Eamonn Kelly cut a relieved figure after his Laois side were almost caught by Westmeath in the closing stages of their Leinster SHC round-robin first round clash at O'Moore Park.

The home side were left hanging on for a 1-23 to 2-17 victory after conceding two late goals and Kelly told Midlands 103: "They brought it right down to the wire at the finish. The same thing happened against Kerry (in the Allianz League Division 1B relegation playoff). We're leaving the door open and that's something we're going to have to learn from because the stakes are getting higher and we can't afford to be doing that."

Kelly praised his players for upping their game in the second half after they fortunate to go into the break on level terms.

"The only part we could be happy with at half-time was the scoreboard. The performance was shocking," he said.

"We were very flat, we weren't coming on to breaks. Our forwards weren't working hard enough. We spoke about it at half-time - if this was the end of the game, how would we feel about a performance like that?

"They upped it a bit in the second half. In the middle third we pushed on with five or six points, but you have to give credit to Westmeath. They stuck to their task and brought it right down to the end."  

 

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