Laois 3-12
Fermanagh 1-11

Laois produced an epic comeback to down Fermanagh at Brewster Park this afternoon and salvage their Allianz Football League Division 2 status.

The O’Moore men struck a remarkable 3-3 in the closing 10 minutes in Enniskllen to rescue victory and effectively relegate Cavan in the process after the Breffni men lost out to division winners Roscommon this afternoon.

It was an already relegated Fermanagh side that had led at the end of a low-scoring first-half, with points from Tomás Corrigan (1-5) and Sean McNally the difference in them taking a 0-5 to 0-3 lead at break.

Darragh McGurn bumped the hosts’ lead up to three early in the restart but their opponents weren’t going away, as the scores of Brian Daly and Evan O’Carroll made it a one-point game.

Eoin Buggie squared the sides but a quick 1-2 from Corrigan, which included a soccer style finish for the goal, had Fermanagh back in the driving seat by the second water break.

O’Carroll helped narrow the gap back to four prior to Laois being reduced to 14 men after midfielder Kieran Lillis picked up a straight red card for a high challenge on Daniel Teague.

It left Mike Quirke’s men with a mountain to try and climb and they’d scale it, with Gary Walsh’s penalty igniting the fight back for them.

A Walsh free made it a one-point game going into injury-time and he’d hit the net again after a poor kick-out from Sean McNally in the Fermanagh goal.

It left the scoreboard reading 2-10 to 0-11 in the visitors’ favour and with the wheels now firmly off, Ryan McMenamin’s side would concede another goal.

This time Paul Kingston provided the finish to ensure the O’Moore men’s great escape.

Laois - N Corbett; T Collins, M Timmons, R Pigott; A Farrell, D Booth, P Kingston (1-1); K Lillis, J O'Loughlin; G Dillon, S Lacey, B Byrne; E Lowry (0-1), E O'Carroll (0-2), G Walsh (2-5, 5f, 1 pen). Subs: B Daly (0-1) for O'Loughlin (25mins), S Bulger for Pigott (HT), E Buggie (0-1) for Farrell (45), M Keogh (0-1) for Dillon (55), M Barry for Lowry (58).

Fermanagh - S McNally (0-1, 1f); J Cassidy, K Connor, L Flanagan; J Largo Ellis, J McMahon, D McCusker; R O'Callaghan, R Jones (0-1); C Corrigan, C McManus, D McGurn (0-1); L McStravick (0-1), T Corrigan (1-5, 4f), S McGullion (0-2). Subs: A Breen for McStravick (41mins), P McCusker for Largo Ellis (52), D Teague for McManus (60), E Courtney for McGurn (68), R Corrigan for T Corrigan (70+3).

Ref: Fergal Kelly (Longford)

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