Laois minor hurlers weather Storm Dave to get the better of Kildare in Leinster Championship

The Laois minor hurlers are into Round Four of this year's Leinster Minor Hurling Championship after they had five points to spare over Kildare in Hawkfield on Saturday afternoon. 

Most of Laois' work was done in the first half as they ended the half with 1-7, four points from LJ Cuddy and 1-1 from Cillin Hoey, while Bobby O'Connor and Oisin Gilligan scored a point each as Laois led by five at the break.

Storm Dave was in full effect in Hawkfield on Saturday afternoon as Laois and Kildare met in the third round of the 2026 Leinster Minor Hurling Championship.

There was a swirling wind blowing across the field, and it looked from the packed stand in Hawkfield that it favoured Kildare in the first half-hour. However, Laois manager Brendan Phelan confirmed afterwards that the wind didn't favour either side and that was shown with only six points in total scored in the second half, three each.

Laois started superbly and had four points on the board inside seven minutes with Kildare still scoreless. The returning LJ Cuddy from Camross got the first two for Laois, with his first coming from a placed ball. Oisin Gilligan, who scored four points against Kerry in Laois’ Round 1 game, got his first of the contest before Cuddy raised his third white flag after just seven minutes.

Kildare’s first score came after nine minutes when full-forward Cuan Óg MacAogain pointed a free. The next 10 minutes went by without Kildare adding a score, while Laois punished them down the other end with 1-2 in that period.

Cillin Hoey got a point before he poked the ball over the line after Dan Downey’s shot was saved by Elliot Dywer, and it lingered on the goal line before Hoey got his hurl to the ball and put it into the Kildare net. Bobby O’Connor then split the posts as Laois led 1-6 to 0-1 after 20 minutes.

Kildare added two points from the hurls of Cuan Óg MacAogain (free) and Eoghan Lyons. Laois’ final score of the half was from Cuddy, who ended the half with five points to his name. Kildare reduced Laois’ lead to five points at the break as Lyons and Cuan Óg MacAogain pointed for the home side; Laois led 1-7 to 0-5.

The second half began with the weather getting worse as a hail shower poured down just as referee Conor Dawson threw the ball to get the game back underway.

Almost 10 minutes went by after the restart before a point was scored, and it was that man Cuddy again who scored as Laois went six ahead. From the next puck-out, Kildare got a point back as Oisin McAffee got his first point for Brian Murnane's side. Cuddy pointed another free before Laois centre-back Dan Bowe dropped a free into the Kildare defence and Callum Jones gathered possession of the sliotar and split the posts.

It got to a stage in the game where Kildare would need a goal or two to get back into the contest, as it wasn't a day for point scoring. MacAogain pointed a fourth free and also had two shots at goal from close-range frees, but Ryan Keeshan got his hurl to the sliotar on both occasions. The game ended with McAffee having a free saved over the bar by Keeshan as Laois won by five points in the end. Laois' victory sees them into Round Four, and they're now one game away from competing in Tier 1 Phase 2.

FINAL SCORE

LAOIS 1-10

KILDARE 0-8

SCORERS — Laois: LJ Cuddy 0-6 (0-4 frees), Cillin Hoey 1-1, Bobby O’Connor, Callum Jones, and Oisin Gilligan 0-1 each. Kildare: Cuan Óg MacAogain 0-4 (frees), Oisin McAffee and Eoghan Lyons 0-2 each.

LAOIS: Ryan Keeshan (Rathdowney-Errill); Conor Hickey (Borris-Kilcotton), Jack Rice (Mountrath), Darragh Keeshan (Borris-Kilcotton); Harry Donoghue (The Harps), Dan Bowe (Rathdowney-Errill), Oisin McRedmond (Portlaoise); Luke Hynes (Camross), Jamie Mahony (The Harps); Dan Downey (Park-Ratheniska/Timahoe), Callum Jones (Borris-Kilcotton), Bobby O’Connor (Trumera); Oisin Gilligan (Ballyfin), LJ Cuddy (Camross), Cillin Hoey (Portarlington). Subs: Rory Standish (Rathdowney-Erill) for D Keeshan (43 mins), Tadhg Lowry (Camross) for Hoey (53 mins), Luke Delaney (Castletown) for Hynes (55 mins), and Killian James (St Paul’s) for Gilligan (59 mins).

KILDARE: Elliot Dwyer; Conor Dunphy, Cathal Cosgrove, Jack King; Senan Nicholson, Charlie Allen, Dara Lynch;
Aaron Moylan, Finnan O'Rourke; Michael Reilly, Adam Conway, Oisin McAffee; Eoghan Lyons, Sean Higgins, Cuan Óg MacAogain. Subs: Senan Boran for Allen (HT), Patrick O’Brien for Higgins (47 mins), Bobby Gallagher for Conway (51 mins), and Luke Cahill for Lyons (57 mins).

Referee: Conor Dawson (Wexford)