Laois made it five wins from five in Division 2 of the Allianz Hurling League with a comfortable 17-point victory over Meath, so securing an instant return to Division 1B for the O'Moore County.
The victory at Laois Hire O'Moore Park also secured a home league final ahead of their fixture away to London in a fortnight.
Aidan Corby starred for the hosts with four points from play and star forward Tomas Keyes added five to the scoreline before both were forced off through injury early on in the second half, a potential worry for Laois boss Tommy Fitzgerald as the business end of the league season approaches.
A major positive for Fitzgerald and his backroom team was the return of Stephen 'Picky’ Maher to the action, the Clough-Ballacolla clubman made a brief cameo against Westmeath last week but he appeared for the final thirty minutes of today’s game and slotted four points in the process.
Meath were the other form team in this division as they sat just two points behind table-toppers Laois coming into this fixture and despite struggling from early on the Royals kept plugging away and were still within touching distance by half time.
Tom Shine struck six of the Royals’ seven first-half scores, whereas the hosts had a big spread of scorers with Tomas Keyes, Aidan Corby, Cillian Dunne, Aaron Dunphy, James Keyes and Padraig Delaney all contributing to their 11 points in the opening period.
There was a strong wind blowing in Portlaoise and the hosts came out for the second half with it to their advantage and they put Meath to the sword early on.
Lee Cleere was unlucky with a shot at goal that blazed over the bar, but alongside early white flags from Dunphy, Corby Dunne and Keyes, the hosts were nine points to the good with 43 minutes played.
That trend continued as the half progressed with subs Martin Phelan, 'Picky' Maher and Fiachra C Fennell combining for six points with David Dooley also getting in on the action.
Meath stopper Gavin King kept the score respectable for the visitors with late saves to deny goals for Ryan Mullaney and Martin Phelan, but the game was beyond reproach for the Royals and they will now have to find a huge performance in their final game against Kerry if they are to see promotion.
Laois: Eoin Reilly; Ian Shanahan, Lee Cleere (0-01), Cody Comerford; Ciaran McEvoy, Padraig Delaney (0-02, 0-01 f), Jordan Walshe; David Dooley (0-01), Aidan Corby (0-04); James Keyes (0-02), Jack Kelly, Ryan Mullaney; Cillian Dunne (0-04), Aaron Dunphy (0-03), Tomás Keyes (0-05, 0-4 f).
Subs: Fiachra C Fennell (0-01) for Walshe ht, Stephen Maher (0-04, 0-1 f, 0-1 65) for Corby 43, inj, Martin Phelan (0-01) for T Keyes 48, Padraic Dunne for Dooley 55, Mark Dowling for J Keyes 62
Meath: Gavin King; Jarlath Ennis, Sean Geraghty, Anthony Healy; Noah Conroy, Daire Shine, Simon Ennis; Lorcan O'Connor, Joey Cole; Darren O'Higgins, Mark Leavy, Eoin Donegan; Tom Shine, Mikey Cole, Lorcan Byrne.
Subs: Darragh Heffernan for D Shine 10 - 13, temp, Damien Healy for Donegan 47, Darragh Heffernan for J Cole 47, Cathal Barron for M Cole 47, Kyle Donnelly for Leavy 57, Sean Doyle for Byrne 65
Referee: Ciaran O'Regan (Cork)
Elsewhere in Division 2, Kerry gave their scoring difference a boost as they beat Mayo by 6-24 to 0-15 at Austin Stack Park.
The 27-point winning margin was built on three goals inside 20 minutes, with Oisín Maunsell, Michael Slattery and Gavin Dooley hitting the majors.
Colin Walsh finished another free-flowing move just before the break to send the men from the Kingdom in 24 points clear.
With the result beyond doubt, the game was more evenly match in the second half with Gavin Dooley and Maunsell, with his second, helping the Munster men to a +64 point difference in the table.
Kerry will finish their campaign away to Meath on Saturday week, with their promotion hopes in their own hands.
The Royals could go up to 1B with a win, but Westmeath could also spoil their neighbours party after beating Derry.
It was going so well for long periods but two late goals from Darragh McGilligan for the Oak Leaf county left the Lake County men sweating at the death.
They ultimately won by a point, 1-20 to 3-13, and will finish their campaign away to Mayo.
They'll want to win that one, although they could still go up if Meath beat Kerry, owing to their better head-to-head record against the Royals.
In Division 3, Roscommon moved top ahead of Donegal after seeing off Fermanagh by 5-18 to 2-22 in Enniskillen.
The Rossies did their goal scoring before the break, with Cian Murray, Conor Morris, and skipper Conor Mulry, affectionately known as Toasty by the Rossies followers, scoring one each, and Sean Canning adding a brace.
That left them 13 clear at the break, but the Ernesiders did show character to make a game of it in the second half.
Danann McKeogh blasted home their first goal from a free on the 21, before Sean Corrigan struck their second, but they couldn't get closer than six until the last score of the game.
It's all to play for at the top after Wicklow came good to see off Donegal by 0-21 to 0-14.
The Tír Chonaill men had been top of the table coming into the day, but the Garden County uprooted them with a composed performance in Letterkenny.
The Rossies are a point ahead of Donegal ahead of their meeting in the last game of the league at the Hyde, while Wicklow will welcome Louth to Aughrim at the same time.
