Carlow have taken a giant step towards the final of Division 2A of the National League following a 1-23 to 0-21 five-point win over Laois this evening.
Martin Kavanagh was electric on frees as Carlow built up a ten point lead by the middle of the second half and were never in danger of being caught.
It was a disappointing evening for Laois who will need positive results against Kerry and Meath to assure themselves of a semi final spot.
Chris Nolan was outstanding at centre forward for the visitors as he hit four points from play, whilst John Michael Nolan and Martin Kavanagh were also impressive.
Enda Rowland, Ryan Mullaney and Diarmaid Conway stood out for Laois and Paddy Purcell was on fire in the second half as he struck four from play.Laois started the game brightly but a goal midway through the half for Carlow gave them the edge and they held on to a four point lead at half time.
Carlow outscored Laois by six points to one early in the second half, but Laois found another gear in the final stages and rallied to bring the gap back to five, although it turned out to be too little too late.
There was a lot of shadowboxing in the opening five minutes as the sides felt each other out before Stephen 'Picky' Maher landed the first jab with a free from midfield.
Scott Treacy and Conor Kehoe hit back with one each to give the visitors a short lived lead as Jer Quinlan levelled with a speculative effort.Laois' midfield came to life on the eight minute mark with a point each from Tom Cuddy and Aidan Corby.
John Michael Nolan scored the first of his two outstanding first half points from a tight angle on the right wing, Laois still had firm control of the game at this point as Picky fired over two frees in quick succession.
The wheel began to turn towards the visitors midway through the half and their rally was ignited by old Laois foe Martin 'Mouse' Kavanagh when he landed a free and James Doyle followed with one from play.
David Dooley struck a fine score from the left sideline on the run before things started to go south for Willie Maher's charges. Kavanagh struck another free moments before Scott Treacy buried the ball low into the net after a quick break from a thwarted Laois attack.
John Michael Nolan and Kavanagh added further points to increase the gap to four points.After a scoreless eight minutes for Laois, Dooley bettered his earlier score with a fabulous point but he was matched and bettered with scores from Kavanagh and Chris Nolan.
Laois captain Aaron Dunphy pointed under intense pressure from close range and Rowland added a point from a free 80 metres out on the sideline with testing underfoot conditions after a fifth Kavanagh free in between.
Chris Nolan and Martin Phelan traded scores in injury time to bring the first half to an end and Carlow led by four.The second half arguably couldn't have started worse for Laois as Chris Nolan and Fiachra Fitzpatrick both split the posts within the opening minute.
Paddy Purcell hit one back but the hosts couldn't contain the Carlow attack as they hit the next four in a row through Chris Nolan, Kavanagh and Kevin McDonald (2).Picky and Kavanagh traded free before John Michael Nolan added his third.
Laois found a second win midway through the half and would go on to hit five of the next six scores, with Picky hitting three frees and a 65 with a monster score from Enda Rowland making up the five.Kavanagh ended a Laois streak of three scores in a row with a free to dull the host's momentum slightly in the 64th minute.
Paddy Purcell hit a brace of excellent points to reduce the gap to five as we approached injury time.Laois were dominating possession and looked to have bundled the ball over the line in injury time but the umpire's flag stayed down and the referee brought it to the 21 for a throw ball.
The next score was crucial and it went the way of Carlow as Fiachra Fitzpatrick struck high into the night score over the bar towards the town. Paddy Purcell finished off a brilliant individual second half with his fourth point moments before the final whistle shrieked.
Laois: Enda Rowland 0-02f; Ian Shanahan, Liam O'Connell, Diarmaid Conway; Gearoid Lynch, Podge Delaney, Ryan Mullaney; Tom Cuddy 0-01, Aidan Corby 0-01; Martin Phelan 0-01, Stephen Maher 0-07 (6f, 1'65), David Dooley (0-02); Jer Quinlan 0-01, Aaron Dunphy 0-01, Paddy Purcell 0-04.
Subs: John Lennon for Lynch (ht), Willie Dunphy for A Dunphy and Mark Dowling for Quinlan (both 47), Tomas Keyes for Phelan (58), Cody Comerford for Corby (66)
Carlow: Ciaran Abbey; Paul Doyle, Tony Lawlor, Conor Lawlor; Jack McCullagh, Kevin McDonald 0-02 (1f), Fiachra Fitzpatrick 0-02; Dion Wall, James Doyle 0-01; John Michael Nolan 0-03, Chris Nolan 0-04, Martin Kavanagh 0-09f; Conor Kehoe 0-01, Scott Treacy 1-01, Fiach O’Toole.
Subs: John Nolan for Kehoe (59), Jake Doyle for Lawlor (69), Ciaran Kavanagh for John Michael Nolan (72)
Referee: Colm McDonald (Antrim)
Meanwhile, neighbours Tyrone and Donegal played out a thrilling Division 2B draw in Omagh, Seamus Sweeney's second-half goal earning the hosts a point as it finished 1-17 to 0-20.
The sides went score for score in the first half with the half-time score 0-12 to 0-11 in favour of the Tir Chonaill County, former Tyrone player Gerard Gilmore proving deadly from frees.
Aidy Kelly, from frees, and a couple of fine Lorcan Devlin frees kept the Red Hands right in the hunt.
Conor Gartland and Conor O'Grady stretched Donegal’s advantage to three points and it was an advantage they held until Sweeney came forward to finish to the net to level things up again.
Joe McToal followed up with a point to move Tyrone ahead, but Gilmore came to the fore to seemingly haunt his former team. However, there was still time for Stephen Gillespie to nab a draw in additional time.
In Division 3B, the in-form Fermanagh didn’t have it all their own way against Warwickshire in Enniskillen, but a good second-half showing propelled them to a 1-19 to 2-05 win.
An 11th-minute goal from Kelvin Magee had Warwickshire ahead early on with a Jack Grealish point moving them four ahead towards the end of the first quarter.
However, by the break Fermanagh had moved ahead – 0-08 to 1-04 – with Luca McCusker top-scoring for the Erne County with three points.
The first score of the second half was another Warwickshire goal, Declan Devine on target this time, as they moved back in front – but they’d only score a further point from there.
A quickfire 1-02 from Tom Keenan wrested back control for Fermanagh and they had 11 points to spare in the end.
Leitrim picked up their first win of the campaign with a 2-18 to 0-17 win against Lancashire.
Leitrim made a brilliant start and led 1-07 to no score, Conor Beirne with the goal, but the visitors responded and trailed by five points at the turn, 1-11 to 0-09.
Leitrim were able to keep their noses in front in the second half with Shane Nugent dismissed for the away side. A second goal from Dhani Keane five minutes from the end sealed the points.
