St Joseph’s power past Ballyroan-Abbey to book Courtwood Division 1 final showdown
St Joseph's finished with 1-23 after a dominant display in Tony Byrne Park
St Joseph’s and Courtwood will meet in the Laois GAA ACFL Division 1 final for the second time in three years after St Joseph’s powered past Ballyroan-Abbey in Kellyville on Saturday evening.
Brian Cardiff’s side finished with an impressive tally of 1-23 and, more often than not, any team that posts that kind of score comes away with victory. Crucially, St Joseph’s produced three significant scoring bursts, registering unanswered totals of 1-6, 0-5 and 0-9 at different stages of the contest.
Ballyroan-Abbey had led by two points before St Joseph’s hit that run of 1-6. They reduced the deficit back to two after 26 minutes thanks to a Killian Byrne goal, but that proved to be as close as they would get. St Joseph’s closed the opening half with the aforementioned five unanswered points before adding nine more without reply during the final quarter to secure an 11-point victory.
Midfielder Brian Daly opened the scoring inside the opening minute before Diarmuid Whelan curled over a two-pointer from the right-hand side. Eoin Johnson restored St Joseph’s lead with a free before Whelan (free) and Byrne made it 0-4 to 0-2 in Ballyroan-Abbey’s favour.
Ballyroan-Abbey then endured a scoreless spell of 17 minutes, during which St Joseph’s rattled off 1-6. Michael Keogh got the first before Eoghan O’Flaherty converted a free from in front of the posts after referee Colin Bailey advanced the ball. Darragh Farrell, who finished with seven points, opened his account after Daly’s 45 found Robbie Murphy, who teed up Farrell to split the posts.
Johnson and Murphy added points before St Joseph’s struck for goal. A superb pass from Farrell released Keogh on the run and he rounded Robert Eyres before smashing the ball to the net. Farrell followed with his second point before Ballyroan-Abbey finally ended their barren spell when Whelan pointed from outside the arc. From the resulting kick-out, Aaron Cooney's delivery was intended for Jack Lacey, but Lacey slipped, allowing Byrne to race through on goal and find the back of the net.
St Joseph’s finished the half with five unanswered points, four of them coming from Farrell’s boot, including a two-pointer. Murphy accounted for the other score with a fine effort from the right as St Joseph’s took a 1-14 to 1-6 lead into the break.
Johnson extended the advantage with his third point, his second from a free. Ballyroan-Abbey responded through James McWey (free), Davin McEvoy (two-pointer) and Whelan to cut the gap to four.
However, St Joseph’s took complete control once more and reeled off nine unanswered points. Daly got the run under way with a two-point free before substitute Dylan Doyle pointed. Fellow substitute Josh Lacey then landed a two-pointer before picking out Farrell with an excellent pass. Farrell rounded Eyres but saw his effort brilliantly saved on the line by Aaron McEvoy, with Daly converting the resulting 45. A Ballyroan-Abbey infringement for not having three players inside the St Joseph’s half allowed Farrell to add another free before Keogh rounded off his tally with two late points.
Davin McEvoy registered the final score of the evening with a two-point free, but it proved little more than a consolation as St Joseph’s comfortably booked their place in another Division 1 decider.
FINAL SCORE
St Joseph’s 1-23
Ballyroan-Abbey 1-12
SCORERS– St Joseph’s: Darragh Farrell 0-7 (0-1 free), Michael Keogh 1-3, Brian Daly 0-4 (one two-point free, 0-1 45), Eoin Johnson 0-3 (0-2 frees), Josh Lacey (two-pointer) and Robbie Murphy 0-2 each, Eoghan O’Flaherty (free) and Dylan Doyle 0-1 each. Ballyroan-Abbey: Diarmuid Whelan 0-6 (one two-point free, one two-pointer), Killian Byrne 1-1, Davin McEvoy 0-4 (one two-pointer, one two-point free), James McWey 0-1 (free)
BALLYROAN-ABBEY: Robbie Eyres; Ned Fitzpatrick, Pat Whelan, Colm Walsh; Aaron McEvoy, Conor Brennan, Conaire Gee; Cathal Doyle, Sean Murphy; Davin McEvoy, Diarmuid Whelan, Killian Byrne; James McWey, Marty Scully, Enda McWey. Subs: Shaun Fitzpatrick for Scully (HT), Charlie Whelan for E McWey (40 mins), Danny Brennan for Gee and Brian Whelan for J McWey (Both 56 mins).
ST JOSEPH’S: Aaron Cooney; Tom Dunne, Adam Campion, Ciaran Condron; Jack Lacey, Sean Brennan, Niall Brennan; Brian Daly, Mikie Dempsey; Eoin Johnson, Michael Keogh, Robbie Murphy; Oisín Hooney, Darragh Farrell, Eoghan O’Flaherty. Subs: Dylan Doyle for Hooney (40 mins), Josh Lacey for Johnson (45 mins), Matty Campion for Campion (54 mins), Colin Campion for S Brennan and Sam Lynch for O’Flaherty (Both 57 mins).
Referee: Colin Bailey (Mountrath)