U13 Football: Portlaoise 3-06 Portarlington 3-06

An exciting battle was witnessed at Rathleague on Sunday evening in round 2 of the U13 Football League. The pitch was in poor condition following the recent rain and not conducive to free-flowing football, nonetheless both teams served up an enthralling contest.

Portarlington took control early with points from Aiden O’Reilly, Sami Hyland and Tristan Gallagher. A fortuitous goal and the concession of too many frees allowed Portlaoise back into the game, before a Callum Walsh free found the back of the net leaving just one point separating the sides at the break.

Port started the second half strong and stretched 6 points clear, which included a well taken goal by Patrick Emerson, but Portlaoise always remained in touch aided by their accurate free taking.

It looked like a winner when Cian Twomey squeezed the ball over the line following a goalmouth scramble, but the home team rallied strong scoring 1-02 in the closing stages to share the points.

Well done to all involved, with particular mention to noteworthy performances from Ryan Judge, Sean Connolly-Horan and Cian Intharaphan. The next meeting of the teams is eagerly anticipated.

Finn Doody, Jameson Rusk, Cian Intharaphan, Caelan Melia, Sean Connolly Horan, Ryan Murphy, Ryan Judge, Aiden O'Reilly (0-01), Luke Dunne, Sami Hyland (0-02 , 1f), Patrick Emerson (1-01), Cian Twomey (1-00), Callum Walsh (1-01, 2f), Tristan Gallagher (0-01), Ben Petriw, Nathan Hayes, Rory O'Dwyer, Kytec Derrin, Jake Fitzpatrick, Matthew Hopkins, Luke Quinn.