A second quarter surge helped Laois to vicory over Waterford in the first round of the Tailteann Cup at Laois Hire O'Moore Park.
Tailteann Cup Round 1
Laois 0-28 Waterford 1-16
By Alan Hartnett at Laois Hire O'Moore
Laois made a winning start to the Tailteann Cup following a nine point win over Waterford this afternoon.
In glorious sunshine in O'Moore Park, Laois did the damage in the first half against the side who finished bottom of Division 4.
That said, Laois didn't have it their own way and Waterford actually led with 15 minutes on the clock.
But Laois kicked ten points in a row between then and half time to give themselves a buffer which Waterford could not recover from.
Niall Corbet, Ronan Coffey and championship debutant Cathal Lee (free) fired Laois into a three-point lead early on but two two-point frees from the impressive Jason Curry as well as a regular one, soon had Waterford 0-5 to 0-3 ahead.
Ben Dempsey pulled one back for Laois after a couple of delightful shimmies and the sides were level again when Mark Barry got his first score.
Michael O’Brien edged Waterford in front with another free but from that point on in the half Laois dominated.
Brian Byrne, Niall Corbet, Mark Barry and Ronan Coffey all pointed before Killian Roche came up to land a two-point free. Byrne, Coffey and Damon Larkin added further points from play as did Cathal Lee, his latest effort being a smashing two-point score.
Ciarán Walsh fisted a goal for Waterford after a long free from Curry dropped short and Conor Murray pointed from play but further scores from Lee and Barry sent Laois in at the break leading 0-19 to 1-7.
The second half was a non-event. Laois kept the scoreboard moving without ever threatening to put up massive tally. Waterford battled on and got a few nice scores in the context of a challenge match style atmosphere.
Conor Murray and Jason Curry got a couple of nice two-pointers while from a Laois point of view it was encouraging to see Shaun Fitzpatrick get on the field – while Killeshin’s Michael Doran got two points from play on what was his first competitive senior appearance.
Waterford kept plugging away and Jason Curry finished the game with ten points in total but Laois prevailed.
They face Wicklow next while Waterford will host Offaly in Round 2.
Scorers for Laois: Cathal Lee (one two-pointer, one free) 0-5, Mark Barry (one mark, one free) and Killian Roche (two frees, one two-point free) 0-4 each, Brian Byrne and Ronan Coffey (one free) 0-3 each, Niall Corbet and Michael Doran 0-2 each, Ben Dempsey, Damon Larkin, Kevin Swayne, Seamus Lacey and Shaun Fitzpatrick 0-1 each
Scorers for Waterford: Jason Curry 0-10 (two frees, three two-point frees), Conor Murray 0-4 (one two-pointer), Ciaran Walsh 1-0. Michael O’Brien (both frees) 0-2
LAOIS: Killian Roche; Ben Dempsey, Trevor Collins, Liam Knowles; Paddy O’Sullivan, Seamus Lacey, Fionn Holland; Damon Larkin, Conor Heffernan; Niall Corbet, Brian Byrne, Kevin Swayne; Mark Barry, Cathal Lee, Ronan Coffey. Subs: Michael Doran for Barry (HT), Sean O’Neill for Lacey (55), Shaun Fitzpatrick for Larkin (61), Jack Lennon for Jonah Kelly for Byrne (71)
WATERFORD: Paudie Hunt; Liam Fennell, Conor O Cuirrín; Caoimhín Walsh, Brian Everard, Adam Crawford; Rory Furlong, Donie Fitzgerald; Michael O’Brien, James Power, Conor Murray; Dylan Guiry, Ciarán Walsh, Jason Curry. Subs: Stephen Curry for Crawford (39), Tommy Martin for Fennell (39), Joe Booth for Guiry (55), Caolán MacCathmhaoil for Fitzgerald (61), Ciarán Looney for Everard (injured – 62)
REFEREE: Derek O’Mahoney (Tipperary)
