Laois’ second half scoring propels them past London in the Tailteann Cup

Laois have their second win in this year’s Tailteann Cup after a second half scoring surge saw them past London in Ruislip on Saturday.

London had gotten back within three points of Laois with 48 minutes to play but Laois kicked on and scored nine points in a row to take back control.

The game was played in pure sunshine with the temperatures hitting 27 degrees in Ruislip on Saturday afternoon.

Ronan Coffey got Laois up and running within the first 60 seconds. Joe McGill levelled it up a minute later before Paddy O’Sullivan and Evan O’Carroll put Laois back in front. Shay Rafter raised London’s second white flag with Conor Heffernan raising the fourth white flag for the away side. Kristian Healy split the posts to make it four points to three in favour of Laois after 10 minutes.

Then came the game’s first goal as O’Sullivan turned over the ball in the Laois defence and within three kicks of the ball, it was in the back of the net. O’Sullivan kicked it to club mate Ronan Coffey and he kicked it to O’Carroll. The Crettyard forward then sold his marker a dummy before sticking the ball into the London net.

London almost got the goal back two minutes later, but Killian Roche made a great save to deny Liam Murphy. Laois went six points up shortly after as Coffey kicked a two-pointer. McGill then replied down the other end with an orange flag of his own.

O’Carroll and a Roche free maintained Laois’ six-point lead after 23 minutes. London cut it to four points when McGill (free) and Ciaran Diver scored a point each. Laois ended the half with three points from three different scorers as Roche (free), Kevin Swayne and Mikie Dempsey scored for Laois. There was controversy at the half-time whistle as referee Fergal Kelly blew his whistle just as the ball left Coffey’s boot and went over the bar. Laois went into the dressing rooms under the stand with a seven-point advantage, 1-11 to 0-7.

Kirwan got Laois up and running in the second half with Ciaran Diver getting a point back for London. The next four points were traded as Brian Byrne and O’Carroll pointed for Laois, while McGill and Giver scored for London. Laois led by eight points with 43 minutes played but five minutes later, London had it back to three points thanks to a goal from Michael O’Reilly and a point each from Diver and Tighe Barry.

That was as close as it got however as Laois scored nine points in nine minutes. Paul Kingston came off the bench and scored a two-pointer with O’Carroll and O’Sullivan raising white flags. Another two-pointer sailed between the posts as Kirwan curled it over from outside the arc. Cian Nolan did likewise and O’Carroll added another to push Laois 12 points ahead after 57 minutes. Henry Walsh and a free from Rafter replied for London.

Laois hit another five points unanswered courtesy of Kingston (two), Daragh Galvin, Simon Fingleton and O’Sullivan. The game ended with Rafter and Fingleton swapping scores as Laois ran out 15-point winners.

Laois are into a Tailteann Cup quarter-final or else they could be one of the four winners to get drawn at home to New York in a preliminary quarter-final.

FINAL SCORE

Laois 1-29

London 1-14

SCORERS — Laois: Evan O’Carroll 1-6 (0-1 free), Paul Kingston 0-4 (one two-pointer), Ronan Coffey (one two-pointer) and Paddy O’Sullivan 0-3 each, Killian Roche (frees), Pa Kirwan (two-pointer), Cian Nolan (two-pointer) and Simon Fingleton 0-2 each, Kevin Swayne, Conor Heffernan, Brian Byrne, Daragh Galvin, and Mikie Dempsey 0-1 each. London: Joe McGill 0-5 (one two-pointer, 0-1 free), Michael O’Reilly 1-0, Shay Rafter (0-1 free) and Ciaran Diver 0-3 each, Henry Walsh, Tighe Barry, and Kristian Kelly 0-1 each.

LAOIS: Killian Roche (Killeshin); Jack Lacey (St Joseph’s), Trevor Collins (Graiguecullen), Alex Mohan (Portarlington); Pa Kirwan (Emo), Simon Fingleton (Park-Ratheniska), Brian Byrne (Graiguecullen); Rob Tyrrell (Courtwood), Conor Heffernan (Killeshin); Kevin Swayne (Portlaoise), Ronan Coffey (Portarlington), Paddy O’Sullivan (Portarlington); Mikie Dempsey (St Joseph’s), Daragh Galvin (Portarlington), Evan O’Carroll (Crettyard). Subs: Paul Kingston (Arles-Killeen) for Byrne (41 mins), Ben Dempsey (Portlaoise) for Lacey and Cian Nolan (Park-Ratheniska) for M Dempsey (Both 49 mins), Rioghan Murphy (Portarlington) for O’Carroll (58 mins), Darren Brennan (Portlaoise) for Coffey (61 mins)

LONDON: Andrew Walsh; Liam Crowley, Conor O’Donohue, Sean O’Donoghue; Finbarr Crowley, Conal Gallagher, David Gouldson; Liam Gallagher, Daniel Clarke; Ciaran Diver, Joe McGill, Kristian Healy; Michael O’Reilly, Shay Rafter, James Davis. Subs: Josh Obahor for Healy (26 mins), Tighe Barry for Gouldson (39 mins), Daniel Clarke for Murphy (48 mins), Henry Walsh for O’Reilly (56 mins), Nathan Freeman for Davis (58 mins).

Referee: Fergal Kelly (Longford)