Flashbacks: Dublin v Laois

Dublin's senior hurlers face Laois, the recently crowned Joe McDonagh Cup winners, in Sunday's All-Ireland SHC preliminary quarter-final in O'Moore Park, Portlaoise (4.15).

The counties have met on a few occasions in recent years including in both this year's HL Division 1 and Walsh Cup.

They last met in the championship in 2017 when Dublin won an All-Ireland qualifier tie by 13 points.

Dublin won two (v Galway and Carlow), drew one (v Wexford) and lost one (v Kilkenny) of their four Leinster championship games while Laois had a very impressive run in the Joe McDonagh Cup, winning four and drawing one of five games on their way to taking the title, when they defeated Westmeath last weekend in Croke Park.

The Dublin-Laois winners will play Tipperary in the All-Ireland quarter-finals - the following Sunday in Croke Park.

Here we look back on the most recent Dublin v Laois encounters.

2019 HL DIVISION 1B

SUNDAY, MARCH 3: Parnell Park

DUBLIN 0-13 LAOIS 0-11

Dublin fended off Laois for victory in this HL Division 1B clash played in atrocious conditions at Parnell Park.

The pitch had an inspection from ref Liam Gordon but it was very tricky for players to illustrate any skill in impossible underfoot conditions.

However, the display once again of Danny Sutcliffe and Liam Rushe will give the Dubs hope as the look more long term to the summer ahead while the return to full competitive action for Cian Boland following injury was another boost.

Dublin started slowly and inside the opening quarter were trailing 0-3 to 0-6 to the O'Moore County men.

Indeed but for some fine goalkeeping by Dublin netminder Seán Brennan the Dubs would have found themselves further in arrears.

First he denied Stephen ‘Picky’ Maher from close-range when showing great reflexes. In the 20th minute he performed heroics again to stop a goal effort from Cha Dwyer and was also alert to stop a Mark Kavanagh shot coming up to half-time.

By the break Dublin had cut the gap to the minimum as to David Treacy frees saw his side trail 0-6 to 0-7 at the interval.

With his first touch following his introduction Oisín O’Rorke brought the sides level and Dublin quickly moved into a lead thanks to Shane Barrett's effort.

Laois lost Cha Dwyer to a second yellow card in the 57th minute but with just five minutes remaining the O'Moore County were in front.

But Dublin finished the stronger with two Sutcliffe points and a Seán Moran '65' securing victory for the home side. The Dubs finished the game with 14 players after Shane Barrett went off injured late on.

“There’s always things to be learned. You’re always going to be challenged along the way,” said Dublin manager Mattie Kenny.

“Whether it’s by your opponent or decisions going against you or in today’s case – the conditions. You’re looking for the reaction of the players.

“Our lads dug in and dug deep and that’s better than any number of training sessions.”

SCORERS – Dublin: D Sutcliffe, D Treacy (3f) 0-3 each, O O’Rorke, S Moran (0-1f, 0-1 ’65) 0-2 each, S Barrett, J Hetherton, C Boland 0-1 each. Laois: M Kavanagh 0-4 (0-3f), C Dwyer 0-2, E Rowland (0-1f), S Downey, A Dunphy, P Purcell, W Dunphy 0-1 each.

DUBLIN: S Brennan; P Smyth, E O’Donnell, J Madden; D Gray, S Moran, S Barrett; J Malone, R McBride; J Hetherton, D Sutcliffe, D Treacy; P Ryan, L Rushe, D Burke. Subs: O O’Rorke for Ryan (ht), C Boland for Malone (47), E Dillon for Burke (47), R Hayes for Hetherton (53), F Whitely for Treacy (66).

LAOIS: E Rowland; J Phelan, M Whelan, D Hartnett; P Delaney, R Mullaney, L Cleere; S Downey, W Dunphy; A Dunphy, M Kavanagh, C Dwyer; P Purcell, N Foyle, S Maher. Subs: S Bergin for W Dunphy (inj, 23), J Kelly for Maher (52), P Keating for Foyle (62), C Phelan for Downey (73).

