Wexford up next as Laois U-20 hurlers pushed all the way by Meath in Leinster Championship

The Laois U-20 hurlers are safely through to the quarter-finals of this year's Leinster U-20 Hurling Championship after they defeated Meath by five points in Trim GAA on Wednesday evening.

It was a lovely evening for hurling with a slight breeze favouring Meath for the first half-hour. Laois' first half performance was superb as they had 2-10 on the board and led Meath by five points at the break, the same margin that they won by in the end.

Wexford will be Laois' opponents in the last eight after their hammering of Kildare by 21 points, coupled with Kilkenny's two-point loss to Galway, saw them finish second by a single point in the points difference as Kilkenny and Wexford have drawn in Round 2.

Laois have some previous with Wexford and went down to Wexford Park in 2025 and left with a six-point win before losing out to Kilkenny in the semi-finals. It'll be a case of de ja vu again as Laois will make the trip to Wexford on Monday, May 4.

In terms of the game between Laois and Meath, Derek Delaney's Laois side raced into a four-point lead after nine minutes thanks to two points from Cormac Byrne, who finished with 1-6, captain Eoghan Murphy from a 65' and full-back Conor Mortimer. Meath's first point came from a 65' after Mortimer had carried the ball over the line and Louis McIvor, who finished with 10 points from placed balls, pointed the resulting 65'. Hugh Whelan replied almost immediately down the other end for Laois before McIvor raised two white flags from frees. Ruaidhri Kavanagh and Justin Duggan both split the posts as Laois led 0-7 to 0-3 after 16 minutes.

Meath got back to within two points soon after when McIvor got his fourth point, and Darren O'Higgins scored in the corner. Byrne (free) and Finn Conroy traded scores before Laois got in for their first goal. Kavanagh had an effort saved brilliantly by Paddy Casey, but Patrick O'Callaghan fired home the rebound to push Laois five points ahead. A second point from Murphy was matched by McIvor, but disaster struck for Laois when Joey Christy's shot somehow ended up deceiving Dion O'Connor.

Laois' response was a good one, as with the next attack, they raised their second green flag. Justin Duggan chased down Meath goalkeeper Casey and got a hurl to his clearance before setting up Byrne to fire into an empty Meath net. McIvor (free) and Jack Kennedy swapped scores just before the break as Laois led 2-10 to 1-8.

McIvor cut Laois' lead soon after the restart, but Laois hit the front and scored four of the next five scores. Duggan, Byrne, Murphy and Kavanagh pointed for Laois. However, the score Meath got was a goal as Fergal Flynn popped up in the square to smash the ball past O'Connor and Meath were back within five points again. 

With seven minutes to play, Meath had gotten the game back to just two points as McIvor pointed two frees and Christy added a point to his earlier goal. Laois showed their true character and got the next three points to dash Meath's chances of catching Laois on the hop. Byrne, substitute Conor Headen and Duggan scored the points for the away side. McIvor and Byrne pointed once more for their sides, but it's Laois who are through to the last eight in Leinster thanks to a five-point win.

They'll travel to Wexford Park to face Wexford on Bank Holiday Monday, May 4.

FINAL SCORE

LAOIS 2-18

MEATH 2-13

SCORERS— Laois: Cormac Byrne 1-6 (0-3 frees), Patrick O’Callaghan 1-0, Eoghan Murphy (0-1 free, 0-1 65) and Justin Duggan 0-3 each, Ruaidhri Kavanagh 0-2, Jack Kennedy, Conor Mortimer, Hugh Whelan and Conor Headen 0-1 each. Meath: Louis McIvor 0-10 (0-9 frees, 0-1 65), Joey Christy 1-1, Fergal Flynn 1-0, Darren O’Higgins and Finn Conroy 0-1 each.

LAOIS: Dion O’Connor (Trumera); Conor Mortimer (Camross), Evan Cassin (Clough/Ballacolla), Donnchadh Carroll (Mountrath); Donal Deegan (The Harps), Eoghan Murphy (The Harps), Hugh Whelan (The Harps); Jack Kennedy (The Harps), Ruaidhri Kavanagh (Trumera); Patrick O’Callaghan (Clonad), Ross Deegan (The Harps), Tony Mahony (The Harps); Cormac Byrne (Abbeyleix), Justin Duggan (The Harps), Eoin Delaney (The Harps). Subs: Stephen O’Donnell (Abbeyleix) for Carroll (HT), Charlie Hand (Clonad) for Cassin (44 mins), Conor Headen (Ballypickas) for R Deegan (53 mins), Dan Whelan (Castletown) for Kavanagh (54 mins), Ruaidhri Kavanagh for Mahony (59 mins).

MEATH: Paddy Casey; Brian Stagg, Adam O’Donoghue, Alex Fox; Anthony Healy, Jack McKeown, Fergal Flynn; Finn Conroy, Joey Christie; Louis McIvor, Mark Leavy, Cathal Barron; Darren O’Higgins, Kyle Ennis, Patrick Jordan. Subs: Rian Fay for Conroy (44 mins), Callum Buckley for Jordan (56 mins), Edward Dunne for McKeown (58 mins).

Referee: Kevin McDonnell (Dublin)