Shane Brosnan of New York is tackled by Seamus Lacey of Laois during the Tailteann Cup preliminary quarter-final match between Laois and New York at Laois Hire O'Moore Park in Portlaoise, Laois. Photo by Tom Beary/Sportsfile.
Tailteann Cup, preliminary quarter-final
LAOIS 1-13 NEW YORK 1-9
By Paul Keane at Laois Hire O'Moore Park, Portlaoise
A strong final 20 minutes or so, that included a crucial goal from Mark Timmons, helped Laois secure victory in Portlaoise and a place in tomorrow's Tailteann Cup quarter-final draw.
Justin McNulty's side trailed by a point with 51 minutes on the clock and were down to 14 players at that stage following Shaun Fitzatrick's dismissal.
At that stage, a surprise win for the Exiles to mirror last year's breakthrough Connacht SFC win over Leitrim was on the cards but Laois dug deep when the need was greatest to mine out a vital win.
A 58th minute goal from defender Timmons, allied to points from Paul Kingston, Mark Barry and goalkeeper Killian Roche, helped Laois to outscore New York by 1-3 to 0-1 in the closing quarter.
They will go into the draw for the quarter-finals and will play a group winner next weekend; Kildare, Sligo or Down. They cannot meet Fermanagh having already played them in their group.
But last year's semi-finalists will feel they need a significant improvement to make further progress as New York, nine weeks after losing heavily to Mayo in the Connacht championship, came so close to a landmark result.
New York manager and former Cavan goalkeeper Alan O'Mara was married on Friday and will have been proud of his team's efforts with Kerry man Bobby O'Regan netting for them in the opening quarter.
All the indicators beforehand were that Laois would cruise to their second win of the campaign having previously beaten Wicklow in Group 3, helping them to finish second in the table.
And when they opened up a 0-4 to 0-1 after nine minutes, it looked as if there was going to be little deviation from the script.
But O'Regan's 11th minute goal changed everything, delivering a jolt of adrenaline through the entire New York team and simultaneously denting Laois' apparently brittle confidence.
The Laois defence was badly exposed by a Jack Reilly pass across the scoring zone which found O'Regan in acres of space, giving him time to steady himself and lob a sumptuous kick over goalkeeper Killian Roche to the far corner of the net.
Reilly scored a point himself in the 23rd minute before being called ashore by boss Alan O'Mara who clearly had a game plan in mind to hit Laois with.
Reilly's replacement, James Walsh, offered fresh energy and put a dangerous ball in that led to a 45 which goalkeeper Joseph Grace pointed from.
Laois pressed the New York kick-out hard but the visitors did pretty well getting their kicks away. And they frustrated the life out of Laois in open play with their ferocity and aggression.
A couple of passages of play close to half-time summed up Laois' difficulties. Damon Larkin was through for a 33rd minute point attempt, about 25 metres out, but miscued his kick badly. Shortly after, the ball was back down in the Laois attack again but captain Evan O'Carroll was this time turned backwards by a strong New York challenge, the ball was worked out to Simon Fingleton and he was eventually pulled for overcarrying with four New York players surrounding him.
O'Regan finished the half with 1-1 and created two other points, leaving New York with an unlikely 1-6 to 0-8 half-time lead.
The scores dried up on New York in the third quarter though, partly due to their own poor attacking play but also due to a greater Laois urgency.
Rioghan Murphy pointed for Laois before a 43rd minute move that summed up how Laois were trying to play - two long kick-passes down the field releasing Mark Barry for a routine score.
But it was far from Laois at their best and the game swung violently in New York's favour again in the 49th minute.
Laois sub Fitzpatrick was shown a second yellow for a foul on Rob Wharton and Butler converted the free, tying the game up at 1-7 to 0-10 before chipping over another free shortly after to regain the lead.
New York claimed their first win in the Connacht championship last year, beating Leitrim, and with just four of that starting team lining out here looked on the cusp of another famous result.
But they only managed one more point after the 51st minute, a converted free by Butler, as Laois brought their experience and quality to bear with that Timmons goal and the late points easing them to victory.
Laois scorers: Mark Timmons 1-0, Paul Kingston 0-3 (0-3f), Killian Roche 0-3 (0-3f), Mark Barry 0-3, Evan O'Carroll 0-2, Niall Dunne 0-1, Rioghan Murphy 0-1.
New York scorers: Killian Butler 0-5 (0-5f), Bobby O'Regan 1-1, Shane Brosnan 0-1, Jack Reilly 0-1, Joseph Grace 0-1 (0-1 45),
LAOIS: Killian Roche; Dylan Kavanagh, Simon Fingleton, Mark Timmons; Seamus Lacey, Brian Byrne, Conor Heffernan; Damon Larkin, Kieran Lillis; Mark Barry, Evan O'Carroll, Kevin Swayne; Rioghan Murphy, Niall Dunne, Paul Kingston. Subs: Shaun Fitzpatrick for Kavanagh 26, Ciaran Burke for Lillis 57, Michael Dempsey for Dunne 70, Niall Corbett for Murphy 75.
NEW YORK: Joseph Grace; Jamie Boyle, Noel Hatton, Shane Bolger; Shane Brosnan, Cian O'Dea, Robert Wharton; Liam Kearney, Emmet O Conghaile; Tiernan Mathers, Mikey Brosnan, Eoghan McElligott; Killian Butler, Jack Reilly, Bobby O'Regan. Subs: James Walsh for Reilly 23, Reilly for Brosnan 47, Adam Loughlin Stones for Mathers 60, Niall McCarthy for Bolger 65, Sean Reilly for McElligott 70.
Referee: David Murnane (Cork).
