Laois 1-22
Carlow 0-14

Laois made it two wins from two in the Leinster SHC round-robin series after cruising to victory over 14-man Carlow at O'Moore Park.

The O'Moore men were never troubled in a disappointing local derby clash and will join Antrim in the Leinster SHC quarter-finals if they can beat London in Ruislip next weekend. Carlow will play Westmeath next, but they cannot qualify after defeats to Antrim and Laois, and a fortuitous draw with London in the first round.

With Stephen 'Picky' Maher posting 0-12, Seamus Plunkett's men led from start to finish. It was 0-14 to 0-8 at the break and when veteran Tommy Fitzgerald raised the only green flag 11 minutes after the restart, it was all over bar the shouting.

The Barrowsiders, who were heavily reliant on free-taker Denis Murphy for scores, never really competed and their misery was compounded by the sending off of Hugh Paddy O'Byrne with two minutes remaining.

The home side, who brought John A Delaney, Tom Delaney and Cha Dwyer into their starting line-up in place of Darren Maher, Conor Dunne and John Purcell, opened the scoring through Willie Hyland, who picked up from where he left off against Westmeath last weekend. Free-taker Stephen 'Picky' Maher then scored three-in-a-row to leave Laois perched on a 0-4 to 0-0 lead after 10 minutes.

Denis Murphy got Carlow's first score from a free in the 13th minute, but the O'Moore County continued to hold the whip hand as further points from Maher and Dwayne Palmer extended their lead to five points, 0-7 to 0-2, by the 20th minute.

The visitors closed the gap to 0-6 to 0-8 by the 26th minute thanks to efforts from Murphy, Marty Kavanagh and Andrew Gaule, only for Laois to restore their four-point advantage through points from Neil Foyle and Maher.

Maher brought his tally to 0-8 before the interval, while Patrick Whelan also raised a white flag to give the hosts a six-point cushion at the short whistle.

Laois stretched their lead on the restart with points from Roddy King and Maher before Willie Hyland teed up Tommy Fitzgerald for a 46th minute goal to make it 1-16 to 0-10 and end the game as a contest.

It was 1-18 to 0-11 after 55 minutes before points from Murphy and substitute Diarmuid Byrne narrowed the gap. But Laois hit back with scores from Maher and John Brophy and Carlow finished the game with 14 men after O'Byrne was given his marching orders.

Laois - E Reilly; J A Delaney, B Campion, B Stapleton; J Fitzpatrick, M Whelan, T Delaney; D Palmer (0-1), P Whelan (0-1); S Maher (0-12, 8f), C Dwyer (0-2), W Hyland (0-2); T Fitzgerald (1-0), R King (0-2), N Foyle (0-1). Subs: J Campion for T Delaney, J Brophy (0-1) for C Dwyer, B Reddin for T Fitzgerald, C Dunne for R King, D Maher for J A Delaney.

Carlow - B Treacy; G Kelly, P Doyle, A Corcoran; H P O'Byrne, D English, R Coady; J Kavanagh, C Wall (0-1); J Doyle, S Kavanagh, P Coady; M Kavanagh (0-1), A Gaule (0-1), D Murphy (0-10, 9f). Subs: D Byrne (0-1) for P Doyle, S Murphy for J Doyle, P Kehoe for J Kavanagh, D Roberts for C Wall, C Lawlor for P Coady.

Referee - C Browne. Tweet

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