Sport

McDonald to rescue Division One B

Laois 0-17 Down 2-11 Laois maintained their unbeaten record with a late injury-time point against Down at Portlaoise yesterday…

3
Mon Mar 03 2003 - 00:00

Laois 0-17 Down 2-11 Laois maintained their unbeaten record with a late injury-time point against Down at Portlaoise yesterday.

Down, seeking their first victory in the competition and playing with the advantage of a strong breeze, they were the dominant side in the first 15 minutes.

They opened the scoring with a point from Ronan Sexton after two minutes and a couple of minutes later Seán Ward placed Shane Ward for a well-taken Down goal.

Laois began to find their feet and Damian Delaney had two points in as many minutes from placed balls.

READ MORE

At the end of the quarter Shane Ward's goal separated the sides, with the Northern team leading by 1-3 to 0-3.

The second quarter produced some excellent football and with Delaney in deadly accurate form, Mick O'Dwyer's men took the lead a minute into injury time in the opening half.

At the interval Laois led by 0-10 to 1-6.

Within five minutes of the resumption, three further Delaney points had stretched the Laois advantage to four.

Michael Walsh replied with a good point for Down; but further points from Delaney and Michael Lawlor, saw Laois leading by 0-15 to 1-9 with a quarter of an hour remaining.

Again Michael Walsh replied with a Down point and five minutes from full time Barry Coulter scored a brilliant Down goal to give the Mourne men the lead by a single point.

Within a minute Laois substitute Ross Munnelly sent over the equalising point; but Down in search of the first victory in the competition replied with a Ronan Sexton point two minutes into injury time.

It looked all over for Laois at that stage , but seven minutes into added-on time, former minor star Brian McDonald slipped his marker to score the equalising point.

Laois, who play Sligo on Sunday next at the same venue, remain on top of Division One B - a point ahead of Cavan.

LAOIS: F Byron; T Kelly, C Byrne, J Higgins; D Mooney, K Fitzpatrick, D Conroy; P Clancy, N Garvan; C Conway; I Fitzgerald (0-1), M Lawlor (0-2); B McDonald (0-2), H Emerson, D Delaney (0-11). Subs: R Munnelly (0-1) for Conway; A Fennelly for I Fitzgerald.

DOWN: M McVeigh; J Clarke, B Burns, M Cole; M Higgins, C Byrne, L Doyle; C McCrickard (0-2), Seán Ward; P McCartan (0-1), M Walsh (0-5), B Coulter (1-0); R Sexton (0-2), A Oprey, Shane Ward (1-1). Subs: A Scullion for Higgins (50 mins); B McAleenan for McCartan(45mins)

Referee: M Ryan (Limerick).