Laois footballers back on track with big Midlands derby win over Westmeath

The Laois senior footballers have gotten their 2026 Allianz Football League Division 3 campaign back on track with a superb nine-point victory over Westmeath in Portlaoise on Saturday evening.

Laois were the better team from start to finish and once Ronan Coffey scored their first goal, they never looked back in the end. There was also a return for Emo's Pa Kirwan, who made a big difference to the Laois team off the bench.

Westmeath came flying out of the traps and had a point on the board inside 90 seconds as Sam McCartan split the posts. Evan O'Carroll replied to get Laois off the mark as he sold his marker with a dummy solo before slotting the ball over. Westmeath hit two points on the trot as Laois were found guilty of not having three players in the Westmeath half, and it allowed Luke Loughlin tap over the free, while Kevin O'Sullivan opened his account for the away side.

Laois then hit a purple patch as they scored 1-3 without reply. Daragh Galvin got the first of those after his clubmates Rioghan Murphy and Paddy O'Sullivan had combined well. Laois almost got in for goals two minutes later as Evan O'Carroll and Galvin both had their efforts blocked/ saved by Westmeath. O'Carroll had taken the first shot and was being fouled, so referee Chris Maguire called it back and O'Carroll tapped over the free. From the resulting kick-out, the Westmeath goalkeeper  Jack Connaughton kicked the ball straight over the sideline and quick thinking from Galvin saw him set up Ronan Coffey to score.

Laois' goal was simple in its making, as Laois won the kick-out and Paddy O'Sullivan kicked a great ball into Coffey, who was left an easy task of kicking the ball into the Westmeath net. To their credit, Westmeath responded and got the three points back unanswered through two points from play from Luke Loughlin and a point from O'Sullivan. Darren Brennan got a point for Laois to push them two points up after 23 minutes.

The game would be level two minutes later as O'Sullivan and Loughlin added to their accounts. Laois came back at Westmeath again and goalkeeper Killian Roche split the posts from outside the arc before Murphy put Laois three points up with five minutes of the half left. Robbie Forde and O'Carroll (free) traded scores before the hooter sounded as just the Coffey goal separated the teams at half-time.

Galvin got Laois' first point of the second half with Loughlin replying down the other end for Westmeath. Paddy O'Sullivan was then presented with a goal chance, but his shot flashed wide of the Westmeath goal. Pa Kirwan made a welcome return for Laois and had a point to his name within a minute of his arrival. Kevin Swayne raised a white flag to push Laois five points ahead. Shane Allen got his only score of the evening for Westmeath before Laois were awarded a penalty for the third game in a row after a Westmeath defender touched the ball on the ground inside the small square. Paul Kingston took the penalty and sent the goalkeeper the wrong way as Laois now led 2-12 to 0-11 after 50 minutes.

O'Carroll assisted Galvin, and Kingston added a point to his goal as Laois began to run away with the contest. Two frees followed for Westmeath as McCartan and Loughlin pointed a free each. A third goal came Laois' way when Niall Corbet came off the bench to assist O'Carroll and from that kick-out, Laois were given a free from the 21 as the Westmeath restart didn't go outside the arc.

Laois ended the game with 14 players as Jack Lacey was shown a late black card and Westmeath were awarded a penalty. Luke Loughlin tucked away the penalty. Westmeath also ended the game with 14 players as Ray Connellan was shown a straight red. Laois ended the game with a superb free from the sideline from Killian Roche to win by nine points.

Laois have a weekend off now before a 6pm throw-in against Fermanagh in Enniskillen on Saturday, March 14.

FINAL SCORE

Laois 3-16

Westmeath 1-13

SCORERS – Laois: Evan O’Carroll 1-3 (0-2 frees), Paul Kingston 1-2 (1-0 peno, 0-1 free), Ronan Coffey 1-1, Darragh Galvin and Killian Roche 0-3 (0-1 free, one two pointer) 0-3 each, Darren Brennan, Rioghan Murphy, Pa Kirwan, Kevin Swayne 0-1 each. Westmeath: Luke Loughlin 1-6 (1-0 peno, 0-4 frees), Kevin O’Sullivan 0-3. Same McCartan 0-2, Shane Allen and Robbie Forde 0-1 each

LAOIS: Killian Roche (Killeshin); Jake Darcy (Annanough), Trevor Collins (Graiguecullen), Jack Lacey (St Joseph's); Paddy O’Sullivan (Portarlington), Simon Fingleton (Park-Ratheniska), Aaron McEvoy (Ballyroan-Abbey) ; Rob Tyrrell (Courtwood), Conor Heffernan (Killeshin); Kevin Swayne (Portlaoise), Ronan Coffey (Portarlington), Darren Brennan (Portlaoise); Rioghan Murphy (Portarlington), Daragh Galvin (Portarlington), Evan O’Carroll (Crettyard). Subs: Pa Kirwan (Emo) for McEvoy (45 mins), Paul Kingston (Arles-Killeen) for Coffey (48 mins), Ciaran Burke (Crettyard) for Tyrrell (55 mins), Niall Corbet (Clonaslee St Manman’s) for Brennan (64 mins), Mikie Dempsey (St Joseph’s) for Murphy (67 mins).

WESTMEATH: Jack Connaughton; Danny Scahill, Charlie Drumm, Sam Smyth; Ronan Wallace, Shane Allen, Matthew Whittaker; Ray Connellan, Harry Niall; Kevin O’Sullivan, Sam McCartan, Brian Cooney; Shane Corcoran, Luke Loughlin, Robbie Forde. Subs: Danny McCartan for Corcoran (HT), Brian Guerin for Niall (45 mins), Tom Molloy for Forde (49 mins), Brandon Kelly for Wallace (54 mins), Jack Duncan for Whittaker (56 mins).

Referee: Chris Maguire (Clare)