Carlow 0-12
Laois 3-13
LAOIS ARE INTO Round 2 of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship after a convincing win over Carlow at Dr Cullen Park.
For the first time in the history of the GAA, a senior inter-country game was played on a Friday night with 4,606 turning up to be a part of history.
Carlow had lost out to Westmeath back in May while Laois were coming into tonight after suffering defeat at the hands of Louth in Round 1.
And with a strong wind behind them in the first half, it was the Barrowsiders who started promisingly and scored the opening four points without reply – two from Jack Kennedy and one each from Brian Murphy and Darragh Foley.
Ross Munnelly got Laois off the mark on nine minutes but the O’Moore County men trailed by five points until the first goal of the game arrived. Ballyroan Abbey clubman Padraig McMahon picked up the ball and ran some 70 yards out before rifling past Trevor O’Reilly.
Munnelly then sent over a free for his second point and the score at half-time read: Carlow 0-8 Laois 1-4.
Darren Strong was the first name on the scoresheet after the restart and Laois began to take control when they found the back of the net for a second time thanks to David Conway on 37 minutes.
Carlow tried to claw their way back and found a score through Jack Kennedy but Laois responded with a couple of frees from Donie Kingston.
Justin McNulty men’s were beginning to find a lot of space in the Carlow back-line and added a third goal to secure the result – substitute Colm Kelly fisting home on 65 minutes. They now go into Monday’s draw for the next round.
CARLOW: Trevor O’Reilly; Barry John Molloy, Conor Lawlor, Benny Kavanagh; Kieran Nolan, Shane Redmond, Tony Bolger; John Murphy, Darragh Foley; Paul Reid, Eoghan Ruth, Sean Gannon; Brian Murphy, Jack Kennedy, Brendan Murphy.
LAOIS: Eoin Culliton; Paul Begley, Mark Timmons, Peter O’Leary; Darren Strong, Kieran Lillis, Padraig McMahon; John O’Loughlin, Padraig Clancy; Billy Sheehan, Conor Meredith, Colm Begley; Ross Munnelly, Donal Kingston, David Conway.
Referee: Fergal Kelly (Longford)
