Away day blues as Fermanagh deal big blow to Laois promotion hopes

Laois’s trip to Wicklow next Sunday took on added importance after the O’Moore County sustained a chastening defeat to Fermanagh at Brewster Park this afternoon, losing out by six points at the end of a lacklustre performance that saw the home side dominate in nearly every major aspect of play.

FERMANAGH 3-15          

LAOIS 3-9

 After conceding the first two scores, Laois were handed a huge boost when after an excellent point from Alex Mohan, a poor kickout from Cian Newman was seized by Evan O’Carroll, who drove past the last defender and crashed a low shot off the post and into the net.

 That should have settled Laois into the game, but Ryan Jones and Daragh McGurn were dominating midfield and on a wonderful afternoon and ideal conditions for football, once they got good ball into Ciarán Corrigan and Seán Quigley in the Fermanagh full forward line, the home side made hay.

 Corrigan rattled in their first goal with a thunderous shot from the right corner of the large square that fizzed past Matthew Byron, but Quigley in particular was in sublime form, picking out the narrowest of gaps to squeeze the second goal inside Byron’s near post, then landing the score of the day from out on the sideline to push the half-time gap to six points, 2-6 to 1-3.

Goals prove killer as Laois U-20's suffer defeat to Dublin in third round of John Kerins Cup

U20 FOOTBALL LEAGUE

 After the game Laois manager Billy Sheehan spoke about how the scoreline flattered his team, and he cited Mark Barry’s goal after half-time, where the O’Dempsey’s man took advantage of a simple drop in the Fermanagh full-back line to pounce and drive home a goal to halve the gap.

 Instead of taking advantage of this break, Laois continued to struggle all across the field, losing the battle for primary possession, operating at a pedestrian pace when trying to work the ball forward and leaving acres of space for Fermanagh to exploit. Ryan Lyons kicked two fine left-footed scores to undo most of the damage for the goal, and when Corrigan turned down the option of a simple mark to instead set up Daragh McGurn in the 13th minute of the second half, his decision was vindicated by an emphatic finish from McGurn, making it 3-8 to 2-4.

 Most of the substitutions that Laois made seemed to sharpen up the team and improve their fortunes, with Alan Farrell and Danny O’Reilly the pick of the bunch, but Fermanagh were still able to go score for score with Laois at their ease, and by the time Mark Barry fired in the game’s sixth and final goal with a couple of minutes to go, there was just too much for Laois left to do.  

 Scorers for Fermanagh: Seán Quigley 1-5 (0-2f), Ciarán Corrigan 1-3, Daragh McGurn 1-0, Ryan Jones 0-2, Ryan Lyons 0-2, Josh Largo Ellis 0-1, Conall Jones 0-1, Garvin Jones 0-1.

Scorers for Laois: Mark Barry 2-1, Evan O’Carroll 1-2, Gary Walsh 0-4f, Alex Mohan 0-1, Kieran Lillis 0-1m.

Fermanagh: Cian Newman; Garret Cavanagh, Jonny Cassidy, Luke Flanagan; James McMahon, Aidan Breen, Declan McCusker; Ryan Jones, Brandon Horan; Ryan Lyons, Josh Largo Ellis, Daragh McGurn; Conall Jones, Ciarán Corrigan, Seán Quigley.  Subs: Danny Leonard for McCusker (21), Richard O’Callaghan for Breen (69), Garvin Jones for C Jones (69), Stephen McGullion for Horan (70+4).

Laois: Matthew Byron; James Kelly, Trevor Collins, Alex Mohan; Seán O’Flynn, John O’Loughlin, Gareth Dillon; Kieran Lillis, James Finn; Brian Byrne, Eoin Lowry, Patrick O’Sullivan; Mark Barry, Evan O’Carroll, Gary Walsh. Subs: Alan Farrell for Finn (half-time), Brian Daly for Lowry (43), Daniel O’Reilly for Dillon (48), Ross Munnelly for Lillis (50), Cormac Murphy for Kelly (60).

 Referee: Joe McQuillan (Cavan).

St Joseph's cut loose and cruise to facile 31 point win over Clonaslee

KELLY CUP THIRD ROUND