Laois dump champions out of All-Ireland race

Laois 0-9 Tyrone 0-6

Laois sent the All-Ireland champions crashing out of the race for Sam with a passionate display at O'Moore Park.

In a constant downpour, Mick O'Dwyer's men rose to the challenge in superb fashion, showing no fear of their illustrious opponents, or no hangover from a Leinster Championship drubbing by Dublin.

It started well for Tyrone, with Sean Cavanagh and Martin Penrose linking to create the opening for Kevin Hughes to kick the opening point in the second minute.

But alarming gaps soon began to open up in the All-Ireland champions' defence, and the Leinster men took advantage to go three clear, with scores from Billy Sheehan (2), centre back Tom Kelly and Ross Munnelly, all excellent points from play.

In contrast, the Tyrone attack failed to hit the target from play throughout the first half, and struggled to contain the lively Laois wing backs, who were always looking to turn defence to attack.

A couple of efforts dropped harmlessly into the arms of goalkeeper Fergal Byron before Sean Cavanagh finally added to his side's tally, fisting between the posts after Colm McCullagh had fed Enda McGinley.

But it was the home side, playing with wind advantage, who continued to carry the game to their opponents, and when Brian McCormack landed a superb long range point, their supporters were in fine voice.

McCullagh kept the Ulster men in touch with a point from a 20 metre free, but Chris Conway responded with a similar score at the other end.

The final 10 minutes of the half failed to produce a score, thanks in some way to the efforts of Cormac McGinley and Ciaran Gourley at the back, with some timely interventions.

At the break, Laois led by 0-6 to 0-3, and against the breeze they played like men possessed.

Tyrone were restricted to just three points, and even the introduction of Stephen O'Neill couldn't kick-start their flagging challenge.

Sheehan claimed his third score of the contest, and it was Chris Conway who drove home the final nail for the champions with a late free.