Laois U-20 footballers roar back from 12 points down to salvage late draw against Wexford

Kieran Kelly's Laois U-20 footballers are somehow still in with a chance of qualifying for a quarter-final in this year's Leinster Championship after they recovered from a 12-deficit to snatch a draw against Wexford in Portlaoise on Wednesday evening.

James Lawless kicked Wexford into that 12-point lead with 33 minutes on the clock but credit to Laois they showed massive courage and character to claw the game back late on.

Wexford 1-16

Laois 0-19

Laois would have been looking to get off to a fast start to banish the demons from the hammering to Kildare in Round One, but it was quite the opposite as Wexford scored a goal after two minutes. An attempt from Michael Kavanagh looked to be landing in the hands of Laois goalkeeper Luke O'Reilly after the ball had bounced, but O'Reilly decided to palm the ball, and Darren Rossitter was on hand to fist the ball over the Laois goalkeeper's head. Brian Roban kicked two scores back to back before James Lawless opened his account.

The next score saw the game's first orange flag raised as Wexford went 1-5 to no score ahead after six minutes. Dean Hillis was the player who curled it over from outside the arc. Laois finally got off the mark courtesy of an Ennae Byrne free with nine minutes played. Laois would kick two more points without reply as Sam Ryan and Niall Lalor raised white flags. James Lawless and Rory Lalor traded points, but Wexford got their second two-pointer through Lawless. He kicked a free over from outside the mark after Laois had tackled Tom Funge when he called a mark from a kick-out.

Wexford went on to kick five wides in a row, but still managed to get the next two points from Rossitter and a third two-pointer of the half this time from Cathal Kehoe. Eoin Johnson pointed a free for Laois' final score of the half with Brian Roban doing likewise for Wexford. The Yellowbellies went into the dressing rooms 1-12 to 0-5 ahead.

Lawless kicked the first two points of the second-half as Laois now trailed by 12 points but this is when the game turned on its head as Laois began to find space in the Wexford defence. Kieran Kelly's side kicked on and got seven points on the trot with Sam Ryan and Ennae Byrne scoring a two-pointer each along the way. Ryan Little also pointed a free while Ryan and Byrne scored a point each.

Lawless pointed a free to quell the Laois second-half dominance but that didn't last long as Laois got themselves back within two points as Little and Byrne both pointed twice. Jason Sheridan came off the bench to push Wexford three ahead with eight minutes to go but there was still life left in Laois. Byrne, a free from Paddy Fitzpatrick and a 62-minute point from Portlaoise's Darren Brennan saw the game end level at 1-16 to 0-19. Both sides had a chance to win the game late on but Ryan's attempt for Laois from outside the arc went wide while Lawless kicked a wayward placed ball before referee Eamon O'Connor blew the full-time whistle.

Laois travel to Carlow next Wednesday knowing that they need a win to have any chance of finishing second in the group.