An unbeaten Kerry side travelled to Laois Hire O’Moore Park on Saturday afternoon to take on Laois in Round 4 of the NHL Division Two, and after a tantalising contest it was the hosts who continued their winning run with a point at the death to secure victory.
Kerry have been in fine form this year after a disastrous 2025, having beaten Derry and London comfortably and drawing with Westmeath up to this point, though they came to Portlaoise as big underdogs.
There was a fierce wind blowing in the park and Kerry made good use of it in the first half, though could only hold a one-point lead at half time, which ultimately wouldn't be enough for The Kingdom.
Second yellows for Michael Leane midway through the second half and Kyle O'Connor in the final five minutes left them short for the final quarter and Laois used that to their advantage to open up a three-point lead for the final 10 minutes, having trailed up until the 42nd minute.
Ryan Mullaney was excellent throughout for the home side, but he shone especially in the second half, winning a huge amount Kerry puckouts, which allowed the platform for Jack Kelly in particular to shine as he struck four points from play in that period.
Laois did leave it late however and were forced to clinch the win through a 74th minute point from Cormac Byrne after losing their three point lead just a minute beforehand.
Kerry had the benefit of the wind that blew from the Abbeyleix end and they dominated the opening stages with a number of chances, the first converted by Ronan Walsh with a free and he followed with another after Laois failed to clear their lines from a puckout.
The midfield battle was fierce from the off and Kerry were getting the better of it, though Laois did fire through Cillian Dunne with a great score from the right wing, though Jordan Conway replied after another messy attempted clearance from the hosts.
Laois began to find their feet after ten minutes or so and got back on the board through Aidan Corby and a brace of Dunphy frees, though mistakes were still proving costly with Ronan Walsh, Kevin Goulding and Michael Slattery all scoring off the back of turnovers.
As we've seen in recent years, Kerry always bring a huge level of intensity to these games and that they tipped over the edge on a couple of occasions with Michael Leane receiving a yellow for a brutal tackle on Mossy and Kyle O'Connor for protesting a decision.
The hosts turned on the pressure as the half progressed with Dunphy slotting a brace followed with two excellent scores from Ryan Mullaney and David Dooley to bring the sides level at eight apiece, but there was time for one final score with Ronan Walsh striking his fourth free to put Kerry one ahead at the break.
Laois emerged for the second half with the wind behind them but it was Kerry who increased their lead to open the half with a free from Walsh. The wind again came into play as Kerry now struggled to retain possession from their own puckouts as Ryan Mullaney played a pivotal role in three scores from Kerry possessions.
Jack Kelly slotted a brace from play from them and won a free for Dunphy to put Laois ahead for the first time in the game in the 42nd minute. Kerry wrestled the lead back through Walsh and Maunsell before Walsh added another and Gavin Dooley could potentially have been in on goal but opted to take his point.
Disaster struck for the visitors when Michael Leane received a second yellow card for a bad challenge on Fiachra C Fennell and the momentum really swung back towards Laois as a result. Dunphy struck a brace of frees before Kelly hit two from play along with a second for Dooley to put Laois into a three point lead and it appeared they were home and dry.
Things aren't always as they appear however and Walsh played a clever short free to Goulding before regathering and splitting the posts before following with a traditional free over the bar to put one in it. The respective benches were emptied and Laois' proved to be the most effective with the Byrne brothers, Colin and Cormac playing pivotal roles.
The former won a penalty in the 67th minute and Kyle O'Connor received his marching orders as a result when he denied Byrne a chance at goal, and Podge Delaney stepped up to rifle it into the corner.
Walsh slotted a long range free to put three between the sides in injury time and his 65 in the 73rd minute ended up in the hand of Maunsell who drove it past the mass of bodies straight into the bottom corner of the Laois net to level.
With the added three minutes already played, Caymon Flynn allowed Laois one more chance and Cody Comerford had possession on the right wing and his long high ball into the Kerry square ended up back in the hand of Cormac Byrne who found the space to shoot and managed to squeeze it over the bar for the winner.
FINAL SCORE
Laois 1-18
Kerry 1-17
SCORERS - Laois: Aaron Dunphy 0-9 (eight frees), Jack Kelly 0-4, Podge Delaney 1-0 (penalty), David Dooley 0-2, Ryan Mullaney, Aidan Corby and Cillian Dunne -0-1 each. Kerry: Ronan Walsh 0-10 (nine frees), Oisin Maunsell 1-1, Jordan Conway 0-2, Michael Slattery, Tom Doyle, Kevin Goulding and Gavin Dooley 0-1 each.
LAOIS: Cathal Dunne (Clough-Ballacolla); Padriac Dunne (The Harps), Ian Shanahan (Ballinakill), Cody Comerford (The Harps); Fiachra C-Fennell (Rosenallis), Podge Delaney (The Harps), Ryan Mullaney (Castletown); David Dooley (Rosenallis), Aidan Corby (Clough-Ballacolla); James Keyes (Colt-Shanahoe), Jack Kelly (Rathdowney-Errill), Aaron Dunphy (Borris-Kilcotton); Cillian Dunne (Clough-Ballacolla), Mark Dowling (Camross), Tomás Keyes (Camross). Subs: Lee Cleere (Clough-Ballacolla) for P Dunne (57), Eoin Gaughan (Camross) for Corby (60), Colin Byrne (Abbeyleix) in for T Keyes (63), Cormac Byrne (Abbeyleix) for Dowling (71), Jordan Walshe (Clough-Ballacolla) for J Keyes (72).
KERRY: Conor Bohane; Eric Leen, Sean McGrath, Kyle O'Connor; James O'Connor, Jason Diggins, Michael Leane; Kevin Goulding, Ronan Walsh; Tom Doyle, Colin Walsh, Jordan Brick; Oisin Maunsell, Michael Slattery, Jordan Conway. Subs: Gavin Dooley for C Walsh (33), Daniel Casey for Slattery (67), Seamie Foran for Brick (69), Adam Segal for Dooley (72)
REFEREE: Caymon Flynn (Westmeath)
