Laois minor footballers dumped out of Leinster Championship as Meath run riot in Portlaoise

Laois fell to their third straight defeat after losing to Meath by 33 points at O’Moore Park on Tuesday evening, leaving them with the prospect of playing in Tier 3 for the third year running.

Meath were full value for their win and were streets better than the home side in an utterly dominant display to book their place in the Leinster quarter-finals.

Milo Stafford opened the scoring for Meath through a lovely point. Laois did respond with two points of their own, but that was as good as it got for the home side.

Meath would go on to score four goals in the half. The first came through Harry McGuirk, who followed his goal with another point. Thomas McKeever then added another point for Meath before the second goal arrived. Conn Brennan would make no mistake in beating the keeper, Michael Dowling, and it was a long way back for Laois at an early stage. 

Laois did reply with a point from Cian Murphy, but Meath were now in full flow. McGuirk added a two-pointer, which sparked a scoring blitz for Meath. Cormac Walsh got a brace, while Conn Brennan added another point for his side. Goal number three soon followed through Cormac Walsh, and the game was well and truly over.

READ NEXT: LISTEN: Laois senior hurler Aidan Corby looks ahead to Laois' Joe McDonagh Cup opener against Carlow

The fourth goal came straight after the third through Conn Brennan, and Laois looked out of ideas. Milo Stafford, McKeever and Walsh all added points before half-time. Sean Maree did respond before the break to leave the score at 4-12 to 0-4 to Meath.

It was a case of damage limitation in the second half, and unfortunately for Laois, there was no let-up from Meath. Harry McGuirk got the scoreboard up and running in the second half with a brilliant point. The fifth goal of the game came in the next attack, with Thomas McKeever adding a goal to his name. 

They would kick a further 1-5 without reply, with Stafford getting a brace, before McGuirk added his second goal and Meath's sixth and final goal. 

To be fair to Laois, they stayed battling away and kicked the next three points, including a two-pointer from Fionnan Brennan and Eoghan Harris getting the other. Meath kicked on again and finished the match strongly.

Meath kicked the last five points with Walsh, who got three of them, while McGuirk and Milo Stafford got the others as Meath ran out easy winners.

Laois now go into the Tier 3 championship again, with Meath booking their place in a Leinster Quarter-Final.

Final Score

Meath 6-22

Laois 0-7

SCORERS - Laois: Fionnan Brennan 0-3 (one two pointer, 0-1 free), Will Craig, Cian Murphy, Sean Maree and Eoghan Harris 0-1 each Meath: Harry McGuirk 2-5 (one two pointer), Cormac Walsh 1-6 (0-2 frees), Conn Brennan 2-2, Milo Stafford 0-6 (0-1 45, 0-1 free), Thomas McKeever 1-2, Niall Smyth 0-1

LAOIS: Michael Dowling (Crettyard); Oran Langton (Barrowhouse), Dan Downey (Park-Ratheniska). Darragh Brennan (Crettyard); Oisin Gilligan (Ballyfin), Fionnan Brennan (Crettyard), Will McGrath (Arles-Killeen); Will Craig (O'Dempsey’s), Cillin Hoey (Portarlington); David Timmons (Portlaoise), Tom Lawler (Graiguecullen), Cian Murphy (St Joseph's); Sean Maree (Emo), Aaron Mackey (Arles-Killeen), Eoghan Harris (Arles-Killeen). Subs: Ethan Neilon (O'Dempsey's) for Darragh Brennan (29 mins), Dale Heffernan (Killeshin) for Hoey and Mikey Hand (Graiguecullen) for Maree (both 45 mins).

MEATH: Cormac Fitzsimons; Ben Browne, Tomas Clarke, Niall Rogan; Liam O'Donoghue, Harry McGuirk, Niall Smyth; John Killoran, Thomas Proudfoot; Cormac McKenna, Conn Brennan, Alex Keane; Cormac Walsh, Milo Stafford, Thomas McKeever. Subs: Dillion Glynn for Browne (42 mins), Tomas Dillon for McKeever (45 mins), Harris Moffat for McGuirk (55 mins)

REFEREE: Lar Murphy (Carlow)