Billy Sheehan happy for Laois to lean on main men
Laois manager Billy Sheehan. Picture: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile
A wonderful attacking display from Eoin Lowry lit up an otherwise turgid contest between Laois and Waterford in Portlaoise on Saturday night, as the O’Moore County put last week’s surprise defeat to Wicklow behind them with a comfortable win over Ephie Fitzgerald’s side.
Just five players got on the scoresheet, two from Waterford and none from their forward unit, as Laois controlled possession and generated a world of chances, only to be let down by a dreadful conversion rate.
That lack of a contribution from anyone other than Mark Barry and Lowry wasn’t a concern for Laois manager Billy Sheehan however, who said that he was quite happy to see his key men close to goal carry the scoring load.
“We’re getting the ball to the players that matter. You look at the best counties, there’s no problem with Shane Walsh doing a lot of Galway’s scoring, or David Clifford doing the same in Kerry. Every team has their main players, and our main players are the scorers inside, and it’s important to get them the ball,” said the Kerry native.
Despite not contributing directly on the scoreboard, Evan O’Carroll had a solid outing as a target man and distributor, including a clever flat handpass to allow Lowry to palm in the game’s only goal. O’Carroll will however regret his poor positional sense that led to a tap-in goal of his own ruled out for a square ball infringement.
Waterford had just a single point on the board until the 32nd minute, when Darragh Corcoran’s strong run drew a foul from Mark Timmons and a penalty which Jason Curry converted, and follow up points from Curry and Dermot Ryan left just three points in it at half-time, 1-6 to 1-3.
The small threat of an upset was diminished even further on the first play of the second half as Lowry ghosted in behind the Waterford full-back line to collect a long ball and sidestep Ben Kirwan in the Déise goal before finishing.
As the half wore on and Waterford failed to find a way to add to their meagre first half tally, only breaking their drought in stoppage time through Dermot Ryan’s two late points, Laois continued to cut them open at will, with Ben Kirwan called on to make two excellent close range saves to deny Patrick O’Sullivan and Mark Timmons.
Despite this, Ephie Fitzgerald was a much happier man than a week previously, when his charges were well beaten by Wexford. “I was much more pleased tonight. I know the scoreboard didn’t reflect it, but at half-time we were well in the game and were hoping for a good start to the second half,” said the Nemo Rangers man.
“There was the sucker punch of a goal and they got two points after that and the game was over as a contest, but I like the way the lads kept plugging away, and they got the last couple of points”.
The win puts Laois back in control of their own destiny in advance of their trip to Carrick-on-Shannon on Sunday week, a contest which is likely to have a huge bearing on the promotion race. Sheehan was quick to knock on the head any idea that their shock defeat to Wicklow a week ago might have derailed their season.
“We’ve played five league games and won four, as well as a draw with Meath in the last six games. Wicklow on the night came good at the end, they deserved the win, but there was only a point in it coming to the end, and we learned from it,” he said.
Scorers for Laois: E Lowry 2-6 (0-2m), M Barry 0-5 (0-3f), P Kingston 0-2 (0-1f).
Scorers for Waterford: D Ryan 0-4, J Curry 1-1 (1-0 pen).
Laois: S Osborne; S Greene, R Piggott, T Collins; S O’Flynn, M Timmons, B Byrne; K Lillis, D Larkin; K Swayne, P Kingston, P O’Sullivan; E O’Carroll, E Lowry, M Barry.
Subs: C Burke for Swayne (56), D Carolan for Barry (62), C Doyle for O’Carroll (62), S Lacey for Timmons (64), S O’Neill for Greene (70).
Waterford: B Kirwan; R Browne, D Ó Cathasaigh, C Ó Cuirrin; D Ryan, L Fennell, B Looby; J Curry, M Curry; J O’Sullivan, D Corcoran, B Lynch; M Kiely, S Whelan-Barrett, E McGrath Butler.
Subs: R Stringer for Looby (18-23, temp), Stringer for Looby (41), Looby for Browne (48), N McSweeney for Lynch (55), J Devine for Whelan-Barrett (59), D Quirke for Looby (62), J Keane for McGrath Butler (64).
Referee: T Murphy (Galway).
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