Laois come good against Wicklow despite 13 wides

Laois 0-21 Wicklow 1-11

Six points unanswered between the 45th and 53rd minutes provided the basis for Laois to register a first-round Leinster SFC win over Wicklow before 3,500 spectators at a wet Aughrim this afternoon.

The standard of football matched the weather conditions for long periods of this contest, with Laois firing 13 wides, including seven in the opening half.

Laois opened the scoring after just 11 seconds through midfielder Kevin Meaney.

But both sides were less than impressive over the following 10 minutes registering three wides each, as the rain belted down.

A Ross Munnelly pointed free broke the deadlock after 10 minutes to hand Laois a two-point lead, but suddenly Wicklow came good.

Harry Murphy's side registered four unanswered points between the 14th and 20th minutes, with Seanie Furlong, Rory Finn, Leighton Glynn and Furlong again on target.

Wicklow impressed during this spell as they began to take a foothold at midfield, but O'Loughlin and Meaney once again took control in the centre, while Billy Sheehan done Trojan work in a sweeper role at the back.

This paid off as Laois began to get the breaks, with Munnelly firing two points to level the contest, while a 24th-minute score from Darren Strong pushed Laois back in front.

Laois were hugely dominant at midfield at this stage, with Kingston slotting over the first of his six points in the 26th minute.

Glynn cut the gap to the minimum three minutes later, but Laois were composed, with Kingston and O'Loughlin registering fine points from play to ensure a 0-8 to 0-5 lead after 31 minutes.

But all of Laois's good work was undone in a split second before the break, after Paul Cunningham claimed the only goal to tie the game at 1-5 to 0-8.

Laois worked hard before the interval, with a John O'Loughlin point attempt coming off the upright in injury-time.

David Conway regained possession for the visitors, with a goal chance on the cards, but danger was averted and the sides entered the dressing rooms at the break tied at 0-8 to 1-5.

Both teams were just onto the field for the second half, when a lengthy delay was enforced after a medical emergency in the crowd, which necessitated an ambulance on the pitch.

After a 31-minute interval the game resumed with Laois introducing Evan Costello in place of James Finn, and the Emo attacker kicked his sides first wide of the half after a minute.

Wicklow looked more composed on the restart, with Furlong and Finn adding scores to hand them a two-point lead in the 38th minute.

Laois were wasteful in front of the posts, and registered three wides, before Darren Strong eventually broke the deadlock, converting a 45' in the 43rd minute.

O'Loughlin's second point tied the game for the fourth time, but Wicklow got back in front through Conor McGraynor inside a minute of his introduction.

Once again O'Loughlin tied the game for Laois, kick starting a magnificent spell for the visitors.

Laois could do no wrong as they added point after point - firstly a brace of Munnelly scores, and then Kingston converted two massive frees to open up a 0-15 to 1-8 lead.

Kingston landed a point from play for Laois's sixth in a row, to open up a five-point gap as the game entered the final quarter.

Wicklow fired three of the next four points, but Laois continued to look strong.

Munnelly (2) and Kingston added further scores as Laois led by 0-20 to 1-11 with seven minutes remaining.

Laois became unstuck between the posts and added four wides, but crucially they held Wicklow scoreless in the closing 11 minutes, with Munnelly's ninth point coming in injury-time to seal a seven-point win.

Next up for Laois is All-Ireland champions Dublin in Croke Park in three weeks, where a marked improvement will be required if they are to upset Jim Gavin's side.

LAOIS: G Brody; P McMahon, P Begley, P O'Leary; D Strong (0-2, 1 45), S Attride, R Kehoe; K Meaney (0-1), J O'Loughlin (0-3); J Finn, C Meredith, D Conway; D Kingston (0-6, 4f), R Munnelly (0-9, 5f), B Sheehan. Subs: E Costello for Finn (HT); E O'Carroll for O'Loughlin (Blood 51-53); E O'Carroll for Conway (57); P Kingston for D Kingston (70).

WICKLOW: R Lambert; A Murphy, P McLoughlin, A Byrne; K Murphy, P McWalter, D Healy; J Stafford, A McLoughlin; R Finn (0-3), M Kenny, D Hayden; L Glynn (0-3, 2f), S Furlong (0-4, 4f), P Cunningham (1-0). Subs: C McGraynor (0-1) for Kenny (44); P Dalton for Cunningham (63); N Gaffney for Hayden (67).

REFEREE: Rory Hickey (Clare).