Late Quinn goal seals victory for Abbeyleix over Rathdowney-Errill to seal Division 1 final place

Abbeyleix have gotten one over on Rathdowney-Errill again as they came away from Rathdowney with a four-point victory on Sunday afternoon to book their spot in the Laois Shopping Centre ACHL Division 1 final against Borris-Kilcotton.

The sides drew 1-12 to 0-15 in their game earlier in the year, and another close game was anticipated once again on Sunday. And indeed it turned out to be a tight contest as the sides battled the windy conditions and scores proved tough to come by, but goals proved to be the difference again as Abbeyleix raised three green flags whilst Rathdowney-Errill failed to threaten Enda Rowland's goal with any conviction.

Abbeyleix 3-10

Rathdowney-Errill 0-15 

Rowland himself got the game's opening goal from a wind-assisted puckout in the first half, and he also struck the second from a penalty early in the second half, and Sam Quinn secured the win for the visitors with his goal in injury time to send them four clear.

It was indeed the Abbeyleix stopper that opened the scoring in the game with a free from his own 45 after Abbeyleix hit four early wides despite having the wind. Colin Byrne and Killian Byrne both pointed from play to put the visitors three ahead after 10 minutes.

A quick trio of points for the hosts got them back level within five minutes, with Mark Kavanagh slotting a pair of frees and Jack Kelly pointing from play after a good pass from Thep Fitzpatrick.

Rathdowney-Errill's good work was undone in the blink of an eye as Rowland launched a puckout on top of Ben Campion, and despite the best efforts of Campion, the ball landed over the line for a goal.

James Ryan responded with a point as the game intensified with hard hits from both sides, and Abbeyleix benefited with a brace of frees from Cormac Byrne in reply. The teams traded two points each in the later stages with Kavanagh and Byrne on the mark from frees while Fionan Mahony and Eoin Bracken struck from play to make it 1-7 to 0-6 in favour of Abbeyleix at the break.

Now, with the wind behind them, the hosts got to work early on in the second half with points from Kavanagh and Kelly, but much like their opponents in the first half, they struggled to take full advantage of the conditions, and their shooting was wayward to say the least.

Cormac Byrne was then hauled down and a penalty was awarded to Abbeyleix, which Rowland buried low into the net, and five points separated them with 20 minutes left to play.

Two scores from Kavanagh followed by a third from Kelly cut the gap to two, but Abbeyleix continued to threaten, and Byrne responded with a brace of frees. Kavanagh was again on target with two more frees of his own before Ben Campion was called into action to pull off a great save to deny  Colin Byrne and keep the game alive for the hosts.

Rathdowney-Errill had numerous chances to reel the visitors back in, but yet again their shooting cost them as they hit four wides in succession after Campion's save. Ciaran Byrne added to Rathdowney-Errill's woes with a great point before Kavanagh and Ray Bowe both pointed late on to put just a point between the teams.

Now in injury time and after further wides from Rathdowney-Errill, Abbeyleix pressed high up the field and forced a mistake in the Rathdowney-Errill defence, leading to Sam Quinn claiming possession near the endline and tearing inside before rippling the net to put four between the teams and put the game beyond all reasonable doubt.

Borris-Kilcotton now await Abbeyleix in the final after their victory over Camross on Sunday.

SCORERS - Abbeyleix: Enda Rowland 2-1 (1-0 puckout, 1-0 penalty, 0-1 free), Cormac Byrne 0-5 (four frees, one 65), Sam Quinn 1-0, Fionan Mahony, Ciaran Byrne, Killian Byrne and Colin Byrne 0-1 each. Rathdowney-Errill: Mark Kavanagh 0-9 (0-7 frees), Jack Kelly 0-3, James Ryan, Eoin Bourke and Eoin Bracken 0-1 each.

ABBEYLEIX: Enda Rowland; Lewis Churchouse, Oisin Carroll, Eamon Fitzpatrick; Aaron Carroll, Jack Finlay, Liam Doyle; Fionan Mahony, Colm Walsh; Ciaran Byrne, Killian Byrne, Cormac Byrne; Stephen Thompson, Colin Byrne, Sam Quinn. Subs: Lawson Obular for Doyle (45 mins), Eoghan Fennelly for Thompson (48 mins), Rory McEvoy for Walsh (52 mins)

RATHDOWNEY-ERRILL: Ben Campion; Shane Bracken, Joe Fitzpatrick, John Purcell; Thep Fitzpatrick, Padraig Rafter, Kevin O'Dea; David Poynton, Dylan Carroll; James Ryan, Jack Kelly, Eoin Bourke; Micheal Cleary, Mark Kavanagh, Eoin Bracken. Subs: Paddy McCane for E Bracken (40 mins), Ray Bowe for Cleary and Jacques Dowling for Poynton (both 47 mins)

Referee: John Lalor (Colt)

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