If Laois had even given it a lash...

A SCORELINE and a game that says far more about Laois than it does Dublin.

Less than 500 tickets were sold in the midland county last week and that level of apathy was vindicated by a performance from the Laois side that lacked any scintilla of ambition, leaving their dwindling band of supporters with little to grasp by way of consolation.

For what it’s worth, the beatings are getting less brutal. Two years ago, Laois exited the Leinster Championship by 15 points against Kildare, last year it was by ten to Meath but yesterday’s eight-point loss was as dispiriting as either one.

It is only four years since they were facing Dublin in a Leinster final but the tone was set here when Justin McNulty dropped free-taker MJ Tierney and replaced him with defender Padraig McMahon who promptly set up station in the full-back line.

With corner-forward Billy Sheehan operating around his own half-back line and three midfielders huffing and puffing around the engine room, it was an approach that would be described as ‘parking the bus’ in soccer’s Premier League.

When McNulty arrived from Armagh via Dublin last winter the expectation was that Laois would at least prove hard to beat and play with a greater sense of aggression but, for all their defensiveness, they were opened up like a can of peaches by the Dubs.

It was a dispiriting and puzzling sight given the upbeat reports submitted throughout a league campaign that had ended with promotion to Division One — though there had been seeds of doubt sown in their Division Two final defeat to Donegal.

Pat Gilroy’s Dublin only scored the one goal here but they could have claimed half a dozen more and their 16 points were offset by eleven wides, none of which mattered against a side so limited and with little or no sense of adventure.

Positives for Laois? There were one or two. Goalkeeper Eoin Culliton made four point-blank saves, their put-upon defence plugged away manfully despite the incoming tide, Kevin Meaney showed his undoubted class around the middle and Ross Munnelly was a threat up front.

Beyond that, nothing, and there was even a suggestion of old discipline issues from the recent past when Tierney, dropped to the bench despite being one of their most high-profile attackers, reportedly refused to warm-up when asked during the second-half.

This was the less-than-fearsome hurdle awaiting Dublin on their championship bow and the ease with which they vaulted over it told us and Kildare — whom they meet next — little about them that we didn’t know prior to the 70-plus minutes.

Alan Brogan returned to the starting line-up and impressed after missing the league final against Cork through suspension, Diarmuid Connolly looked sharp and Rory O’Carroll made light of his absence during the spring with a smooth afternoon at full-back.

Connolly finished with 1-3 but Culliton deprived him of a tally for the ages. The Dublin forward saw two shots on goal diverted to safety by the number one twice inside the first five minutes and a third midway through the second-half. On another day, those interventions might have changed the result. All they did here was delay the inevitable and maintain some element of respectability as there was nothing the Timahoe man could do about the balls flying over his crossbar.

Bryan Cullen had claimed Dublin’s first point within 26 seconds and the chances continued to flow throughout the afternoon even though last year’s All-Ireland semi-finalists were content to go about their business in cruise control.

Laois briefly threatened to make something like a game of it, twice in fact, but Dublin’s response each time was to open up the burners, restore their advantage and revert to neutral. It was too easy and dull for thousands of fans who took to the exits long before the finish.

Laois’ first flurry of life came midway though the opening half when Munnelly recorded their first score from a free and they tacked two points on. It had taken just three minutes but then Connolly responded by finding the best way past Culliton was under him. It was a cruel blow for Culliton who, despite all his heroics, was implicit in the concession when his short kick-out was intercepted by an opponent and worked back to the danger zone with Alan Brogan supplying the final pass.

The gap was seven points entering first-half injury-time but Laois claimed two scores before it elapsed and reeled off the first three after the restart before Dublin decided enough was enough and it was time to wrap things up.

By the time Laois scored again, they had conceded eight straight at the other end and Gilroy was well into his usual musical chairs routine. The game long safe, even Bernard Brogan was called ashore.

Too easy.

Scorers for Dublin: D Connolly (1-3); B Brogan (0-5, 2 frees); A Brogan (0-3); S Cluxton (0-3 ‘45s); B Cullen (0-1); T Quinn (0-1 free).

Scorers for Laois: R Munnelly (0-4, 2 frees); D Carroll (0-2); P McMahon (0-2); G Kavanagh (0-2); C Begley (0-1).

Subs for Dublin: D Bastick for Cahill (44); E O’Gara for McManamon (48); T Quinn for B Brogan (64); R McConnell for Macauley (66); D Lally for Cullen (69).

Subs for Laois: D Kingston for Sheehan (35); K Lillis for O’Loughlin (52); G Kavanagh for Carroll (54); C Boyle for Timmons (62).

Referee: J McQuillan (Cavan).