Offaly beat neighbours Laois by 1-24 to 0-23 in an exhilarating contest at O'Moore Park.

Shane Dooley was the difference between the teams at the final whistle, contributing a whopping 1-14 to the winning tally. But the hosts, who played the last 20 minutes with 14 men after Tom Delaney picked up a straight red card for interfering with an opponent's helmet, gave as good as they got for most of the match.

Zane Keenan notched ten points for Seamus Plunkett's charges and also saw two late penalties blocked on the goal line as the 14 men threw everything at their opponents. Cha Dwyer was heroic for the losers, too, registering six superb points from play.

Late points from Keenan (2) and Dwyer had the O'Moore County in touch at the short whistle, 0-14 to 0-11. Prior to that, the winners hit four in a row and six points out of seven to move into a commanding six-point lead.

Just a point separated the sides after 20 minutes, Offaly leading by the odd point from 15 after Keenan had earned and converted a Laois free. The hosts had led by 0-6 to 0-4 before Dooley (2), Joe Bergin and Paddy Murphy hit four in quick succession for the Faithful County.

Neil Foyle, Willie Hyland, Dwyer and Keenan were all prominent early on as the home team started purposefully. This was a high-energy match from start to finish and it could really have gone either way. In the end, Dooley's incredible accuracy decided it.

The Offaly sharpshooter's goal upon the restart, when he caught the Laois rearguard unaware by opting to go for the net from a long-range free, summed up his incredible night. Offaly moved seven points clear, 1-17 to 0-13, but Laois twice pegged them back to two points as both sets of players gave of their all in an unforgettable contest.

Offaly - J Dempsey; P Camon, D Shortt, S Egan; E Nolan, C Egan, D Mooney; N Wynne, S Ryan (0-2); D Currams, S Kinsella (0-3), P Murphy (0-2); S Dooley (1-14, 1-10f), J Bergin (0-2), S Quirke. Subs: C Kiely (0-1) for P Camon, S Cleary for S Kinsella, G Mann for S Ryan, C Mulrooney for P Murphy.

Laois - E Rowland; B Stapleton, C Healy, J A Delaney; J Fitzpatrick, M Whelan, T Delaney; P Purcell (0-1), J Campion (0-1); C Dwyer (0-6), W Hyland (0-3), Z Keenan (0-10, 7f, 1'65); T Fitzgerald, R King, N Foyle (0-2). Subs: S Maher for N Foyle, PJ Scully for J Campion, D Palmer for T Fitzgerald, B Conroy for R King.

Referee - A Kelly.

Tweet

Most Read Stories