First half power show earns Laois first win of Billy Sheehan era

Laois footballers recorded their first win in the Billy Sheehan era on Wednesday night after a first half exhibition set them up for a six point win. While the performance levels might have dipped in the second half, this was a much improved Laois outfit from their 15 point drubbing at the hands of Wexford only last Saturday.

Meath came out a different animal in the second half and piled on the pressure, a large majority of which was soaked up by a steely and determined Laois outfit.

LAOIS 1-12

MEATH 0-9

O'BYRNE CUP, ROUND 2

Right from the off, Laois showed that they meant business. Points from Mark Barry, Paul Kingston and a Sean Moore free opened up a 0-3 to 0-0 lead before Meath could get settled.

James Conlan got them off the mark in the 11th minute but that only briefly halted Laois as points from Barry again, Brian Byrne and a '45' from Danny Bolger saw them go in leading 0-6 to 0-2 at the first water break.

Meath were struggling to make any in roads and failed to score for the remainder of the half as Laois kicked on. Mark Barry was in fine form just one night after helping DCU progress in the Sigerson Cup. Meath couldn't handle him in the opening half and he kicked another superb score to keep the scoreboard moving while Evan O'Carroll nailed a close range free.

Just when it looked like Laois would go in with a seven point half time lead, a long distance effort for a point from John O'Loughlin from out near the sideline looped in under the crossbar and to the net to give Laois their only goal of the game on 35 minutes and a half time lead of 1-9 to 0-2.

Tempers flared up early in the second half with Evan O'Carroll getting plenty of attention but he answered back well by kicking a left footed score on 42 minutes to extend their lead.

Laois though were coming under serious pressure and that point would be the only joy for 22 minutes as Meath came knocking.

James Conlan, Thomas O'Reilly and David McEntee all added scores and it took a superb save from Niall Corbet to keep the Laois goal in tact.

Meath spurned another goal chance but with six minutes go, Kieran Lillis stepped up with a settling score to calm the Laois nerves.

Meath did all some late scores but the green flag stayed rooted in the ground and that was the main thing from a Laois point of view in the closing stages.

It is all to play for now on Saturday and a win over Wicklow in the final group game in the O'Byrne cup will give Laois a chance of advancing to the knockout stages.

LAOIS

Scorers: Mark Barry 0-4 (0-1f), John O’Loughlin 1-0, Evan O’Carroll 0-2 (0-1f), Danny Bolger (‘45’), Gareth Dillon, Brian Byrne, Paul Kingston, Kieran Lillis, Sean Moore 0-1 each.

Team: Danny Bolger; James Kelly, Trevor Collins, Alex Mohan; Sean O’Flynn, John O’Loughlin, Gareth Dillon; Kieran Lillis, James Finn; Brian Byrne, Paul Kingston, Paddy O’Sullivan; Mark Barry, Evan O’Carroll, Sean Moore. Subs: Niall Corbet for D Bolger (ht), Adam Campion for A Mohan, Dylan Kavanagh for B Byrne, Gary Walsh for S Moore (all 48), Cathal Fennessy for P O’Sullivan (52), Podge Dunne for J Finn (54), Ross Munnelly for M Barry (62), Joey Shelly for E O’Carroll (66), Collins Ugochukwu for G Dillon (70)

 MEATH

Scorers: T O’Reilly 0-4 (0-3f), J Conlan 0-3, D McEntee 0-1 (mark)

Team: A Colgan; R Clarke, D Keogan, R Ryan; N Kane, G McGowan, D Dixon; M Costello , S McEntee; E Wallace, C O’Sullivan, P Harnan; J Conlan, T O’Reilly, J Wallace. Subs: D McEntee for D Dixon, K Curtis for E Wallace, S O’Fionnagain for J Wallace, J Muldoon for N Kane (all half time), A Kealey for R Ryan (53), E Devine for S McEntee (56)

Referee: Keith O’Brien (Westmeath)

Killeshin duo stung by late LyIT come back to topple IT Carlow in Sigerson Cup

Late GAA player’s trust backs NUIG goal of developing sudden adult death syndrome cure