Laois edge Galway

Galway 2-13 Laois 1-17

Laois full-forward Shane Cooke kicked an injury-time winning point in Salthill as Mick O'Dwyer's men edged hosts Galway today.

Seven points down at the break, the midlanders led by three going into injury time. Try as they might, Galway looked doomed for defeat until a Derek Savage rebound fell kindly for Caltra forward Michael Meehan to tap home, levelling it up.

Nonetheless, Cooke's hooked shot from the left proved to be the deciding point just seconds later.

Peter Forde's home side conceded an early point to Ross Munnelly, but established a 1-05 to 0-01 lead by the quarter-hour. Sean Armstrong burst through for the initial goal, then Derek Savage and Padraig Joyce tagged on points before three unanswered scores from Meehan emphasized Galway's dominance.

Laois were still just a single point behind at the break - 0-07 to 1-05 down - as 18-year-old Donie Brennan (0-02), Munnelly - hit three more - and a late Chris Conway over saw to that.

With the lead changing to-and-fro in the second period, a penalty goal from Laois goalkeeper Fergal Byron, for a foul on Paul Lawlor, looked to have given them the necessary will to go on and win.

Brennan's sixth points and a Tom Kelly score - his second - gifted them a three-point buffer heading into injury time, but still they had to call Cooke to save them in injury time.