Sport

Laois go down fighting

Kilkenny 0-18 Laois 1-9: Kilkenny maintained their unbeaten run in the league with victory at Portlaoise yesterday, with the…

Mon Mar 14 2005 - 00:00

Kilkenny 0-18 Laois 1-9: Kilkenny maintained their unbeaten run in the league with victory at Portlaoise yesterday, with the losers destined to fight a relegation battle with Dublin

A point after two minutes by John Hoyne gave Kilkenny the lead, but soon after Laois full forward Mark Rooney rounded his marker and his ground shot beat the Kilkenny goalkeeper for the game's only goal.

Kilkenny responded with points from DJ Carey and John Hoyne, but three excellent points from James Young and one from John Rowney saw Laois lead by 1-4 to 0-4 at the end of the quarter.

Kilkenny improved in the second quarter and two points from Carey and one each from Willie O'Dwyer, Jimmy Coogan and Brian Barry had the sides level after 22 minutes of play. Two late points from Coogan saw Kilkenny lead 0-10 to 1-5 at the interval.

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On the resumption, Young and Derek Lyng exchanged points before two in a row from substitute Eddie Brennan and John Maher saw Kilkenny lead by three points after 10 minutes of the second half.

The Laois defence continued to hurl heroically, but up front their attack made little impression and in the closing quarter the fitter Kilkenny side pulled away with a succession of points from Carey, Maher and Coogan.

After three games, Kilkenny have six points and are the only unbeaten team in their group while Laois and Dublin are propping up the table.

One comforting fact from the game was that Limerick referee, John Sexton, produced no cards during the 70 minutes.

KILKENNY: J McGarry; J Ryall, N Hickey, T Walsh; M Kavanagh, DJ Carey (0-4), JJ Delaney; D Lyng (0-3) B Barry (0-1); M Comerford, J Maher (0-2), W O'Dwyer (0-1); J Coogan (0-4), J Hoyne (0-2), A Fogarty. Subs: E Brennan (0-2) for A Fogarty, J Fitzpatrick for W O'Dwyer, C Phelan for J Coogan.

LAOIS: P Mullaney; B Campion, P Cuddy, P Mahon; J Fitzpatrick, S Dwyer, M McEvoy; J Young (0-7), J Walsh; C Coonan, J Rowney (0-1), C Brophy; D Culleton, M Rooney (1-0), P Russell. Subs: E Jackman (0-1) for C Brophy, B McEvoy for P Russell, J O'Shea for D Culleton, C Clear for J Walsh.

Referee: J Sexton (Limerick).