Laois put up strong fight

NHL Division One B/Limerick 1-14 Laois 0-13: Laois, who had suffered three heavy defeats, put up a much better performance against Limerick in Portlaoise yesterday, but still went down by four points to a team that remains unbeaten.

Without marksmen James Young and Damien Culleton, Laois matched their opponents in most sectors for three-quarters of the game and had the first two points on the board from Philip Russell and Paul Cuddy.

However, Limerick drew level with points from Mark Keane and Conor Fitzgerald and took the lead with points from Andrew O'Shaughnessy and Stephen Lucey.

At half-time only three points separated the sides with Limerick leading 0-9 to 0-6 and they were quicker out of the blocks in the second half with points from Fitzgerald, Lucey and Brian Geary.

Two points from Philip Russell and Mark Rooney narrowed the gap to 0-12 to 0-11 after 45 minutes and despite Limerick being dealt a blow by the loss of the injured Mike O'Brien, his replacement, Donie Ryan, finished a good move for the game's only goal.

Further points from Fitzgerald and O'Shaughnessy maintained Limerick's unbeaten run, but Laois manager Dinny Cahill is sure to take heart.

LIMERICK: T Houlihan; D Reale, TJ Ryan, M Foley; O Moran, B Geary (0-1), M O'Riordan; P O'Grady, D O'Grady; M O'Brien, S Lucey (0-2), C Fitzgerald (0-5); A O'Shaughnessy (0-2), B Begley (0-1), M Keane (0-3). Subs: D Ryan (1-1) for M O'Brien; S Hickey for M O'Riordan; N Moran for M Keane.

LAOIS: P Mullanny; B Campion, P Cuddy, P Mahon; J Phelan (0-1), J Hyland, J Fitzpatrick; M McEvoy, O Bergin; S Dwyer (0-1), M Rooney (0-2), P Russell (0-6); E Jackman, P Cuddy (0-1), J Hooban (0-2). Sub: E Meagher for O Bergin.

Referee: D Murphy (Wexford).