'I've A Honeymoon Booked And All' - Jubilation As Clough/Ballacolla End Leinster Hoodoo

Monday, 29 November 2021 08:58

The Laois champions have booked themselves a spot in the final four.

Laois champions Clough/Ballacolla are into the Leinster Senior Hurling semi-finals after securing a first ever provincial championship win.

They overcame Rapparees from Wexford, who themselves were playing on the provincial stage for the first time in four decades.

With the aid of a breeze, Rapparees began strongly but Declan Laffan's men quickly established their defensive structure and coming towards the interval, began to get to grips with their opponents.

They rattled off a run of four points in three minutes heading towards the interval to turn the tide and they didn't look back.

A deft flick from Picky Maher raised a green flag in the minutes following half-time and truth be told, the Wexford champions never looked like restoring parity thereafter, despite the close nature of the scoreline.

It ended 1-17 to 12 points in O'Moore Park.

Next up for Clough/Ballacolla is a date with Dublin kingpins Kilmacud Crokes in the semi-finals on December 12th at 1pm.

There's another big day on the horizon for Clough/Ballacolla's Willie Dunphy, who is going to be busy juggling projects in the coming weeks:

'Next Friday is the big (wedding) day, so I'm going to concentrate on it now for the next week and see where it goes from there. I know we're out in two weeks but I've a honeymoon booked as well!!. We will cross that path in the coming days.'

Clubmate and goal-scorer on the day Picky Maher was quick to add fuel to the fire:

He'll probably be in Vegas or somewhere when we play Kilmacud so we're all waiting to see what happens'.

All spoken with tongues firmly in cheek but it also goes to further highlight the trials and tribulations of being an an amateur player reaching new heights with their club.