It was the perfect result for both teams as a 0-10 to 0-10 draw at O’Moore Park put Laois into the Division One semi-finals and ensured Kildare’s place in the top flight for next season.
Laois, who top the Division 1B table with ten points, kicked a trio of late scores to secure their manager Mick O’Dwyer an enticing league semi-final shot at his former county Kerry.
The point for Kildare sees them level on six with Armagh and Meath, but a poorer scoring difference (-10) has seen the Royals relegated.
O'Dwyer was forced to shuffle his pack before the throw-in with Barry Brennan crying off and the mercurial Colm Parkinson coming in for his first start of the league campaign. Anthony Rainbow started in place of Padraig Mullarkey in the originally selected Kildare side.
Parkinson failed to inspire the O’Moore men in the opening skirmishes as Kildare broke free for a 0-07 to 0-03 lead by the half-time whistle. John Doyle, back from his recent honeymoon, was the Lilywhites' scorer-in-chief, hitting 0-06 (4f) of their tally. Chris Conway kicked two early points for the hosts before injurying himself when punching a high ball off the upright. He was stretchered off soon after.
Locked level at 0-02 apiece after 15 minutes, a barren spell in front of both goals ensued before Karl Ennis raised a white flag on 28 minutes. Four successive points – three from Doyle – followed before Brian McCormack bent a shot over for Laois in injury-time. There was still time for Doyle’s sixth point
of the afternoon before the short whistle.
Paul Lawlor opened the scoring in the second half on 42 minutes. Ross Munnelly tagged on another Laois score before Padraig Clancy opened his account to make it a one-point game – 0-07 to 0-06.
Ennis replied before Doyle cracked over a 59th-minute to push Kildare into a 0-09 to 0-06 lead. Could they hang on for their third win of the campaign?
The answer was no as, after Lawlor and Doyle (whose eighth point took his tally for the league to 0-31), a resilient Laois side mustered late points from Clancy, Billy Sheehan and Lawlor to wrestle away a point from an entertaining encounter.
