Laois battle hard but Tipperary take the points on opening night of hurling league

Laois put in a serious shift in O'Moore Park on Saturday night as they opened their Allianz League campaign but it ended with as four point defeat at the hands of Tipperary who were beginning life without two stalwarts in Brendan Maher and Padraic Maher.

Laois were competitive right the way through and had they been sharper in front of goals, it could have been a different story. Once Paddy Purcell picked up a soft looking red card on 45 minutes, it was always going to be a big ask for Laois who trailed by six points at the time.

LAOIS 1-14

TIPPERARY 0-21

NATIONAL HURLING LEAGUE DIVISION 1B, ROUND 1

Jason Forde fired the opening score of the game in the second minute but with the next attack, Enda Rowland's puckout landed down in the full forward line and after winning the breaking ball, Stephen Maher levelled things up.

Maher then put Laois ahead but that would be short lived as Tipp rattled off the next four scores with Jason Forde notching two while Jake Morris and Mark Kehoe also opened their account.

Leading 0-5 to 0-2, Tipp were in the driving seat but on 14 minutes, Stephen Maher landed a brilliant score from out on the sideline before slotting over a close range free to bring the arrears back to a point.

Laois did have a few chances to draw level but their shooting let them down before a Jason Forde free on 18 minutes edged Tipp two points in front.

Forde added another free and then with 10 minutes left to half time, Jake Morris was dragged to the ground and referee Sean Cleere had little choice but to award a penalty. Jason Forde stood over it but Enda Rowland was equal to it and managed to get his hurl to it to deflect over the bar.

Laois had a goal chance of their own three minutes later but Ben Conroy's shot was well saved by Brian Hogan with Conroy then taking a fresh air shot when the rebound came back out to him.

Jake Morris and Stephen Maher exchanged scores and with five minutes left in the half, Tipperary led 0-9 to 0-5. Tipp pushed on to lead 0-11 to 0-5 coming into injury time in the opening half but two late Laois frees, one from Enda Rowland and the other from Stephen Maher left the half time score - 0-11 to 0-7.

Tipp burst out of the traps early in the second half with four points in the space of three minutes through Mark Kehoe, Forde and a beauty from Jake Morris.

Stephen Maher broke the sequence with a tricky free before adding another in the 43rd minute to leave it a six point game with a little over 25 minutes left to play.

Matters went from bad to worse on 45 minutes when Paddy Purcell picked up what looked to be a very soft straight red card after he appeared to push Craig Morgan to the ground. He spoke with the linesman on the stand side and after originally sending Ben Conroy off, referee Sean Cleere seemed to realise he had the wrong man and sent Purcell off.

It was a massive blow but instead of throwing in the towel, Laois knuckled down and got a bit of luck when Enda Rowland's long range free went all the way to the net. James Keyes was only just on the field and he fired over and suddenly, it was only a three point game with 20 minutes to go.

Laois fought hard in the closing stages to get close to Tipp but the Munster men had that buffer that they were able to maintain with the extra man no doubt helping their cause.

Enda Rowland did have a late goal chance from a 21 yard free but his effort was deflected over the bar and Tipp won out by four points.

LAOIS

Scorers: Enda Rowland 1-3 (1-0f, 0-2f and 0-1 '65'), Stephen Maher 0-8 (0-5 frees), James Keyes 0-3, 

Team: Enda Rowland; Frank Flanagan, Sean Downey, Donnchadh Hartnett; Podge Delaney, Liam O'Connell, Ryan Mullaney; Fiachra C Fennell, Jack Kelly; Paddy Purcell, John Lennon, Ross King; Ben Conroy, Willie Dunphy, Stephen Maher. Subs: James Keyes for John Lennon (50), Jordan Walshe for Willie Dunphy (50), Ciaran Comerford for Ross King (55), Padraic Dunne for Frank Flanagan (57), Aidan Corby for Jack Kelly (69)

TIPPERARY

Scorers: Jason Forde 0-11 (0-7 frees and 0-1 pen), Mark Kehoe 0-4, Jake Morris 0-3, Michael Breen, Cathal Barrett and Dillon Quirke 0-1 each.

Team: Brian Hogan; Cathal Barrett, James Quigley, Craig Morgan; Dillon Quirke, Seamus Kennedy, Barry Heffernan; Alan Flynn, Michael Breen; Dan McCormack, Jason Forde, Ger Browne; Mark Kehoe, Denis Maher, Jake Morris. Subs: Conor Stakelum for Jake Morris (50), Paul Flynn for Denis Maher (59), Paddy Cadell for Alan Flynn (66), Ronan Maher for Barry Heffernan (67), Seamus Callanan for Mark Kehoe (69)

Referee: Sean Cleere (Kilkenny)