Phelan and Delaney hat-tricks seal third successive Leinster Championship win for Laois minor hurlers

The Laois minor hurling team made it three wins from three in this year's Electric Ireland Leinster Minor Hurling Championship after a comfortable victory over Kerry in Laois Hire O'Moore Park.

This game was over at half-time. Laois had a tally of 4-11 at the break, while Kerry only managed three points in the first 30 minutes.

Laois 6-16

Kerry 1-8

Former Leinster Poc Fada champion Tony Mahony from The Harps showcased his striking talent for the game's first score as he pointed a free from his own 45'. It only took three minutes for Laois to raise the game's first green flag as dual-star Dan Downey played a great ball into Tom Óg Phelan, and he rattled the back of the Kerry net. A minute later, Laois had a second goal as Matt Cunningham's shot for a point dropped into the hand of Phelan, and he slipped the ball to Eoin Delaney, who made no mistake with his finish from close-range.

Kerry finally got off the mark with eight minutes on the clock courtesy of Stephen Shanahan. Laois replied with three points unanswered in three minutes. Delaney, Donnacha Carroll and Daniel Whelan increased Laois' lead to nine. Mikey Corridan fired over a second point for The Kingdom, but the next 12 minutes would be the period that the game was put to bed as Laois doubled their score with 2-4 to their names at that stage.

Phelan fired over three frees, and Delaney scored from play while Phelan and Delaney both took their goal tallies to two each. Odhran Cuddy had been a spectator for the majority of the first-half, but when Laois needed him, he made a great one-on-one save from Joe Lovett. Dylan Costello split the posts for Kerry with the rebound. Laois ended the half with three more points from the hurls of Phelan (free), Conor Headen, and Aaron Fitzpatrick. 

Kerry started the second-half in the best possible way as Cillian Hurley fired the ball past Odhran Cuddy inside the first 30 seconds. Laois replied with a fifth goal as Delaney completed his hat-trick. Mahony's free dropped into the square, and Delaney struck the ball into the top-corner. The next five scores were swapped with Kerry getting three of them. Corridan pointed a free for Kerry while Hurley added two points to his earlier goal. Laois' two points came from Cunningham and Headen. Laois' sixth goal would come in the 46th minute as Phelan also completed his hat-trick with a close-range free straight into the Kerry net. 

Jake Rochford and Hurley added a point each for Kerry with Whelan and Headen doing likewise for Laois. Whelan took his tally to three points for Laois' final score with seven minutes to play. Corridan pointed the final score of the game for Kerry. Both sides ended the game with 14 players as Laois captain Donnacha Carroll was shown a straight red while Brandon Leen was shown a second yellow card for The Kingdom.

Laois progress into a preliminary quarter-final against the second-placed team in Tier 2 Group 1. That game will take place next Saturday, May 3.