Strong first half fires Laois to Leinster glory 

Laois 3-9 

Westmeath 0-11 

LAOIS minor ladies have been crowned Leinster 'B' champions, retaining their crown after running out seven-point winners against Westmeath in Athy on Sunday afternoon.

Laois were on top from start to finish but a very strong first half proved the real difference as they were seven points up at half time. Although, Westmeath rallied for the start of the second half they just couldn’t pull the deficit back.

There were heroic performances all over the field with everyone contributing to the success in what was another fantastic day for this group of players.

Laois nearly got off to a dream start with Aideen Gee who ran and ran all day came close to getting a goal, but her effort went narrowly wide.

It was Westmeath that got the scoreboard up and running through a free from the brilliant Katie Kilmurray.

The Laois response was a good one with Cara English drawing the game level. They then got a penalty after Mia Branagan got fouled - she then stepped up and slotted it into the back of the net to give Laois the lead which they never relinquished.

Gee followed up the penalty with another point for Laois. Kilmurray would kick two frees in a row in the 18th and 19th minute and that was to be their last score of the half.

Laois finished the half like a train and would hit four unanswered points through Niamh Dundon and Lucie O'Reilly both getting braces while Mary O'Hara.

It could have been a whole lot better to as Cara English was fouled for a penalty, but Branagan's effort was saved to leave the scores at 1-7 to 0-3 at the break.

Westmeath came out from the break with a renewed energy and kicked the first three points through Kilmurray with two and Orla Collins got the other one to reduce the gap to four points.

The momentum had now shifted to the Westmeath side as they tried to mount a comeback. All that momentum was killed after Laois broke through the defence and Niamh Dundon scored a super goal which undid the fast start from Westmeath.

Westmeath then kicked two more points through Shannon Breslin and Eleanor Corcoran to keep their quest alive.

Mary O'Hara was then showed a yellow card in the 41st minute for a high tackle on Amelie Henson in the 41st minute. Westmeath weren't able to make the numerical advantage count as Laois outscored them 1-2 to 0-3.

Both teams traded scores on two occasions with O'Reilly hitting a brace of points for Laois while Kilmurray also landed a brace of frees.

Laois would then add a third goal through a brilliant goal soccer style from Mia Branagan and that ultimately broke the Westmeath hearts and finished the game as a contest.

Westmeath did battle away and got another point from Kilmurray, but it didn't matter as Laois were crowned Leinster champions.

SCORERS:

Laois: Mia Branagan 2-0 (1-0 pen), Niamh Dundon 1-2, Lucie O'Reilly 0-4 (0-2fs), Aideen Gee and Cara English 0-1 each.

Westmeath: Katie Kilmurray 0-8 (0-6fs), Orla Collins, Shannon Breslin and Eleanor Corcoran 0-1 each.

LAOIS: Abi Swift (St Paul's); Aine Carter (Ballyroan), Katie O'Reilly (St Brigid's), Sarah McDonald (Portlaoise); Niamh Kehoe (Timahoe), Clodagh Fingleton (Park Ratheniska), Mary O'Hara (Park Ratheniska); Lara Culleton (Portlaoise), Poppy Duff (Park Ratheniska); Cara English (Killeshin), Niamh Dundon (Timahoe), Kaylah O'Mara (Ballyroan); Aideen Gee (Ballyroan), Lucie O'Reilly (St Brigid's), Mia Branagan (Graiguecullen.

Subs: Sarah Hibbitts (Sarsfields) for Gee (51m), Niamh Ryan (St Joseph's) for English (58m), Freya Jones (Crettyard) for Fingleton (60m).

WESTMEATH: Kiera Kelly; Rebecca Ward, Eimear Doonan, Aoibheann Berry; Aine Bracken, Jayne Charles, Erika Higgins; Orla Collins, Eleanor Corcoran; Chloe Malone, Katie Kilmurray, Amelie Henson; Evie Kilmurray, Shannon Breslin, Alex Kelly.

Subs: Aoife Murphy for Kelly (24m), Grace Shortall for Berry (28m).