Late Crampton try sees Portarlington past Portlaoise in the Leinster League
Portlaoise led by three points before Port took the spoils late on
Portarlington won the Laois derby, beating Portlaoise by just two points on Sunday afternoon at Lea Road. It was a seriously physical encounter, with bodies left laying throughout the game and injuries reaching double figures.
Both sides came into the game on the back of away defeats last week, with Portarlington beaten by North Meath while Garda Westmanstown were too strong for Portlaoise.
Portarlington 17
Portlaoise 15
The game started well with both defences repelling powerful attacks in the early goings. Jack Reddin’s boot kept Portarlington pinned inside their own half for a full ten minutes, but Portlaoise could not open the scoring. Instead, the hosts claimed a line-out on the Portlaoise 22, sending Ross Doyle barraging through multiple defenders to score a fine first-phase try. Adam Lamkin converted to make it 7-0.
Portlaoise hit back immediately, winning a line-out of their own before Ross Cooper forced his way over the line. Reddin added his kick to draw level. A brawl broke out midway through the half, but credit to referee, Rhys Doyle, he let the players get it out of their system before having a strong word with the main culprits.
A penalty from Reddin on the 22 put Portlaoise in front for the first time after half an hour, but Portarlington regained the lead just four minutes later. They stretched the Portlaoise defence and a pin-point pass from Lamkin released Eoin Worrell, who finished superbly in the corner. Lamkin, Worrell and Doyle then combined with an excellent running move, but were stopped just short of what would have been a try-of-the-year contender.
It finished 12-10 at half time, with Jack Hennessy apparently knocked out cold on the whistle after a clash of heads with teammate Jack McCann.The hosts were dealt another blow five minutes after the restart when fly half, Jordan Fitzpatrick was sent to the sin bin. But it was 14 against 14 five minutes later when Portlaoise substitute Shane Reilly was shown a yellow card.
Neither side managed to score with men off the field and another yellow card came moments later. Ross Doyle was guilty of a deliberate knock on, and while he prevented a try, Portlaoise did force their way over in the corner when Ross Cooper found Jack Duffin who just about got the ball down.
Again, the lead lasted mere minutes. Portlaoise lost their own line-out allowing Portarlington to kick the ball into space with Gavin Crampton touching down over the line. It proved to be the winning of the game as the hosts held on.