Laois footballers left reeling as Wexford hand out Division 3 hammering

Laois are still without a win in this year's Allianz Football League Division 3 after they were hammered by Wexford in Wexford Park on Saturday evening.

It was a bad day at the office for the O'Moore County, who only mustered up nine points to add to their woes in front of goal having only scored 1-10 against Limerick in the first game.

Another big blow for Laois was the loss of Evan O'Carroll after 50 minutes with a hamstring injury. That loss probably puts an end to Laois' promotion hopes and they'll be in a dogfight to stay up if performances like that continue in the division.

Remarkably, the Wexford goalkeeper almost had the same amount points as the full Laois team combined.

Portlaoise's Kevin Swayne got Laois off the mark when he split the posts inside the opening minute. Wexford's Cathal Kehoe then got The Yellowbellies' first point of the evening after three minutes. Evan O'Carroll pushed Laois in front again, but that lead didn't last long as midfielder Niall Hughes opened his account for the home side. Laois looked to be handed an easy chance at going in front again when Wexford only had two players in the Laois half. However, they decided to bring it outside the arc and goalkeeper Killian Roche came forward to kick the two-point free, but his shot tailed to the right and wide.

Wexford took full advantage of Roche's miss as they scored two points in the 10th minute. Tom Byrne put Wexford a point up before Roche kicked the resulting kick-out straight to Sean Nolan and he put the ball back over the Laois goalkeeper's head and over the bar. Laois' only bright spark in the first 35 minutes was Rioghan Murphy as scored his first point of the contest. A big goal chance then came Laois' way when Brian Byrne played Evan O'Carroll in on goal, but the Crettyard forward missed the target with Niall Corbet standing free beside him.

Wexford once again made Laois pay down the other end as Niall Hughes and Páiric Hughes added a point each to push Wexford three points ahead. Murphy got his third point of the half, but Wexford replied with five points on the trot. Nolan curled over a two-pointer as well as adding two frees. Jack Higgins pointed to put Wexford five points up with three minutes of the half left. Murphy got Laois' final score of the half, but Justin McNulty's side had it all to do in the second half as they trailed 11 points to 5.

Wexford got their second half off to a perfect start as Darragh Brooks came up from the goals to raise an orange flag from a free. Wexford almost had a goal two minutes later, but Trevor Collins got back to clear Nolan's palmed effort off the line. Laois got two points in a row as Conor Heffernan split the posts, while Colin Dunne scored only seconds after being brought on. Kehoe made it double scores, 14 points to 7, with 44 minutes played. 

Mark Rossiter was the only Wexford forward not to have scored and he almost raised a green flag, but Laois substitute goalkeeper Matthew Byron got his fingers to a shot from Rossiter. Nolan then popped up with his sixth point as the game looked to be well beyond Laois with a quarter of the game still to be played.

Paul Kingston (free) and Rossiter traded scores with Darragh Galvin getting his only score of the game soon after. Wexford took their points tally to four points when Nolan added another point before Brooks came forward and took his tally to five points with a 45 and a second two-point free. Cian Hughes came off the bench and got a point for himself from a free. Wexford goalkeeper Brooks finished with a remarkable seven points from placed balls as he scored a third two-point free.

Laois have next weekend off before welcoming Sligo to Portlaoise on Valentines Day. 

Final Score

Wexford 0-23

Laois 0-9

SCORERS – Wexford: Sean Nolan (0-3 frees, one two-pointer) and Darragh Brooks (three two-point frees, 0-1 45’) 0-7 each, Niall Hughes and Cathal Kehoe 0-2 each, Pairic Hughes, Jack Higgins, Tom Byrne, Cian Hughes (free), and Mark Rossiter 0-1 each. Laois: Rioghan Murphy 0-3, Kevin Swayne, Evan O’Carroll (free), Paul Kingston (free), Darragh Galvin, Conor Heffernan, and Colin Dunne 0-1 each. 

LAOIS: Killian Roche (Killeshin); Ben Dempsey (Portlaoise), Trevor Collins (Graiguecullen), Jack Lacey (St Joseph's); Paddy O’Sullivan (Portarlington), Brian Byrne (Captain, Graiguecullen), Kevin Swayne (Portlaoise); Rob Tyrrell (Courtwood), Ciaran Burke (Crettyard); Niall Corbet (Clonaslee St Manman's), Ronan Coffey (Portarlington), Conor Heffernan (Killeshin); Rioghan Murphy (Portarlington), Daragh Galvin (Portarlington), Evan O’Carroll (Crettyard). Subs: Matthew Byron (Courtwood) for Roche (HT), Colin Dunne (Arles-Killeen) for Burke (41 mins), Paul Kingston (Arles-Killeen) for Corbet (47 mins), Mikie Dempsey (St Joseph's) for O'Carroll (50 mins), Cian Ryle (Kilcavan) for Coffey (67 mins)

WEXFORD: Darragh Brooks; Shane Doyle, Gavin Sheehan, Dylan Furlong; Liam O’Connor, Eoin Porter, Glen Malone; Liam Coleman, Niall Hughes; Pairic Hughes, Cathal Kehoe, Jack Higgins; Tom Byrne, Mark Rossiter, Sean Nolan. Subs: Robbie Brooks for Nolan and Cian Hughes for Byrne (Both 63 mins), Colum Feeney for Higgins (65 mins), Sean Ryan for N Hughes and Sean Barden for Malone (Both 72 mins)