Laois 1-10

Armagh 0-10

A gritty second-half display proved just enough as Laois defeated Armagh in front of a small attendance at O'Moore Park to advance into the second round of the All-Ireland SFC qualifiers.

Late points from substitutes Jamie Farrell and Ross Munnelly secured victory for Mick Lillis's side as they held off the Orchard men's late surge, which ended up being in vain as they'd only manage three points to their opponents' 0-6 throughout the entire second period.

Conor Meredith's superbly struck goal was the highlight of a fairly drab opening half that was littered by missed chances from both sides, as they went in at the break all square, having been level five times in the opening 35 minutes.

Laois started with more purpose in the second-half though and their talisman Donie Kingston helped them pull away into a three-point lead which Armagh, who made six changes from the defeat to Cavan, would never close and that ultimately resulted in their exit from the championship this afternoon.

Laois marksman Paul Cahillane had side off the mark inside two minutes with a nicely converted free before Mark Shields managed to work some space at the far end and send over the visitors' first on eight minutes.

Kingston introduced himself to the game with a placed ball from close range to push the O'Moore men back in front, but Armagh were enjoying more profit from open play as the game passed the 10-minute mark.

Rory Grugan brought them level for a second time from his centre-forward station and when their big man inside Niall Grimley did well to earn a free Campbell put them in front for the first time on 12 minutes.

Those three points for the visitors would be done away with in an instant four minutes later however, as Meredith exposed an opportunity by cutting in from the left flank to leave Ciaran McKeever for dead and smash a splendid finish past Patrick Morrison into the far corner of the Orchard goal.

Two Campbell frees were the response for Kieran McGeeney's side and they should have taken back the lead but for some poor shooting/shot selection during a dominant seven-minute spell.

Instead Brendan Quigley, who would be awarded the  'Man of the Match' award after, located Darren Strong in yards of space with a quickly taken free and the wing back stroked over for the home side's third point.

Aidan Forker hit back at the other end in similar fashion before giving away a needless free a minute later which saw Kingston raise his second white flag of the afternoon.

Forker was in the thick of the action again when he saw a goal chance well saved by Graham Brody, which would have dealt Laois a hammer blow three minutes from the break, but the Ulster men would have to settle for a point instead after Grugan found an unmarked Micheál McKenna in front of goal and the corner-forward fisted over to close the half with the sides even - 1-4 to 0-7.

Lillis's men dominated the scoring stakes for 15 minutes after half-time, with Kingston (free) and David Conway ushering them two in front before the former pointed from an acute angle after having possession carried to him by Meredith.

McKenna ended a scoring drought that very nearly spanned 20 minutes for Armagh but he had his second point of the day cancelled out by Gary Walsh, who came off the bench to strike a 50-metre free, giving Lillis and his management team some food for thought in the process.

Armagh's eventual surge saw them close the gap to one through Grugan (free) and sub Joe Feeney with eight minutes left on the clock, during which time their opponents defended the majority of with 15 behind the ball and Quigley, Mark Timmons and Stephen Attride were the real shining stars for the O'Moore men during that late and nervy period.

Substitute Farrell popped up with a brilliant point to relieve the pressure a bit for the hosts and when McGeeney's charges couldn't come up with an accurate response veteran Munnelly was called up to seal the deal, which he dually did, clipping the insurance point over off the inside of the post to help extend the O'Moore County's season. 

Laois - G Brody; S Attride, M Timmons, G Hanrahan; D Strong (0-1), K Lillis, D O'Connor; B Quigley, K Meaney; N Donoher, P Cahillane (0-1f), C Begley; C Meredith (1-0), D Kingston (0-4, 3f), D Conway (0-1). Subs: A Farrell for D Strong, J Farrell (0-1) for K Meaney, M Campion for N Donoher, R Munnelly (0-1) for D Conway, G Walsh (0-1f) for P Cahillane, G Dillon for C Meredith, S Murphy for B Quigley (BC).

Armagh - P Morrison; S Heffron, B Donaghy, J McElroy; A Mallon, M Shields (0-1), C McKeever; C Vernon, A Findon; T Kernan, R Grugan (0-2, 1f), A Forker (0-1); M McKenna (0-2), S Campbell (0-3f), N Grimley. Subs: J Morgan for M Shields, J Feeney (0-1) for A Forker, G McParland for N Grimley, J Hall for T Kernan, T Kernan for M McKenna.

Referee - A Nolan.

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