Laois hurlers Croke Park bound after Down victory sees them into Joe McDonagh final

A trip to Croke Park now awaits the Laois hurlers after they comfortably dispatched Down in O’Moore Park on Saturday afternoon to secure their spot in the Joe McDonagh Cup final on June 8.

The game was all but over midway through the first half as Laois took a 4-7 to 0-2 lead with the goals coming from Willie Dunphy and Tomas Keyes.

LAOIS 4-31

DOWN 0-17

Down did get the better of the opening stages however as they led by two points up until an injury to Mark Dowling in the eighth minute forced a prolonged stoppage to the game and Laois reemerged with a fire under them as they proceeded to hit 4-7 to no reply.

The Mournemen had no real answer to stopping Laois from there as the hosts continued to pick off points throughout the game with 13 different names getting on the scoresheet from play.

The second half became somewhat of a shootout between the two sides and lacked any intensity as in truth the contest was over by half time.

Jer Quinlan was excellent throughout the contest as he assisted three of the goals whilst also slotting three points himself.

Aidan Corby and Paddy Purcell showed once again that they’re an extremely effective and combative midfield pairing while Ryan Mullaney was solid as a rock once again at full back.

The bench proved effective for Willie Maher once again with four of the five subs introduced adding to the scores in Cody Comerford, Martin Phelan, Ross King and James Duggan.

Pearse Og McCrickard put Down two points in front early on as Laois saw several wides before that bad injury to Dowling called a halt to proceedings.

Willie Maher had an impromptu team talk during the stoppage which appeared to work wonders as Laois immediately upped the intensity with Aaron Dunphy and Aidan Corby before Willie Dunphy’s opening goal after great built up play by Quinlan and Keyes.

David Dooley pointed before Keyes got the second goal of the game, again with a good assist from Quinlan and Laois were firing with two more goals coming in a matter of minutes.

Willie Dunphy assisted Keyes for the next and the Camross man finished excellently from distance and Dunphy added the fourth when Quinlan brilliantly controlled a masterful sideline cut from Liam O’Connell into Dunphy’s path and he hammered it home.

Further points ensued with a brace from Aaron Dunphy and one for Paddy Purcell to make it 4-7 to 0-2 on 21 minutes, a massive turnaround in a short space of time.

Down were reeling from the onslaught but were able to reply through McCrickard and Funn Turpin, through Laois replied from Quinlan and Corby.

Tom McGrattan and Daithi Sands each slotted for the visitors as they attempted to claw back some of the deficit, but everything they accomplished was matched by Laois with Keyes and Dooley firing back.

A flurry of scores went up at both ends as the game approached half time, Caolan Taggart and Matt Conlan’s being the picks of the bunch with two long range efforts.

Quinlan, Keyes and Willie Dunphy kept them honest with scores back and Laois held a commaning 4-14 to 0-11 lead at half time.

The opening 10 minutes of the second half were drab with an Aaron Dunphy free being the solitary score.

A Down free from Marc Fisher sparked Laois into life once again as they hit six to no reply though Corby, Podge Delaney, Ross King and a wondrous one handed score from James Duggan as his marker attempted to pull the jersey off his back.

Paul Sheahan managed a couple of scores back against the run of play but Laois were proving to be relentless in attack with Duggan, Quinlan, Cody Comerford and full-back Ryan Mullaney all landing scores back into the Abbeyleix end.

Things could have been much worse for the visitors as Laois saw goal chances go begging with Paddy Purcell’s attempt whizzing by the post and Jer Quinlan having a shot blocked by a Down knee on the line.

The points stayed flowing however with Dooley, Keye and King all converting as the game approached the four minutes of injury time signalled by the referee.

Laois saw out the comprehensive victory with a brilliant point from Martin Phelan and a fifth for Ross King.

A trip to Mullingar is next up for Laois next weekend in a game that is now effectively a dead rubber as the win over Down has confirmed Laois will be in June’s final at HQ against either Kerry or Offaly.