Clonad 2-12 Slieve Bloom 2-13
Laois IHC Round 3
Slieve Bloom are through to the quarter finals of the Laois Shopping Centre IHC following a one point win over Clonad.
Ben Conroy was the difference as his two goals gave Slieve Bloom an excellent start and then he won it with a free in the third minute of added time.
Clonad battled back from nine points down at one stage and a draw would have seen them advance but the loss means they are out and Mountrath take third in their place.
Conroy struck for a goal in the opening minute when he won a ball out on the wing and ran forward before planting a shot into the roof of the net.
Clonad appealed that Conroy had carried the ball out over the sideline in the build up but their protests fell on deaf ears.
Barry Cormac got them underway with a free but Slieve Bloom soon got back on the front foot.
Conroy scored a second goal when his long range effort looped into the net and then Tadhg Drea, Ben Conroy, Kelvin Burke and Ciaran Conroy pointed to leave it 2-4 to 0-1.
Clonad came back with points from Cormac, John Onions and Ross Holmes but Slieve Bloom kicked on again with a brace from Ciaran Conroy.
We then had a crazy finish to the half when Clonad struck for two late Dan McCormack goals.
The first came when the Killenard man latched onto a long ball from PJ Daly and the second came after great work from Barry Cormac and Fionn Holland.
Ciaran Conroy replied but points from PJ Daly and James Whelan cut the gap to just one at half time – 2-8 to 2-7.
John Onions drew Clonad level when play resumed and then Dan O’Sullivan put them ahead for the first time.
Fionn Holland increased the lead to two but the second half was cagey with Clonad struggling to attack and Slieve Bloom hitting a series of wides.
They did get level though as we entered the final quarter via Ben Shore and Ciaran Conroy.
Ross Holmes and Conroy then traded efforts to leave us deadlocked with 55 minutes on the clock.
Slieve Bloom looked to have been dealt a serious blow then when Ciaran Conroy was dismissed after appearing to strike Jack Ahern.
However, with the game deep in injury time, Slieve Bloom won a free on the sideline and Conroy pointed it.
Clonad had time for one more attack but Slieve Bloom snuffed it out and held on.
Scorers – Clonad: Dan McCormack 2-0, John Onions (two frees, one 65) 0-3, Dan O’Sullivan, Barry Cormac (frees) and Ross Holmes 0-2 each, PJ Daly, James Whelan, Dan O’Sullivan and Fionn Holland 0-1 each Slieve Bloom: Ben Conroy 2-5 (0-2 frees), Ciaran Conroy 0-5 (four frees, one 65), Kelvin Burke, Ben Shore and Tadhg Drea 0-1 each
CLONAD: Jimmy Farrell; Brian Keane, Jack Ahern, Liam Whelan; Gareth O’Brien, David O’Brien, Cillian Duff; James Whelan, Fionn Holland; PJ Daly, Dan McCormack, Barry Cormac; Ross Holmes, Dan O’Sullivan, John Onions. Subs: Ray Killeen for Onions (50)
SLIEVE BLOOM: Gavin Conroy; Tom Delaney, Sean Nolan, Shane Farrell; Martin Delaney, Evan Power, Enda Conroy; Fergal Burke, Darragh Delaney; Robbie Burke, Ciaran Conroy, Rory Power; Tadhg Drea, Ben Conroy, Kelvin Burke. Subs: Ben Shore for Drea (37)
REFEREE: Jamie McDonald (Rosenallis)
Man of the match
Liam Whelan had a great game for Clonad in defence while Fionn Holland and PJ Daly worked really hard around the middle with Dan McCormack scoring two great goals.
Evan Power was impressive at centre back for Slieve Bloom but this goes to Ben Conroy.
He scored 2-5 including the winner from the sideline and was the difference.
Talking Point
The game ended on a rather sour note with one red card and a number of flash points.
Ciaran Conroy was shown a straight red card for an off the ball incident involving Jack Ahern and would miss the quarter final if Slieve Bloom can’t get it overturned.
What happens next?
Slieve Bloom finish second in the group and will play a quarter final against whoever finishes third in Group B.
That will be decided when that concludes on Sunday afternoon. Clonad finish bottom of the group on the head to head rule with Mountrath and are out.
