Wexford pull away late on to defeat Laois in Walsh Cup opener

The Laois senior hurlers have suffered defeat in their opening game of 2026 after they were beaten by six points by Wexford in Rathdowney on Sunday afternoon.

The sides met in the first game of this year’s Walsh Cup with a decent crowd braving the cold. The game was nip and tuck throughout, but Wexford hit the afterburners to score eight of the last nine points.

It was the away side who opened the scoring as Simon Roche split the posts from a placed ball. Cillian Dunne, making his Laois senior debut, was fouled for Laois’ first score with Aaron Dunphy pointing the resulting free. Two more frees followed for Dunphy before Cillian Dunne added a point to his name after a great ball from Podge Delaney.

Wexford’s second point also came from a free as Ross Banville struck the placed ball this time. Dunphy added another free, while Jack Kelly, making his return to the Laois panel, raised a white flag to push Laois four points ahead, 0-6 to 0-2.

Niall Murphy and a second Banville free cut the lead before Dunphy (65’) and James Keyes maintained Laois’ advantage. Roche took over free-taking duty and split the posts twice with Mike Kelly raising a white flag in between.

The half ended with Dunphy scoring his sixth point of the first period as Laois led 0-9 to 0-7 at the break.

Kelly wasted no time in adding to Laois’ lead as he put the ball over the bar within 10 seconds of the restart. Kevin Foley and a free from Roche replied for The Yellowbellies. Eoin Gaughan and another free from Dunphy kept Laois in front.

The game would soon be level as Mike Kelly squared the ball to Ciaran Ryan and he rattled the back of the Laois net. Wexford then went ahead for the first time since they scored the game’s opening point. Eamon Wickham and a free from Roche saw them into a two-point lead after 42 minutes.

Laois almost replied with a goal of their own, but Jack Kelly’s goalbound effort was saved off the line by Darragh Carley. Roche was immaculate on the frees as he added another one to his account. Laois, down by three points, would hit the front and fire over four points unanswered to go ahead again. Two of those white flags came from Dunphy frees, while Martin Phelan and Kelly got the other two.

Wexford upped the tempo in the last 10 minutes and they scored eight of the last nine points to take the victory. Roche was the scorer of five points with one of those coming from play. Banville, Wickham and Matthew Joyce were the other scorers. Laois’ only point in the last ten minutes came from an Aaron Dunphy free.

Laois’ next game comes on Thursday evening against Carlow in the Walsh Shield.

Full-Time

Wexford 1-20

Laois 0-17

SCORERS-Wexford: Simon Roche 0-11 (0-10 frees), Ciaran Regan 1-0, Ross Banville 0-3 (0-2 frees), Eamon Wickham 0-2, Niall Murphy, Mike Kelly, Matthew Joyce and Kevin Foley 0-1 each. Laois: Aaron Dunphy 0-10 (0-9 frees, 0-1 65’), Jack Kelly 0-3, Martin Phelan, Cillian Dunne, James Keyes and Eoin Gaughan 0-1 each.

WEXFORD: Mark Fanning; David Clarke, Eoin Whelan, Simon Donohoe; Eamon Wickham, Brian Quigley, Niall Murphy; Seán Rowley, Richie Lawlor; Ross Banville, Simon Roche, Mike Kelly; Ciaran Regan, Edward Dunbar, Kevin Foley. SUBS: Darragh Carley for Donohoe (26 mins), Tomas Kinsella for Dunbar (43 mins), Diarmuid Fenlon for Quigley (45 mins), Matthew Joyce for Regan (49 mins), Darragh Farrell for Kelly (62 mins).

LAOIS: Cathal Dunne (Clough/Ballacolla); Donnchadh Hartnett (Rosenallis), Ciaran McEvoy (Portlaoise), Lee Cleere (Clough-Ballacolla); Ryan Mullaney (Castletown), Padriag Delaney (The Harps), Fiachra C Fennell (Rosenallis); Eoin Gaughan (Camross), David Dooley (Rosenallis); Martin Phelan (Castletown), Aaron Dunphy (Borris-Kilcotton), Jack Kelly (Rathdowney/Errill); Cillian Dunne (Clough/Ballacolla), James Keyes (Colt/Shanahoe), Cormac Byrne (St.Lazarian's Abbeyleix). Subs: Joe Pearson (Clough-Ballacolla) for Hartnett and Padraig Rafter (Rathdowney-Errill) for Gaughan (42 mins), Colin Byrne (St Lazarian’s Abbeyleix) for Cormac Byrne (45 mins), Fionn Holland (Clonad) for Keyes (47 mins), Aidan Corby (Clough-Ballacolla) for Phelan (57 mins).

Referee: Conor Daly (Kildare)