Rathdowney/Errill 1-11 Clough/Ballacolla 2-8:TEENAGER ROSS King was the hero as he forced the first Laois senior hurling championship replay since 1993 with a 62nd-minute point at O'Moore Park, Portlaoise yesterday.
The Rathdowney/Errill corner-forward, who featured on the Laois Under-21 side this year, was in superb form as he finished with bagging 1-9 for his club, including all of the 1-4 they registered in the opening half of this entertaining contest.
The challengers led by 1-4 to 0-4 at the break, with King’s goal coming in the 24th minute.
Indeed, such was Rathdowney/Errill’s dominance that Clough/Ballacolla failed to score in the opening 14 minutes before Willie Hyland opened their account.
Rathdowney/Errill moved four points clear after the restart, but a 43rd-minute Willie Dunphy well-taken goal cut the gap to the minimum.
Dunphy’s second goal pushed Clough/Ballacolla ahead for the first time in injury-time, but Rathdowney/Errill had enough time for King to snatch an equaliser.
RATHDOWNEY/ERRILL: N Brennan; B Campion, L Mahon, A Delaney; J Fitzpatrick, P Mahon, J Corrigan; S Dollard, J Ryan; E Meagher, J Purcell, P Purcell (0-1); O Houlihan, L Tynan (0-1), R King (1-9, five frees, one 65). Subs: J Phelan for Ryan (45 mins); D King for Meagher (51 mins).
CLOUGH/BALLACOLLA: D Hanlon; JA Delaney, D Maher, R Broderick; T Delaney, B Duggan, B McEvoy; S Hanlon, C Coonan; D Bergin, M McEvoy, S Maher (0-6, three frees, two 65); W Dunphy (2-0), W Hyland (0-2, two frees), M Dunphy. Sub: A Doyle for Delaney (57 mins).
