Offaly strike late to deny Laois U20 hurling league title

Laois were denied an under 20 hurling development league win on St Patrick's morning as Offaly hit an unanswered 1-1 in the closing stages to take the spoils in the Faithful Fields.

Laois were the better team on the balance of play and a strong close to the opening half saw them lead 0-9 to 0-6 at half time but the Offaly men finished the stronger in the end.

OFFALY 1-13

LAOIS 0-13

Both teams were wasteful throughout the day as they struggled to deal with the swirling wind and while both defences hurled extremely well, both will look back on the game and know that they will have to sharpen up before the upcoming Leinster U20 hurling championship next month.

Scores were hard to come by in the early stages but the Laois men opened up a 0-2 to 0-0 lead after seven minutes with Dan Delaney landing a free and midfielder Cody Comerford notching the first of his four points from play.

Offaly replied with the next three scores with senior panelist Luke Nolan grabbing two of those before Dan Delaney nailed another free on the 15 minute mark to level them up. Offaly's Lochlann Quinn was a constant threat and he scored a '65' and one from play to leave Offaly up by two points as the half drifted into the final 10 minutes.

Cody Comerford and Podge Brennan excelled for the Laois men all day and it was Comerford who narrowed the gap before Offaly restored their two point lead on 25 minutes with Luke Carey sailing over one of the scores of the day from out on the sideline.

That would be Offaly's last score of the half as Laois powered on to the half time whistle with five unanswered points. Dan Delaney fired two over from distance while Comerford and a late brace from Colin Byrne put Laois into a 0-9 to 0-6 half time lead.

Offaly started the second half well and immediately cut into the lead with points from DK McLoughlin and Dan Bourke cutting the gap to one.

Laois responded in kind with Cillian Dunne clipping over one before an excellent team move saw Cody Comerford land his fourth of the day to make it 0-11 to 0-8 after 41 minutes.

Offaly stayed in touch with a free from Lochlann Quinn while A Dan Delaney free kept the Laois cushion in tact. Offaly began to find their range in the closing 15 minutes with Quinn and Luke Nolan both scoring to leave the sides level at 0-12 with 10 minutes to go.

Man of the match Podge Brennan fired over a massive score to edge Laois ahead with four minutes to go but Offaly stung them with a late charge.

Luke Nolan fed substitute Darragh Tierney and the Birr man found the net with two minutes to go. Lochlann Quinn sealed the deal with a point from inside his own as Offaly took the title.

OFFALY

Scorers: Lochlann Quinn 0-7 (0-3 frees and 0-1 '65'), Luke Nolan 0-3, Darragh Tierney 1-0, DJ McLoughlin, Luke Carey and Dan Bourke 0-1 each.

Team: Mark Troy; Cathal King, Conor Hardiman, Joseph Hoctor; Shane Ryan, Sam Bourke, Luke Watkins; Ruairi Dunne, Dan Bourke; Cian Burke, Luke Nolan, DJ McLoughlin; Lochlann Quinn, Luke Carey, Ronan Cleary. Subs: Niall Lyons for Ruairi Dunne (24), Joe Ryan for Cian Burke (44), Darragh Tierney for Ronan Cleary (57), Ciaran Daly for Dan Bourke (59), Cian Nolan for Luke Carey (59)

LAOIS

Scorers: Dan Delaney 0-6 (0-3 frees), Cody Comerford 0-4, Colin Byrne 0-2, Podge Brennan 0-1.

Team: Paddy Hassett; Ian Shanahan, Lawson Obular, Danny Brennan; Podge Brennan, Niall Coss, Bryan Bredin; Cody Comerford, Philip Tynan; Tadhg Cuddy, Dan Delaney, Adam Kirwan; Colin Byrne, James Duggan, Cillian Dunne. Subs: Fionan Mahony for Bryan Bredin, Noah Quinlan for Adam Kirwan (both 39), Eddie Critchley for Colin Byrne (53), Shaun Fitzpatrick for James Duggan (57).