Laois could not have hoped for a better conclusion to their Division 2 league campaign

LAOIS 3-18 

KERRY 0-13 

LAOIS couldn’t have hoped for a better National Hurling League Division 2 campaign having won six from six in the league portion of the competition before capping it off with an emphatic 14-point victory over Kerry in Laois Hire O’Moore Park on Saturday afternoon.

Topping the division meant that Laois were awarded with a home fixture for the main event, a final which they most recently won in 2024 against Carlow in Dr Cullen Park.

Kerry made the trip to Portlaoise in Round 4 of this year’s competition and it took a last gasp point from Cormac Byrne for Laois to get over the line against 13 men in horrific conditions, but Saturdays’ victory was world’s apart from that game.

If a criticism could be found in Laois’s game over recent months it’s the lack of chances at goals, but that has been rectified it appears as they were rampant against London last week and that carried over against Kerry as they peppered Portlaoise native Conor Bohane with shots and within the opening five minutes they had raised two green flags.

A gale force breeze blew to Kerry’s advantage into the Abbeyleix end for the first half, but the Munster men failed to make full use of it and Laois held a nine point victory at half time after some devastating attacks along with outstanding defensive work.

Backs are rarely lauded, and corner backs even less so, but Ian Shanahn was impervious for the game and won a massive amount of duels along with some last stitch tackles which allowed the likes of Podge Delaney and Lee Cleere to clear the lines for the hosts.

With such a lead built up by half time and Laois having the wind after the restart, the second half felt like somewhat of a formality with Kerry barely able to land a glove on the hosts for the remainder of the game.

The visitors did get the opening point but Laois hit back straight away when Ryan Mullaney’s blocked effort landed in the path of Tomas Keyes who raced in from the left and expertly batted into the net.

Just minutes later Mullaney was involved again when he won a long free in from Podge Delaney and handed out to Cillian Dunne to bury into the net from the 21 metre line.

Jordan Brick landed one back for Kerry but Laois were rampaging as Keyes was fouled en-route to goal and Aaron Dunphy pointed the free before Keyes struck sweetly from play and soon added another.

The pressure continued with two excellent scores from Dunphy and Jack Kelly either side of a reply from Brick before Kerry hit two in a row through Michael Leane and Michael Slattery.

Another placed ball from Dunphy and a fine score from midfield by Aidan Corby were matched by a Ronan Walsh brace at the other end approaching half time.

However, Laois upped the ante further in the final five minutes with two Dunphy scores alongside an excellent effort from Cody Comerford after a big run up the field made it 2-11 to 0-8 at half time.

After the restart Kerry struggled against the breeze with three missed frees from Walsh in quick succession, and Dunphy didn’t have the same struggles as he slotted over a quick brace.

The game was truly ended as a contest when Fiachra C Fennell fired in a searching ball from range and Bohane misread the flight of the ball as he failed to catch in and it dropped over the line for Laois’s third goal.

Liam Og O’Connor took over the free taking duties for Kerry and slotted a nice brace but the jig was up and Dunphy cancelled those out with his own efforts as Laois emptied the bench.

Ben Conroy struck from the bench and captain David Dooley got in on the act before full time for cap off a dominant win for the O’Moore men.

SCORERS:

Laois: Aaron Dunphy 0-11 (0-7fs), Tomas Keyes 1-2, Fiachra C-Fennell and Cillian Dunne 1-0 each, Cody Comerford, Ben Conroy, David Dooley, Jack Kelly and Aidan Corby 0-1 each.

Kerry: Liam Og O’Connor 0-4 (0-3fs), Ronan Walsh 0-3 (0-2fs), Jordan Brick 0-2, Michael Leane, Tom Doyle, Michael Slattery and Padraig Boyle 0-1 each.

LAOIS: Cathal Dunne; Ian Shanahan, Lee Cleere, Cody Comerford; Ciaran McEvoy, Podge Delaney, Fiachra C-Fennell; David Dooley, Aidan Corby; James Keyes, Jack Kelly, Ryan Mullaney; Cillian Dunne, Aaron Dunphy, Tomas Keyes.

Subs: Ben Conroy for J Keyes (49m), Martin Phelan for Dunne (50), Gearoid Lynch for Kelly (55), Cormac Byrne for Corby (62m), Diarmaid Conway for Shanahan (65m), Luke Rochford for Brick (69m).

KERRY: Conor Bohane; Eric Leen, Sean McGrath, Kyle O’Connor; James O’Connor, Jason Diggins, Michael Leane; Kevin Goulding, Ronan Walsh; Tom Doyle, Colin Walsh, Jordan Brick; Liam Og Connor, Daniel Casey, Michael Slatter Subs: Adam Segal for Goulding (39m), Ivan Conway for R Walsh (55m), Padraig Boyle for Slattery (55m), Evan Murphy for Diggins (63m).

Referee: Niall Malone (Clare)