Laois prevail over neighbours Carlow

Scoreline: Laois 0-18 Carlow 0-11

Favourites Laois prevailed over neighbours Carlow to reach the seceond round of the All Ireland SFC qualifiers in a drab local derby at Dr Cullen Park, Carlow before an attendance of 3,500.

This was a game of sub-standard football, which produced only one goal-scoring opportunity over the 70 minutes.

That task fell to Laois corner forward Stephen Kelly in the 17th minute but his shot at a gaping goal was weak and wide.

Laois led 0-09 to 0-06 at half-time and dominated the second half to establish a double score lead of 0-18 to 0-09.

The loss to the visitors of their left half back Joe Higgins 20 minutes into the second half for a second bookable offence in no way changed the trend of the game.

Laois forwards Chris Conway and Stephen Kelly were joint top scorers with 0-06 each. Former All Ireland star Brian 'Beano' MacDonald, at full forward was the star player on view.

Laois now lead the SFC clashes with Carlow by 16-7.