Offaly 0-21

Laois 0-13

Adam Screeney scored 0-10 and captain Dan Ravenhill shot 0-3 as Offaly bridged a 22-year gap with an impressive victory over neighbours Laois in last night’s Leinster MHC final.

An official attendance of 12,487 flocked to MW Hire O’Moore Park for the historic local derby which the visitors always looked like winning after points from outstanding half back Ter Guinan, free-taker Screeney and Man of the Match Cillian Martin gave them a 0-6 to 0-3 lead after 12 minutes against the wind.

Laois, who had shocked both Wexford and Kilkenny after losing to Offaly in the round-robin series, rallied with scores from Ben Deegan and Jer Quinlan to leave them trailing by 0-7 to 0-9 at half-time.

Making good use of the wind, Offaly went five clear after the restart thanks to two long-range efforts from Ravenhill and another from midfielder Leigh Kavanagh.

Deegan and Cormac Byrne replied for the hosts, but they couldn’t get any closer than three points as Offaly – whose half back line was immense – pulled away down the home straight with points from Donal Shirley, Shane Rigney, Conor Doyle, Cathal Robinson, Screeney and Ravenhill.

Leo O’Connor’s charges are straight through to the All-Ireland semi-finals after this win, while Laois join Clare and Galway in an All-Ireland round-robin series.

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