Whirlwind spell seals easy win in Laois GAA hurling championship

Rathdowney-Errill got off the mark in the Senior Hurling Championship after a comfortable victory over Rosenallis in Laois Hire O'Moore Park on Saturday evening, July 12.

Score difference could play a huge factor in this year's championship with the new format and Rathdowney-Errill have done themselves no harm with the margin of victory as they came away with a 15-point win, and the loss now puts Rosenallis under pressure early in the championship.

They were under pressure early on after a great start from Rosenallis but as the game progressed last year's beaten finalists began to shine through as they went on to hit their opponents for five goals.

Eoin Bracken was a livewire on his senior debut at corner forward while the workrate of Jack Kelly in midfield and Paddy Purcell at half forward was mightily impressive.

Rosenallis had a potentially dangerous forward line, but Padraig Rafter and Shane Bracken were excellent in culling any potential threats after the early danger.

A whirlwind two-minute period which saw three goals go in proved to be the turning of the game as Rathdowney-Errill took the lead at that stage for the first time and never looked back. MORE BELOW PHOTO.

Paddy Purcell, Rathdowney Errill rises to break this sliotar down with Charlie Friel, Rosenallis looking to challenge. Pic: Denis Byrne

A flying start to the game for the underdogs saw David Dooley pop over a free in the first minute and Joey Keating hit the net after a failed clearance from Rathdowney-Errill in the third.

It took six minutes for Rathdowney-Errill to draw level as Mark Kavanagh followed up a point from Brandon McGinley with three successful frees in a row.

Neither team could take a stranglehold early on as momentum swung back in favour of Rosenallis with a trio of scores from Jimmy Hyland, Jack Friel and Dooley to see them three ahead at the water break.

The sides traded points after the restart before all hell broke loose as three green flags were raised in the space of just two minutes, the first coming for Rosenallis when Paddy Keating made a run inside and played a one-two with John Maher before rifling it low into the net to put five between the teams.

Rosenallis' lead was eradicated in the blink of an eye when Eoin Bracken gathered the rebound from a saved Kavanagh shot and rippled the net and just seconds later Purcell made a powering run down the right wing and cut inside to fire home.

A brace of Kavanagh frees and a Bracken point from the right winf in reply to one from Keating saw Rathdowney-Errill lead by three going into injury time, but there was one last sting in the tail for Rosenallis as Jack Kelly bulleted a shot into the top right corner past Stephen Kelly to make it six at the break, 3-9 to 2-6.

Rathdowney-Errill began the second half with another trio of points to extend their lead and they went 12 ahead when Bracken capitalised on a failed clearance from a Kavanagh sideline to strike it in off the ground for their fourth goal.

The teams traded scores up to the water break, but the game lacked any real bite with the tough weather conditions no doubt taking its toll on both panels.

There was little incident for 10 minutes after the second half water break with Eoin Bourke landing a couple of frees and Dooley replying for Rosenallis until Brandon McGinley lashed in Rathdowney-Errill's fifth goal from close range to cap off a comfortable victory for his side.

Rathdowney-Errill don't have long to wait until their next fixture as they face Ballinakill on Thursday evening and Rosenallis tackle Camross on Saturday in the middle game of the triple header.

FINAL SCORE

Rathdowney-Errill: 5-18  

Rosenallis: 2-12 

SCORERS below photo

Rathdowney Errill fans in Laois Hire O'Moore Park. Pic: Denis Byrne

Rathdowney-Errill: Mark Kavanagh 0-9 (eight frees), Eoin Bracken 2-1, Paddy Purcell 1-2, Jack Kelly 1-1, Brandon McGinley 1-2, Eoin Bourke 0-2 (frees), Dylan Carroll 0-1.
Rosenallis: David Dooley 0-5 (three frees, one 65), Paddy Keating 1-2, Joey Keating 1-0, Jimmy Hyland 0-2, Jack Friel, Brian Fitzpatrick and John Lennon 0-1 each.

TEAMS

RATHDOWNEY-ERRILL: Damien Madden; John Purcell, Liam O'Connell, Shane Madden; Kevin O'Dea, Padraig Rafter, Shane Bracken; Dylan Carroll, Jack Kelly; James Ryan, Paddy Purcell, Mark Kavanagh; Brandon McGinley, Ray Bowe, Eoin Bracken. Subs: Paddy McCane for Kavanagh, Eoin Bourke for R Bowe and Tadhg Dowling for E Bracken (all 47), Thep Fitzpatrick for P Purcell (53)

ROSENALLIS: Stephen Kelly; Joey Shelley, Diarmuid Dooley, Oran Gorman; Charlie Friel, Fiachra C Fennell, Colin Bennett; John Maher, David Dooley; Paddy Keating, John Lennon, Jack Friel; Jimmy Hyland, Brian Fitzpatrick, Joey Keating. Subs: Conor Cosgrove for Gorman (ht), Shane Farrell for Shelley (40), Sam Somers for J Keating (44)

REFEREE: JJ Gorman (Clough-Ballacolla)