Wexford deny Laois with late blast

Laois 0-21 Wexford 0-22: A last-gasp point from Shane Tomkins saw Wexford claim a narrow victory over Laois in O’Moore Park yesterday. Wexford trailed by two points with time almost up, but Cathal Dunbar and Lee Chin drew them level before Tomkins struck with almost the last puck of the game to seal the win for the visitors.

Laois, in search of a first win of the campaign, opened brightly with a point from John Lennon after 10 seconds. Willie Hyland added another before Tomkins opened the Wexford account. A quick-fire double soon followed from Conor McDonald, one from a free, to see the visitors take the lead for the first time, but PJ Scully soon restored parity.

The turning point came when Wexford hit four points without reply to lead 0-14 to 0-11 at the break.

Laois quickly drew level thanks to the accuracy of PJ Scully, and the home side started to dictate the play. Scully, Paddy Purcell and Picky Maher all found the target, with Conor McDonald keeping Wexford in touch from placed balls. Laois looked to have done enough when Scully and Purcell both pointed in the closing stages. But they hit three bad wides as time ticked away, and Wexford made them pay with that late scoring surge. Next up for Laois is a relegation playoff with Kerry.

Scorers for Wexford:

C McDonald 0-8 (7f), S Tomkins 0-5, I Byrne 0-4 (1f), P Morris 0-2, L Óg McGovern, C Dunbar, L Chin 0-1 each.

Scorers for Laois:

PJ Scully 0-9 (7f), C Dwyer 0-3, P Purcell, W Dunphy, W Hyland 0-2 each, C Stapleton, S Maher, J Lennon 0-1 each.

LAOIS:

E Rowland; C Healy, R Mullaney, D Maher; L Bergin, M Whelan, T Delaney; P Purcell, C Stapleton; W Hyland, C Dwyer, J Lennon; S Maher, W Dunphy, PJ Scully.

Subs:

P Lalor for Delaney (23), C McEvoy for Bergin (44), R King for Dunphy (44), B Reddin for Stapleton (55, inj), B O’Mara for Maher (64).

WEXFORD:

C O’Leary; L Ryan, M O’Hanlon, J Breen; E Moore, P Foley, J O’Connor; L Chin, I Byrne; H Kehoe, S Tomkins, A Nolan; P Morris, C McDonald, L Óg McGovern.

Subs:

D O’Keeffe for Breen (44), C Dunbar for Kehoe (54), E Conroy for O’Connor (61), A Kenny for Morris (66).

Referee:

S Cleere (Kilkenny)