Ciaran Carey delight as Kerry get just reward

Sometimes the greatest motivation in sport can be when the odds appear to be stacked against a team and the only option is to stick out your chest and defy them.

This just about sums up the continued upward curve of the Kerry hurlers who went for broke against Laois in this Division 1B relegation play-off at the Austin Stack Park, and secured their Division 1B status for 2017 with a classy display of hurling that stunned the midlanders.

Laois did not help their cause when they lost their way and discipline midway through the second-half and ended up with 12 players on the pitch. They trailed by just six points when they lost wing forward Willie Dunphy to a second yellow in the 46th minute and then six minutes later sub Ross Ring was shown a straight red. Then with the contest decided, Laois were reduced to 12, when Willie Hyland got a straight red for an altercation with Patrick Kelly in the 69th minute.