Standout Players from Laois Shopping Centre SHC Round 2

Standout Players from Round 2 of the Laois Shopping Centre: Senior Hurling Championship

Camross 2.24

Rathdowney Errill 1.23

Standout Players Camross

Mossy Keyes (1-4) produced a superb display in attack. He scored a brilliant goal from play, passed across to Ciaran Collier for Collier’s goal, won frees for his side and showed great pace and skill throughout. One bursting run and accurate pass picked out Zane Keenan (0-8), who finished the move with a point from play. Later, Mossy produced one of his trademark runs, hopping the ball off the ground as he cut in from out wide. With the angle too tight for a goal, he showed great composure to take the point instead, making the right decision for his team at the time admist their comeback from behind, to take the points as they come and wait for the goals to come later; which it did.

Cathal Cuddy produced an outstanding defensive display. He chased down a dangerous ball, protected it brilliantly under pressure and forced the attack wide. Throughout the game he read the play superbly, intercepted possession, made strong tackles and repeatedly turned defence into attack with pinpoint clearances.

Aaron Carroll had a brilliant second half and made a huge impact as Camross fought back. He was very strong defensively, dealt superbly with dangerous high balls by flicking them down to teammates, gathered loose possession and repeatedly delivered excellent long balls into attack. One superb delivery started the move that ended with Mossy Keyes laying the ball across for Ciaran Collier to find the net.

Sub Impact

Liam Delaney (0-2) made an excellent contribution from the bench with two points from play, while Gearoid Burke helped create scores with his energy and work rate.

Standout Players Rathdowney Errill

Thep Fitzpatrick was outstanding defensively. He was excellent on the wings, scooping up loose ball, delivering superb long-range passes and linking play with clever hand-passing and support runs. His turnover also led directly to one of Jack Kelly’s points.

Tadgh Dowling (0-3) was a constant threat in attack. He was superb under the high ball, winning possession cleanly before turning and running directly at the defence. He picked out James Ryan (0-1) with a clever pass, but Ryan’s goal effort struck the hard ground and bounced over the bar for a point. The very next attack saw Dowling score from play himself. Later, he again won a magnificent high ball at full stretch, turned sharply and split the posts. Another excellent catch allowed him to quickly release the play that saw Paddy Purcell score a great goal.

Sub Impact

Paddy McCane made an impressive impact off the bench, making several important defensive interceptions and winning valuable frees.

Clough Ballacolla 1.23

Ballinakill 0.21

Ballinakill

Gearoid Lynch (0-2) showed superb awareness and vision. He anticipated where the Clough-Ballacolla clearance was going, got into position to intercept it and immediately split the posts with an excellent point from distance on the wing. He also impressed around midfield, emerging with several 50-50 balls through his physicality before delivering dangerous deliveries into the full-forward line. Later, he won another puck-out around midfield and confidently popped over another point from play.

Cathal O’Shaughnessy (0-0) produced an outstanding defensive display. He made several vital interceptions from high Clough-Ballacolla deliveries before driving forward with pace to clear the danger. He also supported the attack with powerful runs almost the full length of the field, blocked a goal chance from Willie Dunphy (0-4), won an important free out and repeatedly attacked the ball fearlessly, earning further frees for his side.

Clough-Ballacolla

Jordan Walshe (0-4) showcased his excellent long-range striking while constantly finding space with intelligent movement to receive possession and influence attacks.

Ronan Broderick (0-2) was hugely impressive defensively with his tight man-marking, giving his opponent no room throughout. He cleanly intercepted a dangerous long delivery, won possession in the air and quickly moved the ball to Cormac Hogan (0-1), helping to create a Robbie Phelan point. In the following attack, Broderick stepped up himself to land a superb point from massive distance. He also defended another dangerous high ball brilliantly, intercepting by flicking the ball down to Lee Cleere to gather before Cleere’s long ball led to a goal chance for Willie Dunphy, denied only by brilliant defensive work of Ian Shanahan. (0-4). That movement proving how quickly Broderick’s defending led to chances at the other end.

Joe Corby (0-3) made a major contribution all over the field. From midfield he delivered excellent long-range deliveries into the full-forward line to help create scores before adding scores of his own during the second half, including a superb point from midfield. He also showed tremendous determination with a powerful run that created a goal chance, and although it was denied by excellent Ballinakill defending, he did well to win a 65. Defensively, he also produced a brilliant piece of play when he stretched at full length to flick away a ball that looked set to sail over his head, regaining possession and earning a valuable free out. His influence was felt in defence, midfield and attack throughout.

Ballyfin 3.16

Rosenallis 0.16

Ballyfin

Gary Hofmeister (0-1) showed tremendous pace, carrying the ball at speed and beating multiple defenders during one brilliant run before effortlessly flicking over an excellent point from play.

