Laois SHC Final: Clough/Ballacolla make it five titles in six years
Stephen Bergin starred for Clough/Ballacolla in their Laois SHC Final win over Camross.
Laois SHC Final
Clough/Ballacolla 2-21 Camross 2-15
Stephen Bergin inspired Clough/Ballacolla to their fifth Laois SHC title in six years as they defeated Camross by 2-21 to 2-15.
The sharpshooter had his eye in as he finished with a personal tally of 1-13.
Zane Keenan did his best to inspire Camross as he scored all but five points of their total, but even his heroics weren’t enough to stop Clough/Ballacolla in their tracks.
It was an over and back contest for much of the first half as Willie Dunphy scored the first goal of the match for Clough/Ballacolla but Keenan quickly replied in kind for Camross to level the game.
A Clough/Ballacolla purple-patch before half-time was a decisive phase of the match as they scored 1-3 without reply with Bergin bagging the goal.
Keenan responded again with his second goal of the match but Camross still trailed at the break by 2-9 to 2-6.
Thanks mainly to the accurate finishing of Bergin, Clough/Ballacolla were able to keep Camross at arm’s distance for the entire second-half, with Stephen Maher also impressing as a substitute on his return from a cruciate ligament injury.
Scorers for Clough-Ballacolla: Stephen Bergin 1-13 (0-9 frees), Jordan Walshe 0-3, Willie Dunphy 1-0, Picky Maher 0-2 (0-1 free), Cillian Dunne, Aidan Corby and Joe Corby 0-1 each.
Scorers for Camross: Zane Keenan 2-10 (1-9 frees, 0-1 65), James Cuddy, Eoin Gaughan, Eoghan Cuddy, Tomas Keyes and James Cuddy 0-1 each.
CLOUGH-BALLACOLLA: Cathal Dunne; Diarmaid Conway, Darren Maher, Joseph Pearson; Lochlainn Conway, Lee Cleere, Brian Corby; Aidan Corby, Cormac Hogan; Mark Hennessy, Jordan Walshe, Kevin Mulhall; Cillian Dunne, Willie Dunphy, Stephen Bergin Subs: Joe Corby for Dunphy (44 mins), Stephen Maher for Hennessy (53 mins), Brian Corby for Doyle (60 mins), Padraig Brennan for Cillian Dunne (62 mins), Kevin Hyland for Bergin (63 mins)
CAMROSS: Tadhg Doran; Darragh Duggan, Cathal Cuddy, Joseph Phelan; Eoin Dowling, Eoin Gaughan, Eoghan Cuddy; Odhran Phelan, Liam Delaney; Ciaran Collier. Tom Cuddy, Zane Keenan; Tomas Keyes, James Cuddy, Mark Dowling. Subs: Dwane Palmer for J Phelan (40 mins), Darren Drennan for J Cuddy (47 mins), Ashton Keenan for O Phelan (52 mins), Andrew Collier for T Cuddy (59 mins)
