Laois power past Sligo to claim first league win

Laois 0-18 

Sligo 1-8 

Laois secured their first victory of this year’s Allianz Football League Division 3 campaign with a seven-point win over Sligo in Portlaoise on Saturday evening.

Sleet showers swept across O’Moore Park on Saturday night, with flurries visible under the floodlights as Laois chased their first league win having suffered defeat to Wexford last time out and drawing to Limerick in their league opener.

Playing into a gale-force blowing from the Abbeyleix end, Sligo made the sharper start and were three points clear inside six minutes. Pat Spillane, Canice Mulligan and Jack Lavin all found the target before Laois settled. From there, however, the hosts seized control and aided by the wind, reeled off 12 unanswered points.

Rioghan Murphy opened Laois’ account in the seventh minute with a two-pointer that immediately reduced the gap to one. Darragh Galvin followed up with a point and then won the free that Evan O’Carroll converted to edge Laois in front. O’Carroll then threatened a goal, but his effort was kept out by Aidan Devaney. Galvin added his second point before O’Carroll struck again from distance for a second Laois two-pointer.

Murphy kept the scoreboard ticking over and captain Brian Byrne also split the posts from outside the arc for a third two-point effort, stretching Laois’ advantage to 0-10 to 0-3 by the 21st minute. Murphy brought his first-half tally to four points after seeing his initial attempt blocked, while Galvin pointed his third of the half. Mikie Dempsey came close to scoring a goal when he flicked an O’Carroll shot goalwards, but the ball rebounded off the post.

Sligo responded clinically almost immediately. A slip in the Laois defence allowed Luke Casserly in for a straightforward finish past Killian Roche. Just before the interval, Laois were handed a chance to strike for goal themselves when Murphy was fouled in the square, but O’Carroll’s penalty came back off the upright and went wide. At the sounding of the hooter, Laois led 0-12 to 1-3.

The third quarter was slow to ignite, with eight minutes passing before Mulligan hand-passed over the first score of the half. Kevin Swayne nearly grabbed a Laois goal, only for Devaney to deny him with a sharp save. Lavin then converted from outside the arc, trimming the margin to three. Murphy eventually opened Laois’ second-half account in the 47th minute.

Substitute Joshua Flynn kept Sligo within touching distance with a point, but Laois responded impressively despite facing into the wind. Four successive points restored control. O’Carroll capitalised on a Sligo infringement of the three-up rule when referee Thomas Murphy played advantage, and he followed up moments later by converting the resulting free after a second breach by the Sligo forwards.

Both Murphy and O’Carroll finished with six points apiece, each adding another late score. Niall Murphy slotted a free for Sligo before Paul Kingston replied at the other end to round off the scoring.

In the end, Laois ran out seven-point winners, producing a dominant display from the seventh minute onward. Their attention now turns to an away trip to Ennis, where they face Clare on Sunday next at 2pm.

SCORERS:

Laois: Rioghan Murphy (1tp, 0-1f) and Evan O’Carroll (1tp, 0-2fs) 0-6 each, Darragh Galvin 0-3, Brian Byrne 0-2 (1tp), Paul Kingston 0-1.

Sligo: Luke Casserly 1-0, Jack Lavin 0-3 (1tp), Canice Mulligan 0-2, Niall Murphy (f), Joshua Flynn and Pat Spillane 0-1 each.

LAOIS: Killian Roche (Killeshin); Ben Dempsey (Portlaoise), Trevor Collins (Graiguecullen), Jack Lacey (St Joseph's); Paddy O’Sullivan (Portarlington), Simon Fingleton (Park/Ratheniska), Kevin Swayne (Portlaoise); Rob Tyrrell (Courtwood), Conor Heffernan (Killeshin); Mikie Dempsey (St Joseph's), Brian Byrne (Graiguecullen), Josh Hogan (Portlaoise); Rioghan Murphy (Portarlington), Daragh Galvin (Portarlington), Evan O’Carroll (Crettyard).

Subs: Darren Brennan (Portlaoise) for Hogan (40m), Paul Kingston (Arles Killeen) for M Dempsey (47m), Jake Darcy (Annanough) for Lacey (55m), Ciaran Burke (Crettyard) for Tyrrell (68m), Alex Mohan (Portarlington) for B Dempsey (70m).

SLIGO: Aidan Devaney; Tommy Ross, Evan Lyons, Luke Casserly; Ross Doherty, Paul Kilcoyne, Jack Lavin; Canice Mulligan, Luke Towey; James Donlon, Niall Murphy, Cian Lally; Alan McLoughlin, Lee Deignan, Pat Spillane.

Subs: Conor Sheridan for Kilcoyne (h/t), Joshua Flynn for McLoughlin (43m), Dillon Walsh for Spillane and Patrick O'Connor for Doherty (Both 47m), David Quinn for Deignan (54m).

Referee: Thomas Murphy (Galway)