Fifty-four-year-old helps Kilcavan to historic Laois IFC title

Laois Hire O'Moore Park in Portlaoise ©INPHO/Ashley Cahill

Derek ‘Fresh’ O’Connell made a late appearance off the bench as Kilcavan romped to a 1-19 to 0-9 victory over Ballyfin in Saturday’s Laois IFC final at Laois Hire O’Moore Park to go senior for the first time in their 81-year history.

At 54 years of age, the evergreen O’Connell got to play his part an historic win, 38 years after making his adult debut for the Offaly-border club. ‘Fresh’ is a former Laois senior footballer who also represented Ireland in the Over 50s Masters International Rules series against Australia a few years ago.

A Ronan Gorry goal in the 25th minute helped Kilcavan to a 1-6 to 0-8 interval lead before they took over completely in the second half with Cian Ryle (0-9) and Rory Lalor (0-4) combining for 0-13 of their total.