Laois pile pressure on neighbours
AFTER losing to Galway by 26 points last week, Offaly hurling sunk to another low last night as they finished with 13 men and suffered a six-point defeat to Leinster neighbours Laois.
A relegation battle with Kerry awaits.
Coming off the back of last week’s loss against Kerry, confidence wouldn’t have been too high in the Laois camp either and they got off to an awful start here. Offaly raced into a 1-2 to 0-0 lead after just two minutes, the goal coming when Oisín Kelly ghosted through.
But Laois settled into it soon enough and points from Stephen Maher and Cha Dwyer were followed quickly by a well-taken goal from Neil Foyle.
In a lively opening half the sides then traded scores for a while. But Laois began to build up a head of steam. They hit five points in a row including two lovely scores from Dwyer and one longrange effort from Willie Dunphy. Maher was also on target.
But the game’s biggest moment came when Cian Taylor — introduced early on for Matthew Whelan — was hacked down by Sean Gardiner. Referee Johnny Ryan issued a straight red card, Maher then added a couple of frees and at half time Laois led 1-12 to 1-8.
Laois got the first three points of the second half to stretch further clear and when Aidan Rigney got his marching orders it took all the mystery out of it. Laois eased home.
They face Limerick in two weeks, but for now at least they find themselves in a better place than their nearest neighbours. LAOIS: E Rowland; D Palmer, L Bergin, P Lawlor (S Downey 25); C Healy, M Whelan (C Taylor 23), R Mullaney; P Purcell (0-1), B Conroy (A Corby 60); S Maher, C Dwyer, P Whelan (0-1) (A Dunphy 45); W Dunphy, N Foyle, R King. Scorers — S Maher 0-12 (9f); C Dwyer 0-5; R King 0-3; W Dunphy, C Taylor 0-2; P Whelan, N Foyle 0-1. OFFALY: J Dempsey; M Cleary, C Doughan, B Conneely; S Ryan, D Short, S Gardiner; A Treacy, C Kiely; P Murphy (E Nolan 29), S Dooley, O Kelly; P Geraghty, S Cleary (P Delaney 47), J Mulrooney (E Grogan 47). Scorers — S Dooley 0-10 (10f); O Kelly 1-2; C Kiely 0-3; P Geraghty, S Cleary 0-2, P Delaney 0-1. Referee: J Ryan (Tipperary)