LEINSTER SENIOR FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP S/F
KILDARE 2-18 LAOIS 0-9
LIKE a rabbit caught in the headlights of a truck Laois were dazzled and bewildered as the Kil-dare juggernaut drove, unimpeded, through Laois’ aspiration of a Leinster final appearance.
With ruthless efficiency the Lilywhites tore Laois to shreds and all that despite a near-prefect start by the O’Moore lads.
For many the concern was how the Laois midfield would cope against Daryl Flynn and Dermot Earley.
And in the open quarter it seemed Laois supporters had been worrying needlessly. Padraig Clancy, and in particular his midfield partner Kevin Meaney were lording it, snatching balls from the sky and setting up attacks.
Even when Alan Smith scored a ninth minute goal against the run of play to level affairs, Laois responded positively to retake the lead with a brace of points.
And just when the Laois supporters, who were hopelessly outnumber by their Kildare counterparts, thought this was going to be their day, the Laois performance inexplicably collapsed.
Whether Kildare are that good, or Laois are just that bad, remains to be seen, but this has to go down as one of the most embarrassing days out for Laois.
If Laois were to have any hope of progressing it was imperative they got a good start, and they did. With a minute on the clock Michael J. Tierney was hauled down by Michael Foley and teenager Donal Kingston calmly slotted over the free.
There was another encouraging sign a minute later when Brian McCormack, who has not been having the best of seasons, stroked over a wonderful point from out wide.
Kildare opened their account when man of the match Mickey Conway took a pass from Padraig O’Neill and spilt the posts.
But this did not over concern Laois who responded immediately when Tierney converted a 45 and after he himself had been fouled in the eighth minute he was spot on with a 40 metre free.
But just 30 seconds later Kildare showed just how well they can move the ball. Conway picked out Morgan O’Flaherty and the wing back spotted Smith in a good position and the corner forward sent a rasping shot to the top of the net.
And while the Kildare juggernaut moved up through the gears it did not seem to unsettle Laois. Clancy banged over a good point in the 11th minute and when a Kildare defender handled on the ground six minutes later Kingston was again on target with the free.
Laois’ determined and aggressive style looked to have Kildare rattled but slowly the Lilies got into their stride and bizarrely Laois capitulated. Unacceptably, Laois were not to score again for almost 30 minutes while Kildare ran riot. Playing an open, fast game, Kildare opened up Laois time and time again with embarrassing ease and the scores followed.
Ronan Sweeney (3), John Doyle, Dermot Earley, Eamon Callaghan (2), James Kavanagh, John Doyle all pointed with ease and poise while Laois looked lost, unsure of how to combat the sweeping movement as Kildare moved forward in search of scores.
No doubt Sean Dempsey and his backroom staff welcomed halftime. Kildare had seven points to spare, 1-10 to 0-6, not a surmountable lead and with time to sit down and talk about what was going wrong, there was still hoped for Laois. Or was there? Whatever possibility there was of Laois pulling this one out of the fire was quashed within minutes of the restart. Doyle slotted over a great point 90 seconds into the new half. Minutes later it was all over as a contest. Another sweeping move up field ended with Smith sending the ball across the goalmouth where it was gathered by Doyle. The Kildare captain could have gone for goal but unselfishly passed to Kavanagh who had the easiest of tasks to raise the green flag.
From here on in, it was all too easy for Kildare and the Laois heads visibly dropped even further. Even the introduction of Joe Higgins barely raised a cheer from the stunned Laois support.
Similarly, Kingston’s third free on 44 minutes hardly raised a murmur.
Laois were to record just two further scores, points from Tierney (free) and Ger Reddin while in stark contrast Kildare maintained their momentum right to the final whistle.
Sean Dempsey now faces the unenviable task of picking his players up for the qualifiers but on this display he faces a major task if Laois are to have any serious input in the rest of the championship.
KILDARE: Tom Corley; Hugh McGrillen, Michael Foley, Mikey Conway (.-.); Emmet Bolton, Brian Flanagan, Morgan O’Flaherty; Daryl Flynn, Dermot Earley (.-.); James Kavanagh (.-.), Padraig O’Neill (.-.), Ronan Sweeney ( Alan Smith (.-.), Eamonn Callaghan (.-.), John Doyle ( .f). Subs: Robert Kelly for Sweeney (..mins), Kevin O’Neill for McGrillen (..mins), Karl Ennis for Smith (..mins), Gary White for Conway (..mins), Anthony Rainbow for O’Flaherty (..mins).
LAOIS: Michael Nolan; Cathal Ryan, Rory Stapleton, Mark Timmons; Darren Rooney, Ger Reddin (.-.), John O’Loughlin; Padraig Clancy (.-.), Kevin Meaney; Brendan Quigley, Brian McCormack (.-.), Billy Sheehan; Michael J. Tierney (.-., .f, . ’..), Ross Munnelly, Donie Kingston (.-., .f). Subs: Joe Higgins for Sheehan (..mins), Colm Coss for Kingston (..mins), Niall Donoher for Rooney (..mins), Craig Rogers for McCormack (..mins), Aiden Fennelly for Stapleton (..mins).
REFEREE: David Coldrick (Meath)