Clough/Ballacolla ease past Portlaoise to continue winning start to Division 1 campaign
Mick McEvoy's side have won four games from four so far
Clough/Ballacolla have continued their winning start to this year's ACHL Division 1 campaign with a routine win over Portlaoise in Ballacolla on Saturday evening.
The first half was nip and tuck with Clough/Ballacolla leading by five points, 0-13 to 0-8, at half-time. They stepped it up in the second half and went on to win by 14 points in the end, with Kevin Hyland scoring the game's only goal in the 49th minute, but the game was already won at that stage.
Portlaoise got the first two points of the contest with Gary Bergin opening the scoring after Brochan O'Reilly had found Sean Culleton, who in turn found Bergin to split the posts. From the resulting puck-out, Davy Delaney set up Cormac Keegan to point.
The 2025 Laois SHC champions scored the next six points and went into the lead, one that they wouldn't relinquish. All six points came from six different scorers as Mark Hennessy, John Coonan, Cormac Hogan, Kevin Mulhall, Colm Brennan and Ronan Broderick all put the sliotar between the posts. Culleton replied with a free for The Town, but Coonan and a Hyland free kept Clough/Ballacolla ahead by five points with 17 minutes played.
The next four white flags were traded as Eoin O'Connor and Cathal Duggan pointed for Portlaoise, while Coonan and Brennan added to their tallies for Mick McEvoy's side. Portlaoise did get back within three points when Culleton and Cian Dowling Byrne scored. However, Clough/Ballacolla raised three of the last four white flags in the half. Brennan had a shot for goal saved over by O'Reilly, with Mulhall and Brian Corby taking their first half tally to 0-13. Culleton pointed a free between Brennan's and Mulhall's points as Clough/Ballacolla led 0-13 to 0-8 at the break.
Culleton opened the second half's scoring with another free before Clough/Ballacolla scored three in a row from Coonan and two from Brennan. Rigney then took over the free-taking duties after Culleton had hit a few frees wide. With six points separating the sides, Clough/Ballacolla hit a purple patch and scored 1-4 unanswered to cruise to victory.
Hyland pointed two frees with substitutes CJ Brennan and Chris Rafter getting the other two points. Their goal came after O'Reilly had made a great point-blank save, but Hyland was quickest to react to prod the ball home into an empty net.
Rigney tapped over another free for Portlaoise, but Clough/Ballacolla kept getting scores down the other end. Coonan, Padraigh Brennan and Hogan scored points to increase their lead with 57 minutes on the clock. Ronan O'Sullivan came off the bench to get a late point for Portlaoise.
Portlaoise will face Abbeyleix in Round 5 in two weeks, with Clough/Ballacolla looking to keep up their winning streak in Division 1 against Borris-Kilcotton.
FINAL SCORE
Clough/Ballacolla 1-23
Portlaoise 0-12
SCORERS- Clough/Ballacolla: Kevin Hyland 1-3 (0-3 frees), John Coonan and Colm Brennan 0-5 each, Kevin Mulhall and Cormac Hogan 0-2 each, Mark Hennessy, Padraigh Brennan, Chris Rafter, CJ Brennan and Ronan Broderick 0-1 each. Portlaoise: Sean Culleton 0-4 (0-3 frees), Cormac Rigney 0-2 (frees), Eoin O'Connor, Cathal Duggan, Cian Dowling Byrne, Ronan O'Sullivan, Gary Bergin and Cormac Keegan 0-1 each.
CLOUGH/BALLACOLLA: Cathal Dunne; Emmet Saunders, Darren Maher, Lochlainn Conway; Brian Corby, Ronan Broderick, Cormac Hogan; Padraigh Brennan, Kevin Mulhall; Colm Brennan, Sean Corby, Joe Corby; Mark Hennessy, John Dwyer, Kevin Hyland. Subs: John Coonan for J Corby (4 mins, inj), Gary Whelan for Hennessy (39 mins), CJ Brennan for Mulhall (39 mins), Chris Rafter for S Corby (50 mins), Eoin Duggan for Dwyer (54 mins)
PORTLAOISE: Brochan O’Reilly; Frank Flanagan, John Mark Foley, Eoin O’Connor; Ross Brennan, Cormac Rigney, Chris Lynch; Conor Raggett, Dean Lynch; Cormac Keegan, Sean Culleton, Gary Bergin; Cathal Duggan, Cian Dowling Byrne, Davy Delaney. Subs: Jamie Keenan for Keegan (HT), Conor Ging for Foley (Blood 39-44 mins), Conor Ging for Brennan and Ronan O'Sullivan for Delaney (Both 57 mins).
Referee: Anthony Stapleton (Rathdowney-Errill)