Second defeat pushes Laois into a preliminary quarter-final
Jer Quinlan scored six points against Offaly this afternoon but it was not enough to secure a win Photo: INPHO/Ken Sutton
Offaly 1-25
Laois 0-14
LAOIS suffered a second consecutive defeat in Group 3 of the Leinster U/20 Hurling Championship after Offaly proved to be far too strong in O'Connor Park, Tullamore, this afternoon.
The home side led by seven points at half time and extended that lead after the break; Laois hit a bit of a stride midway through the second half and began to eat into the Offaly lead, but a red card in the 50th minute put the game to bed.
Offaly's prize for the win is a place in the Leinster quarter-finals, while Laois must contend with a preliminary quarter-final against Kildare. Laois were in action two weeks ago where they were beaten 1-28 to 0-8 by Galway, with the Connacht side guaranteeing themselves a spot in the semi-finals with a 4-17 to 0-19 win over Offaly last week.
The game started at a million miles an hour with Laois scoring twice in the opening 60 seconds thanks to a free from Jer Quinlan and an instant second from play from Cian Hill. But the sides were level at 0-3 apiece inside five minutes after Shane Rigney, Donal Shirly and Adam Screeney all pointed for Offaly before Rick Bannon equalised.
Offaly got their noses in front through Patrick Lyons and a Screeney free, leading by two points after ten exciting minutes. Quinlan pointed a free for Laois but the hosts replied with a pair of scores from Brecon Kavanagh and a beauty from Lyons as Offaly steadily built on their lead.
Another free from Quinland left Laois trailing 0-9 to 0-6 with 20 minutes played, but Offaly were incredibly efficient in the closing ten minutes where they scored the final four points of the half, including two Screeney frees and one each from play from Rigney and Eoin Bailey-O’Brien, to lead 0-13 to 0-9 at the interval.
Laois had plenty of possession in the first half but could not make the ball work for them. A lack of discipline at both ends of the field cost Derek Delaney's side dearly in the first half, with Offaly in command at the break.
It was more of the same after the restart with Offaly scoring five points in the first ten minutes compared to just one Laois score through Quinlan's first white flag from play. Rigney, who was a thorn in Laois’s side all afternoon, scored two points – one either side of a triple score from Screeney who fointed a free, a 65 and another from play.
That pushed the home side 11 points in front approaching the midway point of the second half. Laois finally managed to get on top for a time, landing three scores without reply thanks to a pair of substitutes, with two from Justin Duggan - who came on at half time - and one from Jack Breen with his very first touch of the ball.
A 65 from Quinlan left seven between the sides with ten minutes remaining, before the game was put to bed - not with a score, but with a second yellow card for Ruaidhri Kavanagh. The visitors had gotten themselves back to within seven points and were starting to pile on the pressure, but the red card to Kavanagh meant Laois would have to see out the game with 14 men, making the task insurmountable at that stage.
Offaly were rampant after that, outscoring Laois by 1-6 to 0-2 in the final passage of the game, with the goal from Conor Egan helping his side to run out 14-point winners.
SCORERS:
Offaly: Adam Screeney (0-5fs, 0-1 65) and Patrick Lyons (0-1f) 0-7 each, Shane Rigney 0-5, Conor Egan 1-0, Donal Shirley, Brecon Kavanagh, Niall Furlong, Leigh Kavanagh, Darragh Scully and Eoin Bailey-O'Brien 0-1 each.
Laois: Jer Quinlan 0-6 (0-5fs, 0-1 65), Rick Bannon and Justin Duggan 0-2 each, Cian Hill, Cormac Byrne, Jack Breen and Ben Deegan 0-1 each..
OFFALY: Liam Hoare; Ruari Kelly, Andrew Hogan, James Mahon; Donal Shirley, Brecon Kavanagh, James O'Sullivan; Leigh Kavanagh, Niall Furlong; Shane Rigney, Eoin Bailey-O'Brien, Conor Doyle; Patrick Lyons, Cathal Robinson, Adam Screeney.
Subs: Darragh Scully for Screeney (41m), Conor Egan for Robinson (45m), Shane Connolly for Bailey-O'Brien (55m), Ajay Cleary for Shirley (57m), Gearoid Maher for B. Kavanagh (59m).
LAOIS: Brochan O’Reilly (Portlaoise); Cian Hill (Mountrath), Ciaran Flynn (The Harps), Oran Gorman (Rosenallis); Cormac Hogan (Clough-Ballacolla), Tom Cuddy (Camross), Joseph Pearson (Clough-Ballacolla); Eoghan Cuddy (Camross), Kevin Byrne (Camross); Ruaidhri Kavanagh (Trumera), Jer Quinlan (Borris-Kilcotton), Evan Cassin (Clough-Ballacolla); Rick Bannon (Camross), Ross Deegan (The Harps), Cormac Byrne (Abbeyleix).
Subs: Justin Duggan (The Harps) for Cassin (ht), Jack Breen (Castletown) for K. Byrne (45m), Ben Deegan (Camross) for Pearson (54m), Ryan Peters (Castletown) for Bannon (59m).
Referee: James McGrath (Westmeath)
