Round-up: Electric Ireland Leinster MFC
Connell Kelly of Louth. Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile
Electric Ireland Leinster MFC, Round 2
Group 1
Kildare 1-16 Meath 1-11
Louth 0-19 Laois 0-11
Group 2
Offaly 6-23 Longford 1-12
Group 3
Wicklow 3-15 Carlow 1-19
Wexford 2-15 Kilkenny 1-4
By Paul Keane
Connell Kelly was last year's Electric Ireland MFC top scorer and the Louth phenom is shaping up as if he wants to do something similar in 2026.
The son of former Louth senior forward and manager Colin gave another exhibition of scoring with eight points as Louth made it back-to-back Group 1 wins.
After seeing off Meath narrowly in Round 1, Louth knew another win this evening, against Laois, would leave them just 60 minutes from automatic qualification for a semi-final.
The sides were level at 0-8 apiece at half time but two Kelly points immediately after the restart gave the hosts the impetus to leave Laois in their slipstream.
Kelly added three more points throughout the second half while Pauric Maguire also weighed in with a crucial two-pointer to help the Eamon McEneaney managed side turn the screw.
The Leinster championship is composed of a dozen teams, split into three groups of four, and the winners of Group 1 and Group 2 qualify directly for semi-finals.
Kildare also have a perfect record in Group 1 after beating Meath in Skryne and they will face Louth in Round 3, a tie that is now a shoot-out for a last-four position.
The Lilies got on top early on against Meath with Greg Kelly's ninth minute two-pointer leaving them 0-4 to 0-1 up at that stage.
Milo Stafford, nephew of Meath great Brian, levelled it up at 0-4 apiece with a two-pointer for Meath but Kildare then moved ahead and remained in pole position throughout.
Logan Tennyson's 27th minute goal helped Kildare to lead by 1-10 to 0-7 at half time, the corner forward pulling off a textbook back-door cut from the left before finishing to the net.
Conn Brennan's goal for Meath cut the deficit to three after 42 minutes but late two-pointers from Kildare duo Kelly and Jack Reilly sealed their win.
Offaly hammered Longford in the other Group 2 game, leaving them tied on two points in the table with Dublin, behind Westmeath who are on four points after two rounds. Westmeath will play Offaly in Round 3.
First-half Offaly goals from Oliver Goulding and Jamie Harvey propelled them into a 2-14 to 0-6 half-time lead.
Paddy Burns - who'd earlier scored points from play, from a free, from a 45 and converted a two-pointer - hit Offaly's third goal. Darragh Stewart, Sean Monaghan and Shane Lawless raised further green flags in the last 20 minutes.
The four Group 3 teams - Kilkenny, Wicklow, Wexford and Carlow - are battling for two preliminary quarter-final spots. The third placed team in Group 1, Meath or Laois, along with the third placed team in Group 2, will claim the other preliminary quarter-final places.
Wicklow are top of Group 3 after backing up their Round 1 win over Wexford by defeating neighbours Carlow.
The Garden County led 3-10 to 0-4 at half time thanks in part to goals from Joe Keeshan, Odhran Cullen and Harry Butler.
But a brilliant second-half display from Carlow left just two in at the final whistle and Carlow shaved the post with a two-point attempt in the last action.
Wexford also turned on the style in the second half, bouncing back from their loss to Wicklow by beating Kilkenny who they were on level terms with at half time.
