LAOIS and Dublin defied the conditions to produce a wonderful advert for football's minor grade in this Leinster Minor Football final bat Croke Park yesterday.
Dublin had much the better of the opening exchanges; but they somehow managed to shoot five bad wides in as many minutes before Laois actually crossed the halfway line for the first time.
But when they did it was to startling effect, with Kevin Fitzpatrick and Chris Conway shooting crisp points.
Dublin eventually found the target when centre forward Derek Byrne showed the way with a point. Almost straight away, Eoin Bennis flicked on a speculative ball forward for full forward John Magee. Left one on one with the exposed Laois goalkeeper Robert Darby, Magee kept his head admirably to side foot to the net. He quickly followed up with a point.
At this stage, both attacks were knifing through the respective defences and Stephen Kelly (free) and Danny Doogue points had Laois trailing at the end of the first quarter.
As the game progressed, Laois came to terms with the greasy surface and although Anthony Briody and Niall Crossan shot Dublin points, Fitzpatrick, Doogue and corner forward Brian McDonald found the range to level matters approaching the break.
On the resumption Doogue, McDonald and Fitzpatrick - Laois fullforward line - each contributed a white flag to further reveal their potency. However, Laois were plagued by their own inability to score a goal from good positions and by Dublin's knack in grabbing goals at vital times. With this, a mis-hit Magee shot fell kindly for Bennis to rock Laois with a second goal after 40 minutes.
In addition, substitutes Leon Knight and Liam Ryan made vital contributions to Dublin's cause when kicking a point each. At the death Bennis's immaculate equaliser with the outside of his foot denied Laois the accolade of beating Dublin in the minor final for the first time since 1967.
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