Subs to the fore as Laois finish with a flourish to make it two wins in four days

The Laois bench proved crucial in Crettyard on Saturday as 2-2 from substitutes in the closing 10 minutes fired Laois to a six point win over Wicklow.

Evan O’Carroll and Sean Moore both raised green flags with Moore’s goal on 60 minutes coming at a time when the sides were level.

Losing by three points after 30 minutes, Billy Sheehan’s men hit the final four scores of the opening half to lead by a point at the break before kicking on in the final quarter to seal the win.

LAOIS 2-14

WICKLOW 1-11

O'BYRNE CUP THIRD ROUND

The opening half was a hugely entertaining, free flowing game. Both sides were attack minded and looked to us their runners from deep to penetrate through.

Wicklow were quickest off the mark with points from Kevin Quinn and Darragh Fitzgerald sending them into a 0-2 to 0-0 lead after five minutes.

Paul Kingston got the first Laois score a minute later but Wicklow opened up a three point lead by the 10th minute and were value for it.

The Laois response was impressive and with Ross Munnelly, Eoin Lowry and Gary Walsh all getting the better of their men on the inside line, the scores started to flow.

Two frees from Walsh and a super effort from Munnelly from a tight angle levelled the game on 15 minutes and although Wicklow regained the lead through wing back Andy Maher, the sides would go in level at the water break thanks to Munnelly again from almost exactly the same spot as his first after Eoin Lowry played in a delightful ball.

Laois came out after the water break and got the next two scores through Brian Daly and a left footed effort from Gary Walsh.

The close nature of the game continued with Wicklow replying with two of their own to level it up before with five minutes left in the half, the away side struck for a goal. Darragh Fitzgerald cut in along the end line and squared to Rory Stokes to palm to the net.

Laois were now three points down with five minutes left in the half but to their credit, they went in at half time a point up with four scores on the bounce.

A third free from Walsh coupled with brilliant scores from Cormac Murphy and Munnelly (mark) levelled it up and with the last kick of the half, Paul Kingston put the Laois men 0-11 to 1-7 ahead.

The second half wasn't as free flowing as the opening 35 minutes but still, Laois adjusted and were the superior outfit.

Eoin Lowry kicked a super score to get them going again but two Wicklow points before the second half water break made sure that the sides would go into the final quarter all square.

With both sides emptying the benches, Laois had more to call on and with 10 minutes to go, Sean Moore found the net after a high ball in wasn't dealt with by the Wicklow rearguard.

Two minutes later and Laois had another goal. Fellow substitute Evan O'Carroll, playing on his home patch, fired another goal from close range to pull Laois 2-12 to 1-9 clear.

Wicklow had a mini revival with two scores of their own but in second half stoppage time, Mark Barry, not long on the field, popped up with two scores, one with either foot, to make sure of the six point win.

LAOIS

Scorers: Gary Walsh 0-4 (0-3f), Ross Munnelly 0-3 (0-1 mark), Evan O’Carroll and Sean Moore 1-0 each, Paul Kingston and Mark Barry 0-2 each, Brian Daly, Cormac Murphy and Eoin Lowry 0-1 each.

Team: Matthew Byron; Collins Ugochukwu, Trevor Collins, Alex Mohan; Cathal Fennessy, Alan Farrell, Conal Brennan; Kieran Lillis, Brian Daly; Cormac Murphy, Paul Kingston, D O’Reilly; R Munnelly, E Lowry G Walsh. Subs: James Kelly for T Collins, Adam Campion for C Brennan, James Finn for K Lillis, Brian Byrne for D O’Reilly (all h/t), Cian Doyle for C Murphy (47), Sean Moore for G Walsh, Podge Dunne for B Daly, Evan O’Carroll for R Munnelly (all 53), Sean O’Flynn for C Fennessy (60), Mark Barry for P Kingston (63).

WICKLOW

Scorers: : R Stokes 1-0, M Kenny 0-3 (0-1f), K Quinn and E Darcy (0-1f) 0-2 each, E Murtagh, A Maher, M Jackson (free) and D Fitzgerald 0-1 each.

Team: M Jackson; T Moran, M Stone, E Murtagh; A Maher, Z Cullen, N Donnelly; D Healy, P O’Toole; C Maguire, M Kenny, D Fitzgerald; E Darcy, K Quinn, R Stokes. Subs: . Subs: J Snell for T Moran, C Byrne for R Stokes (both h/t), P Cunningham for E Darcy (44), F O’Shea for Z Cullen (53), O Cullen for D Fitzgerald (62), G Fogarty for P O’Toole, JP Hurley for C Maguire (both 65), S O’Dowd for M Stone (69)

Referee: Lee Moore (Kildare)