Offaly finish strong in Portlaoise to leave Laois Minor footballers disappointed again

Neighbours Laois and Offaly met in a crucial Leinster Minor football championship tie in Laois Hire O’Moore Park on Wednesday evening. Both these counties were coming off disappointing opening round losses, so a loss here for either could prove fairly damaging to any hopes of qualifying for the next round.

The hosts, Laois, were comprehensively beaten by Dublin in round one on a score of 1-11 to 5-13. While Offaly fell to Longford 1-9 to 2-13 as well, so there was a lot riding on this encounter.

Goals proved the deciding difference between two evenly matched teams here. Offaly got two goals at crucial times to break Laois hearts in Portlaoise.

Laois 0-10 

Offaly 2-8

It took five minutes, but it was Offaly who struck first in this local derby. Full-forward Mark Bryant, a brother of former Offaly U-20-star Jack Bryant who helped the county claim All-Ireland honours in 2021, opened the scoring.

Laois were misfiring in front of the uprights during the early doors but had the advantage of the breeze and soon began to make some good use of it. Conor O’Callaghan got the O’Moore County on the scoreboard through a converted placed ball.

While the Laois management would have been satisfied to see that free fly over, they could have very easily had a goal. Arles-Kilcruise footballer Callum McElroy saw his shot crack the post before the referee brought the play back for that free.

Laois edged in front shortly after when Ennae Byrne fisted the ball between the posts, although the goal chance was there again. The lads wearing blue and white had another sight at goal but again Jack Murphy blazed the close-range shot over.

The home side had dominated possession for the opening quarter, but Offaly came back into it the second quarter. Cian McNamee curled over a free before Mark Bryant blasted over his second score from play to level proceedings.

Despite Offaly having plenty of the ball, the Laois lads were defending bravely under the pressure. That strong defence rewarded the attackers with opportunities down the other end and Laois took their chances to go ahead again.

Ultun Dunne, who was the top scorer for Laois the last day in the defeat to Dublin, claimed a mark and proceeded to place over. Dunne doubled his tally minutes later, as the O’Dempsey’s man did brilliantly to take in a low ball under pressure before turning to drop another over.

However, it was Offaly who landed the final punch of a low-scoring first half to take in a narrow advantage at the interval. There was a slice of good fortune about the goal as well.

Cian McNamee’s free from just outside the square wasn’t his finest effort and struck off the post. That said, the ball rebounded back into the path of McNamee. Instead of tapping over for the point, McNamee dummied past the Laois defender and buried the shot at goal.

That goal left Offaly 1-3 to 0-5 in front in a very tight and competitive first half. It was extremely difficult to pick a winner at this stage after watching that first half unfold.

Offaly did make a bright start to the second half. From the throw-in, Cian McNamee caught a ball and used his pace to burst past his marker before coolly curling over.

The away outfit didn’t build on that score though, despite playing with a decent breeze behind them in the second-half. Laois, to their credit, showed a bit of character and determination to keep themselves in the match.

Laois would register the next three points on the spin to re-take the initiative in Laois Hire O’Moore Park. Ultan Dunne dropped over the first of those three points from a free.

Then Ennae Byrne took it upon himself to hit the levelling score. Dunne’s shot trailed short but substitute Josh Flynn did excellent to keep the ball in play for Byrne to curl between the posts.

Midfielder Darren Brennan then roared the Laois crowd into eruption. The big Portlaoise midfielder dropped over a beauty from distance that saw Laois edge in front again.

Unfortunately, that proved to be as good as it got for the lads wearing blue and white. Offaly responded with the next two points through Cian McNamee and Lee Moore before they grabbed a pivotal second goal.

McNamee was played through, and he unselfishly laid it off to substitute Dylan Dunne, who scored a goal with his first touch of the game.

While Laois continued to battle way, they could not make up the deficit from there as Offaly took the points on offer today.