Ciaran Quinn (0-1) was very strong under the high ball, winning key 50-50 contests throughout. He showed great composure in possession, beating two defenders before quickly laying the ball off to Ronan Carroll (0-2) for a point. Quinn also landed an excellent score himself from just inside the halfway line despite being under pressure.

Ronan Carroll (0-2) made the most of the quality service from Quinn, finishing well for his points from play.

Rosenallis

Alex Marron (0-0) displayed superb vision with a perfectly judged looping delivery into the path of Paddy Keating (1-0), who ran onto the ball and finished brilliantly for a well-worked goal. Marron also excelled at gathering possession cleanly off the ground before driving forward with pace, turning defence into attack on several occasions.

Jack Friel (0-1) played a key role in one of Rosenallis’ goals, driving a long delivery into the danger area where Paddy Keating’s flick created the goal. Within moments, Friel won possession again and capped the spell by scoring an excellent point from play, contributing both an assist and a score in quick succession.

Conor Cosgrove (0-9) was dangerous throughout. He struck an excellent point from a tight angle before delivering two outstanding crossfield balls from the wings during the second half. The first was unfortunate not to find Paddy Keating for a clear goal chance, while the second picked out Jack Friel, who finished with a well-worked point from play. Cosgrove also battled tirelessly for possession in attack, earning a valuable 65 for his side.

Portlaoise 1.14

Borris in Ossory Kilcotton 0.17

Portlaoise

Frank Flanagan (0-0) produced two outstanding defensive moments. Firstly, he timed a superb tackle to prevent a Borris in Ossory Kilcotton attacker from breaking through on goal. Later, he brilliantly flicked down a high ball into a teammate’s path, directly leading to Cian Taylor’s point from play. He also smothered another Borris in Ossory Kilcotton forward under intense pressure, forcing a wide at a crucial stage, before making vital interceptions in the second half as Borris in Ossory Kilcotton pushed hard during the closing stages.

Sean Luke Taylor (0-0) worked tirelessly around midfield, winning puck-outs and high ball while showing great strength to fend off multiple challenges and retain possession. His work rate continually helped launch Portlaoise attacks. He also produced a superb block in midfield to deny what looked like a certain long-range point for Borris in Ossory Kilcotton.

Cormac Rigney (0-0) played a key role in Portlaoise’s attacking play, all the way from centre back. His superb long diagonal deliveries set up many attacking set plays for Portlaoise forwards after he cleared danger from successfull turnovers. He helped create the move that ended with Cian Taylor’s goal, while later another excellent long ball into attack led to Cathal Duggan converting a free.

Borris in Ossory Kilcotton

Neil Foyle (0-0) impressed with his fielding throughout. He won several puck-outs with brilliant clean catches and worked tirelessly by chasing down opponents with pace and intensity, helping to force important turnovers high up the field.

Philip Tynan (0-1) made a superb intervention at full stretch to win a dangerous ball in defence. His clearance eventually resulted in a free which PJ Scully converted. He also defended with great determination throughout.

Stephen Finan (0-0) produced a crucial defensive play by blocking down an attack before gathering the loose ball and clearing his lines, relieving the pressure at an important stage of the game: When Portlaoise were piling on the attacking pressure. Finan had the composure to hold strong in these moments earning his side a draw.

The Harps: 3.22

Abbeyleix: 0.13

The Harps

Justin Duggan (2-1) was outstanding in attack, finishing with two superbly taken goals. He grabbed his first after Rian Edwards burst through the middle before unselfishly laying the ball off for Duggan to finish, and he struck again early in the second half to effectively end the contest. He also added an important point from play during a dominant first-half display.

James Duggan (1-2) produced a brilliant all-round performance. He opened the scoring for himself with an early goal before later showing wonderful skill to lash the ball straight over the bar without taking a touch after Eoin Delaney flicked the sliotar high into the air to him. He was also heavily involved in one of Justin Duggan’s goals; Justin Duggan’s first goal, picking out the speedy Rian Edwards with an excellent pass as Edwards laid off to Justin to find the net.

Ciaran Comerford (0-9) controlled the game from placed balls, converting seven frees while also adding two points from play. His accuracy kept The Harps ticking over throughout, but his long passing ability to find team mates for scores it what really continually punished Abbeyleix and what contributed to their dominance when they took a big lead, before rounding off another excellent individual display with a late point.

Abbeyleix

Eoghan Fennelly (0-7) battled tirelessly despite his side’s defeat. He kept Abbeyleix in touch during the opening half with a string of accurate frees and also landed an excellent point from play before being forced off through injury during the second half.

Eoin Reilly (0-2) made a positive impact after taking over the free-taking duties. He converted a straightforward free before following it up with an impressive score, a brilliant point from play that wasnt easy and far out from midfield. Although he was unfortunate to see a late penalty rebound off the post, he continued to drive Abbeyleix forward until the final whistle.

Ends