By Ciaran Gallagher

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Laois manager John Sugrue was relieved to see his side edge out Carlow to reach the Leinster SFC final.

Sugrue’s men claimed a four-point provincial semi-final victory – 0-12 to 0-8 – over the Barrowsiders to book their first final since 2007.

“Happy overall to be into the Leinster final, happy to have got ourselves through that game,” said Sugrue after a tense and tactical battle.

“It wasn’t pretty for long stretches, but we managed to get through it. They’re hard opposition to play against, so we’re happy enough to have managed that.”

The Dubs defeated Longford by 19 points in Sunday’s second semi-final and Laois now face the unenviable task of trying to halt the champions’ bid for an eighth Leinster title on the bounce on June 24.

“Guys who had standout performances have been in very good form all year, so hopefully they will carry that into a Leinster final,” said Sugrue, whose side led by 0-6 to 0-3 at half-time of a chess match against Carlow.

The O’Moore men held out to see out the win, despite kicking seven second-half wides, although the late loss of captain Stephen Attride – who took a big hit late on – was a concern.

“He was not great when the medics went into him, but he was coming through as he left the field,” the Laois manager revealed. “Please God he will make a good recovery.”

Laois’ Evan O’Carroll capped the win with a late injury-time score after a minute’s silence was held at Croke Park for his late father, Micheál, prior to thow-in.

“A tough day for Evan, but that fella has been standing up inside the dressing-room this year and doing a big job for us,” said Sugrue. “It’s probably a fitting tribute to his dad that he came out and he finished the game for us.”

Meanwhile, Carlow boss Turlough O’Brien hopes his side can rebuild in the qualifiers, despite being disappointed that they could not build on their recent win over Kildare as they attempted to reach their first Leinster final since 1944.

Carlow had their own kicking woes as they recoded six wides, sent six shots short and failed to take advantage of three good goal chances.

“Laois are well versed in how we play and play a similar style themselves,” said O’Brien on the defensive, counter-attacking match-up. “They held possession of the ball very well.

“It was two well matched teams, not a whole lot between the two sides, and great to see two Division Four teams contesting a Leinster semi-final.

“Maybe it wasn’t a game for the purists, but I think it was a very interesting contest between two well-matched teams. We’re looking forward to the qualifiers now and I think we’ll give any team a run for their money.”