Clonad 2-22 Rathdowney-Errill 1-16
ACHL Division 4 Final
Clonad were crowned Laois Shopping Centre ACHL Division 4 champions following a brilliant victory over Rathdowney-Errill in the Centre of Excellence tonight.
It was a ding dong battle throughout the game and the game was still in the balance with seven minutes to go with Clonad leading 1-18 to 1-16.
But they found an extra gear and a goal from sub Ray Killeen settled matters crowning Clonad champions.
The victory also grants them promotion to Division 3 for the 2026 season.
It was the ultimate team display from Clonad as everyone played apart in their victory and will now go into the championship full of confidence.
Once again John Onions led the way in the scoring charts for Clonad who was faultless with his frees and scored a vital goal near the end of the first half.
It was Aaron Costigan that opened up the scoring for Rathdowney-Errill, who was a contender for man of the match after he kept his side in the game with a brilliant individual performance scoring 1-12.
But Clonad’s response was emphatic and hit the next five scores with Onions hitting four frees with David O’Brien getting a brilliant point in between Onions’ scores.
David Poyton reduced the gap to three, but again Clonad responded through Jimmy Norton.
Costigan would hit the next points in a row to reduce the gap to three. Corner forward Ross Holmes got his first of the night as the momentum was tilting towards Rathdowney-Errill.
Ben Galvin and Onions traded scores before Costigan added two more brilliant frees to put a single point between the teams.
Then PJ Daly got a delightful point after a brilliant catch with Clonad doing just enough to stay in the lead.
It didn’t last long as the game was turned on its head with a free from Costigan and then he struck the first goal of the game with a brilliant strike past James Farrell.
Rathdowney-Errill’s lead didn’t last long either, as in the next attack from Clonad saw Onions find the back of the net to put the victors back in the lead.
Oisin Smethon replied for Rathdowney-Errill, but Clonad finished the scoring of the half through James Whelan and David O’Brien to leave the scores at 1-11 to 1-9 to Clonad at half time.
Clonad came out stronger after the break and looked to finish the game as they hit the first four scores through Daly, Daniel O’Sullivan and two from Fionn Holland.
Rathdowney-Errill were going nowhere though and had a purple patch of their own and hit the next four scores with Costigan nailing three frees along with Ryan Costigan adding a one from play.
Onions replied with two more frees as the game entered into the last 15 minutes. Both sides traded scores with Ross Holmes on target for Clonad and once again Costigan replied for his side.
Costigan added another and there was two points between the teams as we entered the final minutes.
PJ Daly got an inspirational score after James Farrell found him from a puckout and made no mistake in splitting the posts.
Holland added another point to push the lead out to four points before Clonad hit the killer blow as Onions found Ray Killeen and he made no mistake finding the net.
Holmes and John Noonan added two further points to round off a brilliant performance.
SCORERS – Clonad: John Onions 1-7 (six frees, one 65), Ray Killeen 1-0, Ross Holmes, PJ Daly and Fionn Holland 0-3 each, David O’Brien 0-2, Jimmy Norton, James Whelan, Daniel O’Sullivan and John Noonan 0-1 each. Rathdowney-Errill: Aaron Costigan 1-12 (0-9 frees), David Poyton, Ben Galvin, Oisin Moore and Ryan Costigan 0-1 each
CLONAD: Jimmy Farrell; Gareth O’Brien, Jack Ahern, Jim Holland; Liam Whelan, David O’Brien, Cillian Duff; James Whelan, Fionn Holland; John Noonan, PJ Daly, Jimmy Norton; John Onions, Daniel O’Sullivan, Ross Holmes. Subs: Ray Killeen for O’Sullivan (42)
RATHDOWNEY-ERRILL: Jack Daly; Harry Wynne, Niall Delaney, Killian Carroll; Mick Short, Alan Delaney, Jack Foyle; David Poyton, Oisin Smethon; Oisin Moore, Dylan Doyle, Ben Galvin; Eoin Bracken, Ryan Costigan, Aaron Costigan. Subs: Ben Stapleton for Smethon (37) Adam Loughman for Jack Foyle (42), Dillion Hanrahan for Short (45)
REFEREE: Colin Bailey
Man of The Match
There were a number of contenders on the Clonad side with David O’Brien, PJ Daly and Fionn Holland all putting in brilliant displays.
On the Rathdowney-Errill side, Aaron Costigan was immense scoring 1-12 but yet again our man of the match goes to John Onions.
He was immense all game, his free taking kept the scoreboard going for Clonad, he also scored Clonad’s first goal at a crucial stage of the game. All round it was a top notch performance from Onions.
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