There was only ever going to be one winner here and, right enough, it was Laois.

Laois’ summer odyssey is over but they got to finish on terms that were perfectly acceptable given this was an All-Ireland quarter-final and their opponents were one of the game’s blue bloods.

Tipperary’s 2001 All-Ireland winner Conor Gleeson wants to see his native county put an extra emphasis on winning the physical battles against Laois on Sunday.

Ernest Hemingway once said courage is “grace under pressure”.

A shock to go in the annals of hurling alongside Antrim beating Offaly in '89 and Kerry defeating Waterford in '93, the victory sparked a joyous pitch invasion at O'Moore Park.

Scoreboard Eddie Brennan had seen this coming.

Eddie Brennan's Laois hurlers have pulled off the shock of the summer – and maybe many more besides - with an astonishing two-point defeat of Dublin in the All-Ireland preliminary quarter-final.

Laois delivered a strong second-half display to deliver Joe McDonagh Cup silverware at Croke Park this afternoon.

Laois are through to the final of the Joe McDonagh Cup after comfortably overcoming Kerry this afternoon.

Former Kerry hurler John ‘Tweek’ Griffin has likened the county’s crunch Joe McDonagh clash with Laois to an All-Ireland quarter-final.

Laois took a huge step towards reaching the Joe McDonagh cup final yesterday when they outlasted Offaly in Tullamore, racking up 34 points despite shooting 17 wides over the course of the game.

Kerry hurling manager Fintan O’Connor has urged GAA chiefs to introduce live streaming of Joe McDonagh Cup games so as to improve the competition’s profile.

Kerry manager Fintan O’Connor regrets highlighting that Shane Conway was “singled out” in last month’s Allianz Division 2A final defeat to Westmeath.

The county's new manager will have to make do without 2018 captain Ross King and club hurler of the year Ciaran Collier. Cahir Healy is also expected to switch to the football panel.

Last Sunday, soccer referee Daniel Sweeney was attacked after a match in Mullingar. He sustained a broken jaw and fractured eye-socket.

A late flurry of scores from Laois masked the dominant nature of Offaly’s performance at

Laois secured their third straight win in this Leinster SHC Round Robin qualifier and advance with confidence to face Wexford in the Leinster SHC quarter-final. 

Laois 3-25 Meath 2-13: Laois manager Eamonn Kelly admitted he couldn’t recall a better midfield display than Paddy Purcell’s in Navan.

Galway 3-31 Laois 1-11: Galway thrashed Laois by 36 points the last time these sides met in the league back in 2008, and for a good while yesterday it seemed they might even surpass that margin.

JAMES CORDEN has spoken on ITV’s Lorraine about his life-changing move to Los Angeles.

Laois 1-20 Westmeath 1-17: A second half goal from Cha Dwyer sparked a stirring Laois comeback as they ran out three-point winners over Westmeath in O’Moore Park.

Laois dug deep to book a Leinster SHC quarter-final berth as Group winners, thanks to a hard-earned three-point win in this all-Midlands battle in O’Moore Park, Portlaoise.

Cork 1-25 Laois 0-24: Cork senior hurling manager Jimmy Barry Murphy expects Mark Ellis and Alan Cadogan to return for the Rebels Allianz League semi-final against Dublin on Sunday week.

Allianz HL Division 1B relegation play-off

Wexford 5-22 Laois 0-25

UL 0-18 UCD 0-15: UL manager Brian Lohan hailed the second-half intensity shown by his charges, 10 unanswered points directly upon the change of ends laying the foundation for this quarter-final win.

The first two Fitzgibbon Cup quarter-finals will be played this afternoon.

Allianz Hurling League Division 1B: Laois 0-23 Offaly 1-24: Offaly manager Brian Whelahan sent out a defiant message to his team’s detractors after their win over Laois in O’Moore Park on Saturday night.

Cork IT 1-14UCD 1-10 

UCD 1-23 St Pat’s 1-6: UCD coach Nicky English said the conditions at Belfield were some of the worst he’d seen for hurling after watching his side record a 17-point win against St Pat’s.

Wexford 1-21 UCD 0-15

Wexford and Galway successfully negotiated their first competitive games of 2015 in Hurling’s Bord na Móna Walsh Cup this afternoon.

Kilmacud Crokes (Dublin) 0-23 Rathdowney-Errill (Laois) 0-22 (AET)

Rathdowney-Errill 1-20 Camross 0-10

Galway 1-22 Laois 0-23

For the second time in 12 months Galway got the fright of their lives in the Leinster SHC as the Tribesmen carved out a two-point win over a determined Laois side in O’Moore Park, Portlaoise.

Laois 0-20 Antrim 0-22

Kilkenny continue the policy of rotation for tomorrow’s Allianz Hurling League Division 1 final in Semple Stadium (throw-in 3.30pm).

Clare 2-23 Laois 2-19