Portlaoise lay down championship marker as they defeat Courtwood to reach Division 1A semi final

Portlaoise 3-11 Courtwood 0-13
ACFL Division 1A Group A Round 3

Portlaoise reached the semi-finals of Division 1A of the league after they defeated Courtwood tonight in Rathleague.

These sides will meet again in the first round of the championship in early September – so tonight was something of a dress rehearsal.

Courtwood are now destined for the relegation final and will await their eventual position in the table after O’Dempsey’s and Portarlington face one another on Tuesday night.

Portlaoise were on fire in the opening quarter of the game and had multiple goal chances saved by Eoghan O’Neill in the Courtwood goal.

Portlaoise raced into a three point lead within the minutes as Paul Cahillane, Kieran Lillis and Ricky Maher all added their names to the scoresheet.

Benny Carroll soon got Portlaoise’s first goal of the game as Ricky Maher and Frank Flanagan combined to set him up from close range.

Cian Doyle replied with a point for Courtwood. However, Portlaoise finished the first quarter strong and added a second goal via Kieran Lillis to give the Town a comprehensive lead at the water break – 2-4 to 0-1.

Courtwood edged their way back into the game as Alan Kinsella scored a brace of frees.

Danny Luttrell and Paul Cahillane then traded frees before Courtwood made it a six point game at half time as they scored three points in a row through Alan Kinsella (2) and Danny Luttrell – 2-7 to 0-7.

Courtwood were held scoreless in the third quarter of the game which allowed Portlaoise to extend their lead.

Portlaoise continued to dominate as Chris Finn, Ricky Maher and Paul Cahillane all got points.

While John Kavanagh scored Portlaoise’s third goal of the game as substitute DJ White won a kickout and picked out Kieran Lillis. He then found Benny Carroll who played the ball across to John Kavanagh to score.

Courtwood, to their credit, finished the game stronger than their opponents and were rewarded with five points in a row via Niall Dunne and Alan Kinsella (4) to cut the gap to seven at the finish.

SCORERS – Portlaoise: Kieran Lillis and Benny Carroll 1-1 each, Paul Cahillane 0-4 (one free), John Kavanagh 1-0, Ricky Maher 0-2 (one free), Conor Boyle, Chris Finn and Gareth Dillon 0-1 each Courtwood: Alan Kinsella 0-8 (three frees), Danny Luttrell 0-3 (all frees), Niall Dunne (free) and Cian Doyle 0-1 each

PORTLAOISE: Michael O’Connell; Ben Dempsey, Frank Flanagan, Chris Finn; Paddy Downey, Gary Saunders, Gareth Dillon; Kieran Lillis, Conor Boyle; John Kavanagh, Benny Carroll, Damon Larkin; Jason Maher, Paul Cahillane, Ricky Maher. Subs: DJ White for Maher (38), Ben Conroy for Downey, Josh Hogan for Dillon and Ben Brennan for Larkin (all 45), Sam Birrane for Dempsey (54)

COURTWOOD: Eoghan O’Neill; Nathan Little, Mark O’Halloran, Adam O’Halloran; Sean O’Flynn, Barry Donnelly, Paul O’Flynn; Niall Dunne, Rob Tyrrell; Danny Luttrell, Niall Donoher, Colm Wilson; Cian Doyle, Alan Kinsella, Seth Burns-Mooney. Subs: Jake Doyle for Donnelly (42), Dylan Keane for Burns-Mooney (43), David Duffy for Doyle (50)

Referee: Brendan Hickey (Graiguecullen)

SEE ALSO – Big wins for Arles-Killeen and Killeshin to secure Division 1B semi-finals places

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