Eoin Johnson, Robbie Murphy, Brian Daly and James Kelly 0-1 each. Ballyroan-Abbey: Diarmuid Whelan 0-7 (two two-pointers, 0-2 frees), Shaun Fitzpatrick 1-0, Brian Whelan 0-2, James McWey (free), Cathal Doyle (mark), Killian Byrne and Davin McEvoy 0-1 each.

ST JOSEPH'S: Aaron Cooney; James Kelly, Adam Campion, Niall Brennan; Jack Lacey, Danny Hickey, Sean Brennan; Mikie Dempsey, Brian Daly; Eoin Johnson, Michael Keogh, Robbie Murphy; Oisin Hooney, Darragh Farrell, Eoghan O'Flaherty. Subs: Gearoid Lynch for Johnson (41 mins), Dylan Doyle for Hooney (50 mins), Ian Shanahan for Kelly (57 mins), Josh Lacey for O’Flaherty (60 mins)

BALLYROAN-ABBEY: Adam Jones; Conor McWey, Paddy Whelan, Aaron McEvoy; Charlie Whelan, Shaun Fitzpatrick, Conaire Gee; Conor Brennan, Shaun Murphy; Davin McEvoy, Diarmuid Whelan, Killian Byrne; James McWey, Cathal Doyle, Marty Scully. Subs: Eamon Fitzpatrick for A McEvoy and Brian Whelan for Murphy (HT), Enda McWey for Scully (57 mins)

Referee: Ciaran McManus (O’Dempsey’s)