By Cóilín Duffy Galway 1-26 Laois 0-9 Joe Canning equalled the Laois tally of nine points as the Tribesmen put back-to-back victories in the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Qualifiers this afternoon, following a 20-point victory over Laois at Pearse Stadium. In mixed weather conditions, five of Galway's starting six forwards were on target but Tribesmen boss Ger Loughnane will be disappointed with certain aspects of his sides play on an afternoon which saw a positive display from the visitors, in particular their defence who rallied well to keep the Galway attack at bay. Laois certainly felt the pressure of the hosts eager attack, and under interim boss Niall Rigney the Midlanders faced an uphill challenge to bounce back from the turmoil of recent weeks which saw them lose to Offaly in the Leinster SHC. They subsequently lost their manager Damian Fox who departed following disappointing turnouts at training by his players. But this was a spirited performance by a Laois side who were keen to make up for those misgivings and with dual player Cahir Healy back on the starting fifteen, the O'Moore's came into this came confident of producing a respectable result. And they showed some confidence in this match, as the visitors only trailed by 0-4 to 0-2 after 12 minutes, with Noel Costello and John Rowney both taking points, while Ger Farragher, Damien Hayes, Alan Kerins and Andy Smyth took homeside scores. Indeed Laois were marshalling strongly at the back with Healy and Brian Campion performing strongly, and the O'Moore's rearguard continued to perform strongly throughout this contest, despite the eagerness of the Galway attack. Although he scored nine points in this game, it was a reasonably quiet encounter for Joe Canning, with the Portumna man held scoreless until the 24th minute, when his first point propelled the hosts into a 0-8 to 0-5 lead. Two quick points in succession from Iarla Tannion gave Galway a double scores lead by 0-10 to 0-5 after 25 minutes, but Laois weren't keen on lying down easily and particularly their roving forward John Brophy, who cut the deficit to four points within a minute. Brophy was also unfortunate not to breakthrough for the games first goal, when with the rain bearing down strongly he broke through and was unfortunate to be crowded out by two Galway defenders, as his chance went amiss. Midfielder Adrian Cullinane rifled home the only goal of the game in the 31st minute to give his side a 1-11 to 0-6 lead, but Galway failed to let up before the interval with points from Kerins, Canning and Cullinane ensuring an 11 point led at half-time. Cullinane's strike came following some excellent support play by Ger Farragher, and was one of the few occasions during the game in which Galway opened up the visitors defence. Laois would have certainly welcomed that half-time break, with Galway firing from all angles in the closing minutes of the first half, but any hopes of Laois staging a comeback on the restart were quickly dispelled as the Tribesmen continued where they let off in the opening minutes of the second half. Points from Smith and Hayes, along with a trio of Joe Canning points left the score a 1-19 to 0-6, within 15 minutes of the restart; with Laois held scoreless during the third quarter. It was Laois' best forward John Brophy who gave the visitors their first point of the second half in the 18th minute, with his third score of the contest. Brophy, Willie Hyland and full-forward Eoin Holohan kept Laois in touch with points, with 15 points separating the sides with as many minutes remaining in this game. However this was as good as it got for the visitors as the hosts once again performed strongly in attack. Galway continued to pile on the pressure and the in-rushing Canning had a firm chance to put the game beyond Laois' reach with a 58th minute goal effort. However the Portumna ace had to watch his shot come off the upright, and go wide of the target after some strong pressure by the Laois defence. Galway pulled away at the finish, outscoring Laois by five points to no score in the closing 12 minutes to ensure a comfortable 20 point win. Galway - J Skehill; D Joyce, F Moore, O Canning; S Kavanagh, J Lee, D Forde; A Cullinane (1-2), A Smith (0-2); A Kerins (0-3), C Donnellan, I Tannian (0-2); D Hayes (0-4), G Farragher (0-4, 2f), J Canning (0-9, 4f). Subs: N Healy for Donnellan (27); C Dervan for Moore (34);K Wade for Healy (40); F Healy for Kearns (48); R Murray for Smith (62) Laois - P Mullaney; J A Delaney, B Campion, D Maher; C Healy, James Walsh, J Phelan; C Delaney, C Coonan; J Rowney (0-1), J Brophy (0-3), N Costello (0-3, 3f); N Holmes, E Holohan (0-1), W Hyland (0-1). Subs: M McEvoy for Rowney (44); E Browne for Coonan (64). Ref - James McGrath (Westmeath) Tweet

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