Laois jumped over Offaly on the Division 1B league table with a battling 1-17 to 2-13 success at Portlaoise. The match was close throughout, though Laois did have the better of it and led for the most part to hand manager Damien Fox a victory over his native county. Eoin Holohan opened the scoring for the O'Moore County and David Franks equalised before a brace of James Young frees put Laois two points ahead. It was an advantage they would hold onto stubbornly to the very end. Young and James Keenan added to the hosts' tally before Franks pulled one back for the Faithful County. Holohan had a goal for Laois, who stormed ahead, but Offaly came back into it with scores from Joe Bergin and James Rigney before Ger Oakley got the goal that had them in touch at the break, 1-10 to 1-6. The match remained very tight throughout the second half and there were two points between the sides for much of that period, with scores proving hard to come by. Brian Carroll, James Young and Oakley were amongst the scorers. Tommy Fitzgerald almost got a Laois goal but was denied and Oakley saw a shot come back off the crossbar. Shane Dooley closed the gap to one point in the last minute but the sides then swapped points and Laois held on for a very important and sweet success. Tweet

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