Laois senior hurlers make it six wins from six with high-scoring win in London

Laois will march into this Saturday’s NHL Division 2 final off the back of a one hundred percent record in the league portion of the competition after a comfortable, if high-scoring, victory over London on Saturday afternoon.

The O’Moore men made the trip across the Irish Sea for the first time in over a decade and travelled to McGovern Park, Ruislip, on a bright and sunny spring afternoon. It was a cold day on the outskirts of London, but a beautiful sun shone over the top-class facilities of London GAA and despite a stiff breeze, conditions were ideal for hurling.

Tommy Fitzgerald alluded to the fact that he would be ringing in the changes for this one and he stuck to his word with a hugely changed starting fifteen. We also got to see the return of Ben Conroy to the starting team after his injury troubles and he was excellent throughout the game at full forward, while there was also the return of Diarmaid Conway for a brief period at the end. With Gearoid Lynch and Fionan Mahony also partnering in midfield, the injury list has gotten much shorter as Laois approach the business end of the season.

Cormac Byrne was one of those players who got their chance to shine on Saturday and he took advantage of the opportunity with a goal just two minutes into the game before finishing with a final tally of 1-5.

A lack of goals has been the main criticism of Laois in recent weeks and they were on a mission to change that as they peppered Mark Kilgannon with shots from the off and though the London man made some great saves, Fionn Holland raised a second green flag after good work by Ben Conroy.

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London sharpshooter Fionn O Riain Broin was excellent from placed balls and he slotted a couple of long range frees after Dylan Dawson struck from play to get the Exiles off the mark. Laois fired back through Martin Phelan and Colin Byrne but Fionn Whelan and O Riain Broin cancelled out those efforts in kind.

A strong wind blew towards the clubhouse in McGovern Park and the hosts had it to their advantage, but Laois did all the hurling for the opening 25 minutes or so, and points from Dunphy and Jordan Walshe increased the gap further.

Conroy was again the creator for Laois's third goal when he claimed yet another high ball over his man Niall Fitzgerald and played a great ball inside to Gearoid Lynch to finish low into the net. London responded with points from Tom Hanifin and O Riain Broin but a Laois purple patch saw them race into an eleven-point lead.

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Dunphy, Cormac Byrne, Lynch and Conroy combined for five points from play to make it 3-11 to 0-7. The Exiles weren't giving up that easily however and came roaring back to life with a score from Ronan McGrady followed by a brilliantly finished goal by captain Sean Glynn.

Cormac Byrne stemmed the flow briefly, but London's tails were up, and they raised flags through Glynn, O Riain Broin, Dawson and Jack Loughnane to reduce the gap back to just five points. Late points from Byrne and Conroy allowed Laois to regain some composure before a late London free made it 3-14 to 1-14 at half-time.

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Laois made a great start to the second half with a point for Colin Byrne followed by four in a row from Dunphy, two frees followed by a quickfire double from play and Fionn Holland added to his goal with a point. O Riain Broin ended the run with a free and Laois would only add one further score in the next twenty minutes while London cut the gap back to five with points from Paul Kennedy, David Devine and O Riain Broin.

The freetaker was wide of the mark when London were awarded a penalty, which would really have thrown the cat among the pigeons had he scored. Minutes before the penalty was awarded, Eoin Fleming had just returned to the play having been forced off with an injury, and as Eoin Reilly was unable to travel with the team, Eoin Gaughan had to act as a makeshift goalkeeper while Fleming received treatment.

Laois regained their composure once again after that London flurry, and points from Walshe, Fiachra C Fennell, Cormac Byrne and Martin Phelan saw out a relatively comfortable win in the end.

A home final now awaits Fitzgerald and co when they welcome Kerry to O’Moore Park on Saturday afternoon in the Division 2 decider. The fixture details for that game have been confirmed for Saturday, March 28 in Laois Hire O'Moore Park at 2pm.

FINAL SCORE

Laois 3-27

London 1-22