It may not have been a classic but if you’re looking for drama then this year’s Laois senior hurling semi-final will take some beating.
Rathdowney-Errill 1-15
Camross 0 - 17
Exactly a year on from the infamous 2018 county hurling final, Camross and Rathdowney-Errill again renewed rivalries.
That final, in which Camross were victorious, attracted national attention following an unsavoury incident which left county star Ross King with substantial damage to his mouth and teeth.
Whether he wanted the attention or not, all eyes were inevitably on King today as the game got underway and he couldn’t have got off to a worse start.
With less than a minute on the clock, fellow county star Paddy Purcell burst through the Camross defence. He offloaded to present ‘Roddy’ with the easiest of chances from less than 10 yards out. Somehow he managed to blast wide.
The murmurs in O’Moore Park were easy to decipher – ‘King has lost his bottle’.
In truth, Camross would have been more than happy with the manner in which they shackled the usually prolific scorer, holding him to a solitary point over the course of 60 minutes of hurling.
Having trailed marginally for most of the game, Camross got their noses in front in the final minutes of normal time, reeling off three unanswered points from play.
But with the game in injury time, and the defending champions leading by two, King was to bite back.
In a script befitting Hollywood’s finest, he collected a pass just outside the 21-yard line before turning to rifle a shot through a stream of bodies high into to the top corner of the net. Within seconds of the resulting puck out, the final whistle sounded.
The celebrations that followed were predictable as the Rathdowney-Errill players darted towards one man.
King and Co now head for the county final in two weeks time where they will face 2016 champions Borris-in-Ossary/Kilcotton.
Written by Shane Keegan.
Download the brand new OffTheBall App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!
Subscribe to OffTheBall's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.
