By Declan Rooney
Kildare 3-18 Laois 1-11
Kildare blitzed Laois at the start of the second half to comfortably win the sides' Leinster SFC replay at O’Connor Park and advance to a sixth consecutive provincial semi-final against Dublin on 28 June.
The Lilywhites had Tommy Moolick to thank as he rescued a draw in the dying moments last week but they hit 2-03 in a four-minute salvo to put this game beyond doubt on the resumption.
Padraig Fogarty was their star at corner forward while Eamonn Callaghan, Cathal McNally and Eoghan O’Flaherty all found the net – Donie Kingston slotted a consolation for Laois.
After a disappointing league campaign, where they were relegated to Division 3, Kildare are within 70 minutes of a provincial decider at headquarters.
However, the five-in-a-row-seeking provincial champions Dublin stand in their way.
Laois must re-group ahead of their qualifier against Antrim next Saturday.
The sides were level on seven occasions in the first-half and Laois went in 0-09 to 0-08 ahead despite playing against the breeze.
They could have been further in front had Ross Munnelly converted his penalty and Brendan Quigley not blazed wide of an open-goal.
Niall Donoher got Laois under way in the second minute and Fogarty answered that two minutes later.
Kingston was dragged down in the 10th minute but Munnelly couldn’t find a way past Mark Donnellan. Quigley then burst through the Kildare cover but with the goal at his mercy he missed.
Kildare took the lead for the first time, 0-05 to 0-04 after O’Flaherty pointed a free in the 19th minute.
Graham Brody stopped a certain goal when Alan Smith shot in the 33rd minute and Evan O’Carroll kicked Laois into a 0-09 to 0-08 half-time lead.
But Kildare caught fire after the restart – McNally hit a point before Callaghan crashed to the net when Brody fluffed his kickout.
With Laois reeling, Fogarty added another point. When Callaghan tagged on a score, it was 1-11 to 0-09 but it got worse for Laois when McNally found the net to put Kildare eight points up.
Kingston’s goal in the 48th minute couldn’t spark a revival with O’Flaherty’s green flag ensuring Kildare got the win.
Kildare: M Donnellan; C Fitzpatrick, M O'Grady, O Lyons (0-01); K Murnaghan (0-01), F Conway, E Bolton; G White (0-01), P Cribbin (0-02); P O'Neill (0-01), E O'Flaherty (1-04, 0-02f), C McNally (1-02); E Callaghan (1-01), A Smith, P Fogarty (0-04).
Subs: E Doyle for Conway (21-29 blood), T Moolick for McNally (52), D Hyland for Bolton (57), N Kelly 0-01 for Smith (60), H Lynch for White (65), M Conway for Callaghan (67).
Laois: G Brody; S Attride, M Timmons, R Keogh; D Strong, C Begley, D O'Connor; B Quigley, J O'Loughlin; N Donoher (0-03), C Boyle, E O'Carroll (0-05, 0-1f, 0-01 ’45); R Munnelly, D Kingston (1-02, 0-02f), T Shiel (0-01).
Subs: E Culliton for Brody (8-14 blood), P Kingston for Munnelly (44), J Finn for Shiel (51), G Hanrahan for O'Connor (60), G Dillon for Boyle (65), B Sheehan for Strong (65), E Lowry for Donoher (65).
Referee: Anthony Nolan (Wicklow)
