Slick Dublin ease past Laois
Laois’s PJ Scully opening the scoring in the second minute but Dublin then took charge, boosted by a fine Fiontain McGibb goal.
Darragh O’Connell and Paul Ryan (free) pushed them further ahead, before Eamon Dillon was denied a goal when his shot came off the post.
Dillon pointed moments later as Dublin surged five points clear. But Laois responded impressively as points from Scully and a Tadgh Dowling goal soon had the sides level.
Laois failed to build on their comeback though, and Dublin assumed control once more before the break. Darren Maher’s foul on Chris Bennett saw the visitors awarded a penalty, and Paul Ryan dispatched it to the net.
From there, Dublin charged ahead, as the impressive Dillon hit three points in a row, while Niall McMorrow, Liam Rushe, and David Treacy notched scores to see Dublin lead 2-12 to 1-7 at the interval.
The hosts managed just two points in the second half and ran up more than 10 wides, while Dublin picked off scores at their ease.
They managed eight points in the second half from seven different scorers, with both teams accepting the outcome of the game long before the final whistle.
P Ryan 1-2 (1-0p, 2f), E Dillon 0-4, F McGibb 1-1, N McMorrow 0-3 (1f) C Crummy, D O’Connell, C Bennett 0-2 each, L Rushe, C McBride, D Treacy, S Treacy 0-1 each.
PJ Scully 0-5 (3f), T Dowling 1-0, B Reddin 0-2, C Stapleton, N Foyle 0-1 each.
E Reilly; C Healy, J Walsh, D Maher; L Bergin, N Foyle, R Mullaney; C Stapleton, M Whelan; C Collier, B Reddin, P Purcell; E Fennelly, T Dowling, PJ Scully.
M Kavanagh for Dowling (53), O Carroll for Bergin (53), P Lalor for Mullaney (56), J Phelan for Maher (56), B O’Mara for Stapleton (65)
G Maguire; J Boland, R Hardy, O Gough; C Crummy, L Rushe, J McCaffrey; C McBride, D O’Connell; D Tracey, F McGibb, P Ryan; S Treacy, E Dillon, C Bennett.
N McMorrow for Ryan (28, inj), D O’Callaghan for Dillon (49), M Schutte for Bennett (54), F O Riain Broin for Hardy (58), D Plunkett for McBride (63)
M O’Sullivan (Kilkenny).
