Portlaoise dig deep to edge ‘dogfight’ with Sarsfields

Portlaoise (Laois) 2-5 Sarsfields (Kildare) 0-10: Kieran Lillis hailed the character of his Portlaoise team-mates as they withstood everything 14-man Sarsfields threw at them to edge a highly entertaining tie at O’Moore Park.

A 59th-minute point by Brian Smith rescued Malachy McNulty’s side and ended the valiant effort of their somewhat unlucky opponents.

Lillis admitted that they might have ridden their luck at times but felt that the annual experience of football at this time of the year stood to the Laois men.