Laois bossed it in Wexford to make it two wins from two in Division 4 of the Allianz NFL.
Wexford were competitive against the O'Moore County in both league and championship last year but the purple and gold never raised a meaningful challenge in this rematch, with Justin McNulty’s return to the Laois hot-seat bring about a far more vibrant showing from the blues.
McNulty was on the sideline despite having attended the return of Stormont in his role as a member of the Northern Ireland assembly earlier in the afternoon. He was later suspended by his party, the SDLP, for leaving proceedings early without "seeking permission".
A dominant first-half by the Midlanders was crowned by a 34th-minute Shaun Fitzpatrick goal which set them on course as they charged 1-11 to 0-6 clear at the interval.
Wexford ultimately suffered a fifth setback since their last victory over the Laois in the league – in the lofty heights of Division 1 in 2005.
And John Hegarty’s charges, triumphant away to London in round one, must look to regroup and get their promotion hopes back on track away to Leitrim on 18 February. Laois are scheduled to host Carlow the previous day.
Amid calm conditions, the O'Moore men ruled the roost from the start, leading 0-4 to no-score inside ten minutes as defender Brian Byrne’s opener was added to by Kevin Swayne, goalie Killian Roche (free) and Niall Dunne.
Wexford were offering hope in sporadic attacks, but they were simply unconvincing at the business-end of those surges.
Wing-back Glen Malone eventually got them off the mark after 11 minutes and though fellow defender Darragh Lyons quickly shaved the gap to 0-4 to 0-2, the opposition really began to flex their superiority.
Indeed, full-forward Evan O’Carroll was unfortunate with a goal chance as the Laois lead swelled to 0-09 to 0-03 after 19 minutes – midfielder Damon Larkin (two), O’Carroll (free) and 'keeper Roche (free and a ‘45) translating their control on the field to the scoreboard.
While Ben Brosnan pegged back a free on 23 minutes (0-09 to 0-04), Laois again went close to goaling when Mark Barry was foiled.
However, the inevitable arrived on 34 minutes when Niall Corbet’s superb cross from the right found Shaun Fitzpatrick to net for a 1-10 to 0-5 advantage, before an exchange of points closed out an assured first-half for the visitors and deeply concerning one for the hosts.
While Wexford invested lots of energy during the second-half, they were unable to rustle a credible comeback, although they closed to within 1-14 to 0-10 after 60 minutes with the aid of a brace from substitute Richie Waters.
Although not exerting themselves after the break, Laois surged into a double-scores lead after 66 minutes (1-17 to 0-10) through a Shaun Fitzpatrick double and captain O’Carroll’s fourth, as they returned from the South East well on track to end a two-year residency in the bottom division.
Laois: Killian Roche (0-5, 2 frees, 3 ‘45s); Ben Dempsey (0-1), Seamus Lacey, James Kelly; Eoin Buggie, Mark Timmons, Brian Byrne (0-1); Conor Heffernan, Damon Larkin (0-2); Shaun Fitzpatrick (1-2), Niall Dunne (0-1), Kevin Swayne (0-1); Mark Barry (0-1), Evan O’Carroll (0-4, 1 free), Niall Corbet.
Subs: Daniel O’Reilly for Larkin (HT), Paul Kingston for Corbet (56), Seán O’Flynn for Swyane (60), Simon Fingleton (0-1) for Heffernan for (65), Rioghan Murphy for Barry (69).
Wexford: Rory Tubritt; Dylan Furlong, Gavin Sheehan, Eoin Porter; Glen Malone (0-3), Páraic Hughes (0-1), Darragh Lyons (0-1); Liam Coleman, Niall Hughes; Seán Nolan (0-1), Jonathan Bealin, Eoghan Nolan (0-1 free); Cian Hughes, Kevin O’Grady (0-1), Ben Brosnan (0-1 free).
Subs: Richie Waters for S. Nolan, temp. (28-31), Waters (0-2) for S. Nolan (HT), Conor Kinsella for Bealin (HT), Shane Pettitt (0-1) for Brosnan (45), John Dunne for C. Hughes (45), Cathal Walsh for O’Grady (61).
Referee: Barry Tiernan (Dublin).
