Laois gave themselves a big lift ahead of their NFL opener against Mayo next weekend when they routed Wexford in the O'Byrne Shield final at Wexford Park yesterday.

Laois 1-15
Wexford 1-6

If anything, the home side were flattered to be just nine points adrift at the final whistle such was Laois' dominance. It wasn't until the 68th minute before a Wexford player other than Ben Brosnan pointed from play as the visitors dominated from start to finish.

Brosnan opened the scoring from a free inside in the first minute, but it was the only time that Wexford led. Paul Cahillane's goal put Laois in the driving seat and they extended their lead through points from the impressive David Conway before Wexford got themselves back into it when Paddy Byrne palmed a Brosnan free to the net.

However, the O'Moore County finished the half with points from Peter O'Leary and Damien O'Connor to lead by 1-9 to 1-3 at the interval.

The visitors continued to dominate in the second half when Damien O'Connor, Darren Strong, Ross Munnelly, John O'Loughlin and Damien O'Connor all found the target to ensure a facile win.

SCORERS - Laois: D Conway 0-5 (2f), P Cahillane 1-0, R Munnelly (2f), D O'Connor 0-2 each, C Boyle, P O'Leary, D Strong, J O'Loughlin, P Clancy (1f), S O'Leary 0-1 each Wexford: B Brosnan 0-5 (3f), P Byrne 1-0, C Lyng 0-1.

Laois - E Culliton; C Healy, K Lillis, P O'Leary; D Strong, S Julian, C Boyle; J O'Loughlin, B Quigley; R Munnelly, K Meaney, D O'Connor; P Cahillane, P Clancy, D Conway Subs: C Begley for Quigley (48), Colm Kelly for Cahillane (55), B Mulligan for Boyle (56), MJ Tierney for Conway (63), S O'Leary for O'Connor (65).

Wexford - A Masterson; T Hayden, G Molloy, A Shore; D Murphy, B Malone, A Doyle; D Waters, R Quinlivan; B Brosnan, S Roche, E Bradley; K O'Grady, J Holmes, P Byrne Subs: B Mulligan for Hayden (30), R Barry for S Roche (30), P Kellly for O'Grady (30), A Shore for Waters (51), C Lyng for Bradley (55).

Ref - F Barry (Kildare). Tweet

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