Laois 0-29 Offaly 0-21
Zane Keenan top-scored with 0-11 as Laois recorded a first Leinster Hurling Championship win over Offaly since 1972, with a 0-29 to 0-21 victory at O’Moore Park.
0-10 to 0-06 in arrears after 24 minutes, Laois responded with the next eight scores including four from Keenan to take a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.
Shane Dooley (0-10) kept Offaly in touch from placed balls, but Laois had that extra edge, and led by 0-23 to 0-16 entering the final quarter, following a Dwane Palmer score.
Despite hitting 16 wides, Laois took some impressive scores from play with Willie Hyland hitting seven points from play, and Cha Dwyer adding five.
Offaly never gave up and added scores from Dan Currams and Dooley late on, but Laois were firmly on their way to a semi-final date with Galway.
With Laois manager Seamus 'Cheddar' Plunkett leaving the set-up after two players played in a senior club hurling challenge, it threatened to derail the O’Moore’s hopes of a rare Championship success over Offaly.
But with Cheddar back involved, Laois ambitions of reversing a four-point defeat to Offaly at the same venue in the Allianz League earlier this year were high.
The Laois management made four changes to their starting line-up, with Eoin Reilly making his return as goalkeeper for his first Championship start of 2015, while Tom Delaney, Dwane Palmer and Stephen ‘Picky’ Maher were also added to the line-up.
Enda Rowland, Conor Dunne, Ben Conroy and PJ Scully were demoted to the bench for Laois, while Offaly stuck with the line-up named midweek.
Laois were eager to make a strong impression early on, and in particular Keenan who was involved in all of the hosts early attacks.
The Camross clubman fired Laois’s first wide after nine seconds, then had an effort come off the posts, and a sideline cut drop short - all inside the opening three minutes.
It was Willie Hyland who got Laois off the mark with the first of his seven points from play after three minutes, before Dooley equalised.
The sides were tied on three occasions in the opening 11 minutes, before Offaly pulled away thanks to scores from Dooley and Brian Carroll.
0-06 to 0-03 ahead after 15 minutes, Offaly were looking good and with their captain Dan Currams also on target, they moved 0-10 to 0-06 ahead after 24 minutes, with Laois guilty of six wides at this stage.
But superbly the hosts launched a firm comeback and completely turned this game on its head.
A brace of Keenan points, coupled with a Cha Dwyer score cut the gap to the minimum in the 29th monte.
Keenan’s fifth point ensured the sides were tied for the fourth time, after 31 and a half minutes, but Laois didn’t stop there, with Keenan, Hyland and Dwyer adding to their tallies before the break, as Laois took a 0-14 to 0-10 interval lead.
Offaly cut the gap to three points with Dooley’s sixth score of the game inside 90 seconds of the restart, but Laois were impressive, and added three points without reply by the 39th minute.
Patrick Purcell, Keenan and Dwyer were on target, before Dooley offered an Offaly response.
The sides traded points on four occasions between the 42nd and 49th minutes, before scores from Hyland and Palmer helped Laois moved 0-23 to 0-16 in front.
Crucially for Laois their wides tally was mounting up at this stage, and with 15 minutes remaining, the O’Moore’s wides count stood at 13.
Goal chances were few in this game, and Tommy Fitzgerald and Picky Maher combined in the 55th minute, but Offaly keeper James Dempsey pulled off a superb save.
Laois’s confidence wasn’t dented as Hyland added a point, before a superbly struck Keenan sideline cut.
Referee James Owens awarded Offaly a controversial penalty, after Cahir Healy was deemed to have committed an infringement inside, but following consolation with his umpires, the Wexford whistler reversed his decision and instead threw in the ball.
It was a sigh of relief for Laois, but the O’Moore’s continued to look good, and outscored Offaly by 0-04 to 0-03 in the closing eight minutes, on their way to a June 20th semi-final with Galway in Tullamore.
LAOIS: E Reilly; B Stapleton, M Whelan, C Healy; J Fitzpatrick, JA Delaney, T Delaney; J Campion, P Purcell (0-2); W Hyland (0-07), Z Keenan (0-11, 6f, 1s/l, 1 65), D Palmer (0-01); C Dwyer (0-05), T Fitzgerald (0-01), S Maher (0-02). Subs: P Whelan for P Purcell (64); J Walsh for Palmer (70); PJ Scully (0-01) for Maher (70); B Conroy for Fitzgerald (71).
OFFALY: J Dempsey; D King (0-01), D Shortt, N Wynne; C Parlon, C Egan, P Camon; S Ryan, E Nolan (0-01); P Murphy, D Currams (0-04), J Bergin (0-01); S Dooley (0-10, 9f, 1 65), J Mulrooney, B Carroll (0-03). Subs: C Kiely (0-01) for Ryan (HT); E Murphy for Parlon (41); S Cleary for Mulrooney (44); S Wynne for King (60).
REFEREE: James Owens (Wexford)
