Offaly leave it late to overcome Laois, Kildare overpower Carlow

It was all much more straightforward at Netwatch Cullen Park, where Carlow were competitive for the first 20 minutes, but then were overpowered by Kildare.

O'BYRNE CUP: Damon Larkin and Kevin Swayne of Laois contest the throw-in with Luke Watkins and Cathal King of Offaly. Pic: Harry Murphy/Sportsfile

Late points from substitutes Nathan Poland and Declan Hogan gave new Offaly manager Declan Hogan a winning start to his tenure at the helm of the Faithful County seniors last night, as their 1-11 to 0-12 win over Laois at Stradbally set up a glamour tie against All-Ireland champions Dublin next Saturday afternoon.

Dylan Hyland opened the scoring for Offaly with the first point of his 1-5 tally on the night, but Laois settled into the game well from there, kicking four of the next six points. Simon Fingleton registered a point from wing back in reply to kick off his debut in the best possible fashion, while Mark Barry registered from play and from a free.