Disappointing start as Laois overcome by Carlow goal power in Joe McDonagh opener
Laois's Ben Conroy shows his delight as his shot on goal rattles the Carlow net Photo: Denis Byrne
Joe McDonagh Cup Rd 1
Carlow 4-17
Laois 1-17
TOMMY Fitzgerald and his Laois senior hurlers travelled to Carlow on Saturday evening to face their neighbours in Dr Cullen Park for the first-round clash in this year’s Joe McDonagh Cup.
Laois have been beaten in the final for the last two years and last year it was the dramatic final round finish against Carlow that sent them to Croke Park when Laois got that last minute goal.
On Saturday, having conceded two first half goals, Laois made a spirited comeback early in the second half but got punished by two further Carlow goals which bridged an unreachable gap.
Carlow started strong and headed straight for goals but an effort from Chris Nolan was saved superbly by Cathal Dunne. It was Aaron Dunphy who raised the first white flag from a placed ball while John Nolan replied with a long-range point. Conor Kehoe and Dunphy traded scores while David Dooley added his name to the scoresheet along with a second Dunphy free.
James Doyle got on the end of a dropping shot and rattled the back of Dunne’s net. Carlow hit the round running and Marty Kavanagh pointed three frees in a row before Dunphy replied for Laois also from a free. Jack Treacy split the posts for the home side while Ryan Mullaney set up Ben Conroy to point.
Kavanagh fired over a fourth free while Jack Kelly struck an admirable point from play keeping Laois within a goal of their opponents. Points were exchanged between Kavanagh (free) and a second for Conroy, but Carlow finished the strong as John Nolan added a second point before Fiachra Fitzpatrick managed to find the bottom right corner of the net pushing their lead to seven at the break, 2-9 to 0-8.
Laois emerged from the tunnel a totally different outfit from the first half. Within 10 minutes of throw in, they brought the game back level. Dunphy started the scoring spree pointing from play before Tomas Keyes went on an excellent run and found Conroy who made no mistake from close range and raised a green flag for his side. Dunphy pointed a free and Stephen Maher who was introduced at half time made his presence known pointing his first while Dunphy added a third from play.
The home side struck back rather rapidly and regained their lead pushing the gap to three. Chris Nolan split the posts from a sideline while Kavanagh added two further frees to his name. Maher pointed a second before he found himself bearing down on goal, but a super hook denied him.
Carlow broke up the field at face and Chris Nolan skipped through the defence to find a third goal. Maher pointed a fantastic free from his own 65’ but disaster struck only a minute later when Kehoe attacked the Laois goal at serious speed and shot low and hard into the bottom corner of Dunne’s goal. Kavanagh added another free before Chris Nolan had his effort saved by Dunne.
Nolan was fouled on the build up which allowed Kavanagh to point his ninth free which also gave his side a nine-point advantage. Dunphy pointed two frees for Laois while Maher added a fourth to his name, but Carlow finished the stronger and added three more points to the board before the final whistle sounded. Chris Nolan, Doyle, and Fitzpatrick all added to their earlier tallies giving their side a nine-point win in the end.
Laois face Antrim in Laois Hire O’Moore Park next Saturday 25 April where it will be a do or die scenario for Tommy Fitzgerald and his side who will be looking to reach the final for the third consecutive year.
SCORERS:
Carlow: Marty Kavanagh 0-9 (fs), Chris Nolan 1-2, Fiachra Fitzpatrick and James Doyle 1-1 each, Conor Kehoe 1-0, Jack Treacy and Jon Nolan 0-2 each.
Laois: Aaron Dunphy 0-9 (0-6fs), Ben Conroy 1-2, Stephen Maher 0-4 (0-1f), David Dooley and Jack Kelly 0-1 each.
LAOIS: Cathal Dunne (Clough/Ballacolla); Ian Shanahan (Ballinakill), Lee Cleere (Clough/Ballacolla), Diarmaid Conway (Clough/Ballacolla); Ciaran McEvoy (Portlaoise), Podge Delaney (The Harps), Fiachra C Fennell (Rosenallis); David Dooley (Rosenallis), Aidan Corby (Clough/Ballacolla); Aaron Dunphy (Clough/Ballacolla), Jack Kelly (Rathdowney/Errill), Ryan Mullaney (Castletown); Ben Conroy (Slieve Bloom), Martin Phelan (Castletown), Tomas Keyes (Camross).
Subs: James Keyes (Colt-Shanahoe) for Cleere (ht) Stephen Maher (Clough/Ballacolla) for Phelan (ht), Gearoid Lynch (Ballinakill) for Kelly (55m), Cillian Dunne (Clough/Ballacolla) for Corby (59m), Mark Dowling (Camross) for Conroy (72m).
CARLOW: Brian Tracey; Paul Doyle, Dion Wall, Jack McCullagh; Fiach Ó Toole, Kevin McDonald, Fiachra Fitzpatrick; Jon Nolan, Ciaran Whelan; Jack Treacy, Martin Kavanagh, James Doyle; Donagh Murphy, Conor Kehoe, Chris Nolan.
Subs: Paddy Boland for Murphy (45m), John Michael Nolan for Kehoe (60m), Colm Beck for Kavanagh (70m), Richard Coady for J Nolan (73m), Ted Joyce for Treacy (74m).
Referee: Niall Malone (Clare)
