Fleming stands tall as Borris-Kilcotton edge Camross to reach Division 1 final

Borris-Kilcotton are through to the 2025 Laois Shopping Centre ACHL Division 1 final after a hard-fought victory over Camross on Sunday afternoon.

Borris-Kilcotton secured home advantage having finished in second place in the round robin; a run that included a six-point win over Camross in Round 5 as they once again proved the stronger of the two teams here as they march on to the League Final.

Borris-Kilcotton 1-21

Camross 1-18

The visitors started well and got their noses in front early through James Cuddy, Eoin Dowling and a free from Zane Keenan. Borris-Kilcotton fought back with two scores from Aaron Dunphy and one from Niall Coss to level the game after the opening ten minutes.

Camross then raised a green flag when Cuddy forced a great save from Borris-Kilcotton goalkeeper Eoin Fleming, with Mark Dowling pouncing on the rebound and drilling his shot into the net.

Eoghan Coss and Keenan traded scores before the hosts burst into life midway through the first half, landing four scores on the trot from Eoghan Coss, Jer Quinlan and two from Dunphy to take the lead for the first time.

Camross responded with three quick scores, including a free and a '65 from Keenan and one from play from Daniel Delaney. Borris-Kilcotton responded in kind with one each from Coss and Evan Quinlan and a pair of frees from Dunphy. But Camross finished the half well with a score from Delaney and two frees from Keenan to leave the visitors up 1-11 to 0-12 at half time.

Borris-Kilcotton were level soon after the restart thanks to a free from Dunphy and Eoin Fitzpatrick from play. Camross substitute Tomás Keyes responded for the visitors but two more Dunphy frees and a peach of a score from Coss left the home side two points up heading into the final quarter.

It was then Borris-Kilcotton's turn to raise a green flag when Conor Kilbane launched a high ball in on top of the Camross goal, where Neil Foyle was on hand to gather the ball and turn his shot beyond Tadgh Doran.

That put five between the teams, but Camross hit back with a score from Liam Delaney and two from Cuddy to keep the game on a knife-edge, with Dunphy and Keenan trading a pair of frees at either end to keep it tight heading into the final five minutes. Borris-Kilcotton stretched their lead to four points through Eoin Daly and another Dunphy free before Mark Dowling brought it back to three.

There was incredible drama with the clock in the red when a double-save from goalkeeper Eoin Fleming prevented Keyes and then Cuddy from scoring the goal that would have sent the game to extra time. But Borris-Kilcotton held on and set up a blockbuster final where they will play an Abbeyleix side, who overcame Rathdowney-Errill in the other semi-final.

SCORERS - Borris-Kilcotton: Aaron Dunphy 0-12 (0-8 frees), Eoghan Coss 0-4, Neill Foyle 1-0, Eoin Daly, Niall Coss, Eoin Fitzpatrick, Evan Quinlan and Jer Quinlan 0-1 each. Camross: Zane Keenan 0-9 (0-7 frees, 0-1 65’), Mark Dowling 1-1, James Cuddy 0-3, Daniel Delaney 0-2, Liam Delaney, Tomás Keyes and Eoin Dowling 0-1 each.

BORRIS-KILCOTTON: Eoin Fleming; Eoin Daly, Steven Finan, Enda Parlon; Evan Quinlan, Conor Kilbane, Dean Carey; Niall Coss, Eoin Fitzpatrick; Aaron Dunphy, Matthew Whelan, Jer Quinlan; Stephen Dunphy, Neil Foyle, Eoghain Coss.

CAMROSS: Tadhg Doran; Robert Lalor, Daniel Breen, Darragh Duggan; Eoin Dowling, Eoin Gaughan, Andrew Collier; Robert Tyrrell, Liam Delaney; Daniel Delaney, Zane Keenan, James Cuddy; Darren Drennan, Mark Dowling, Ben Deegan. Subs: Conor Mortimer and Tomás Keyes for Breen (inj) and Drennan (both 39 mins).

REFEREE: Kieran Bowe (Rathdowney-Errill)

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