Portlaoise end 2022 with a defeat to North Kildare in cup final

It was a memorable New Year’s Eve for North Kildare as they ran out convincing winners, beating Portlaoise by 19 points to collect the 2022 Lalor Cup. The men in red, white and blue ran in five tries as they ruthlessly put Portlaoise to the sword. The clash was the second of three Leinster finals at a festival of rugby held in Athy. 

North Kildare winger, Jack Gartland got the scoring underway after quarter of an hour, chasing his own kick through the Portlaoise defence and winning the footrace with Glenn Connolly to touch down for a wonderful individual try. 

North Kildare 31

Portlaoise 12 

Both sides had been feeling each other out for the first fifteen minutes but the game really came to life after the opening score. Portlaoise were scrummaging well and took the lead on the 25th minute when Jack Reddin converted a Ross Cooper try after the Number 8 went over from close range. 

The Laois men looked relatively comfortable for the next ten minutes, but North Kildare scored fourteen points in the final four minutes of the half to give the game a completely different complexion. 

Winger, Patrick Casey scored two tries, the first came after a period of sustained pressure on the Portlaoise try line. North Kildare were patient and eventually worked the ball out wide to send Casey over in the corner. 

Jack White kicked an excellent conversion from the touchline and moments later Kildare were in again. A wonderful offload from Ben Maloco released Casey who went in under the posts. White added the extras to give his side a 19-7 lead at half time.

North Kildare played with physicality and intensity after the break and enjoyed all the possession and territory. Portlaoise defended well, making some big turnovers in their own 22, but were unable to mount a meaningful attack. 

Kildare finally got their reward midway through the second half with two tries in quick succession. Number 8, Tom Satchell took a quick tap on the hour mark and raced over before full back, Joe Gerry stretched the lead out to 31-7, putting the result beyond doubt. 

Portlaoise, to their credit, never let their heads drop and continued to press until the final whistle. After being held up over the try line, they kept up the pressure and it paid off five minutes from time. They sucked in the Kildare defence before Jack Reddin moved the ball wide, allowing Mark Mullaly in for a well-taken try. 

The late consolation try did little to dampen the celebrations as North Kildare closed out the game and left the Sportsground having collected their first piece of silverware for the season. 

North Kildare:

Scorers: Patrick Casey (Try x2), Jack Gartland (Try), Tom Satchwell (Try), Joe Gerry (Try), Jack White (Con x3)

Team: Joe Gerry, Patrick Casey, David Murphy, Ben Maloco, Jack Gartland, Jack White, Conor McCrossan, Liam Foran, Matthew Holton, Matt Keohane, Luke Dempsey, Ryan Clancy, Ronan O’Dea, Luke O’Leary, Tom Satchwell. Replacements: Ronan Larkin, Calvin Coffey, Dillon Grogan, Dean Curtin, Dylan Morrow

Portlaoise:

Scorers: Ross Cooper (Try), Mark Mullaly (Try), Matthew Coonan (Con)

Team: Mark Mullaly, Oisin Bennett, Jack Duffin, Brian Dunne, Brian Keane, Matthew Coonan, Jack Reddin, Paddy Coss, Dara Phelan, Harry Lalor, Diarmuid Joyce, Ronan Donlon, Glenn Connolly, Robin Foot, Ross Cooper. Replacements: Ryan McEvoy, Shane Reilly, Mark Sherlock, Kevin Griffin, Grellan Delaney