REF: L Gordon (Galway).

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2019 WALSH CUP ROUND 3

SUNDAY, JANUARY 6: O'Moore Park, Portlaoise

DUBLIN 1-18 LAOIS 1-16

Dublin battled to victory in this Walsh Cup clash at O'Moore Park, Portlaoise to progress to the semi-finals.

Mattie Kenny's men went on to face Galway after scoring six of the last eight scores of this well-contested duel to book their place in the last-four.

Laois led 1-14 to 1-12 after 13 minutes of the second-half before Dublin came alive again with John Hetherton and subs Fergal Whitely and Oisin O'Rorke on target to seal victory.

The sides were level 1-8 each at the break after both sides had enjoyed sustained periods of dominance.

“The Walsh Cup is a pre-season tournament. So we're taking it as that and we're working it towards the league and January 26 (NHL opener versus Carlow),” said Dublin manager Mattie Kenny.

“We want to use the Walsh Cup games to look at as many players as possible and get a bit of hurling into everyone.

“This week is our first week back in the new year. We had a heavy training week and today's game was part of that training week.

“I know it was a pre-season game but there's still a bit of competitive edge to it. You still want to get your nose ahead at the finish," added Mattie.

Dublin began well and had an early goal chance but Eamonn Dillon was denied by Laois keeper Enda Rowland.

Dublin did create several goal opportunities in the opening half but were thwarted by the home defence in several occasions with keeper Rowland and Joe Phelan to the fore.

John Hetherton opened Dublin's account in the second minute with a 65-metre free before Mark Kavanagh levelled it for the O'Moore County.

Dublin's goal came in the fourth minute when Dillon fired to the net following a clever bat down by Hetherton.

Points from Cian Boland and Dillon extended Dublin's lead to 1-3 to 0-1 by the sixth minute.

The Dubs continued to hold the upperhand and led 1-6 to 0-3 by the 15th minute following scores by Hetherton, two frees following fouls on Donal Burke and Boland, and a point from play by Boland.

Dublin also had another goal chance but corner-back Joe Phelan got in to foil Dillon following good work by Fintan McGibb.

However, the home side then turned the game around and hit 1-5 without reply to move 1-8 to 1-6 clear with half-time approaching.

Aaron Dunphy got the Laois goal in the 24th minute after Mark Kavanagh had opened up the Dublin defence before offloading to Stephen 'Picky' Maher who then placed Dunphy for the finish.

Chief freetaker PJ Scully also converted three points from placed balls while keeper Rowland struck over a monster free.

Dublin responded well before the interval with Hetherton hitting two points in quick succession to bring the sides level.

SCORERS – Dublin: J Hetherton 0-7 (0-4f), E Dillon 1-1, C Boland, J Malone, F Whitely, O O’Rorke 0-2 each, S Moran (0-1f), C Crummey 0-1 each. Laois: PJ Scully 0-7 (0-4f), A Dunphy 1-3, M Kavanagh (0-1f), E Rowland (0-2f) 0-2 each, E Lyons, S Maher 0-1 each.

DUBLIN: A Nolan; D Gray, E O’Donnell, J Madden; S Barrett, S Moran, T Connolly; R McBride, J Malone; F McGibb, J Hetherton, C Boland; E Dillon, L Rushe, D Burke. Subs: L Gannon for Barrett (inj, 16), F Whitely for Boland (inj, 30), C Crummey for Connolly (ht), O O’Rorke for D Burke (43), D Keogh for O’Donnell (48), G Whelan for McBride (50), C Conway for Rushe (53), C Burke for Dillon (62).

LAOIS: E Rowland; P Delaney, M Whelan, J Phelan; J Kelly, R Mullaney, E Killeen; D Hartnett, P Purcell; A Dunphy, E Lyons, S Maher; M Kavanagh, PJ Scully, E Gaughan. Subs: S Downey for Gaughan (51), C Phelan for Kavanagh (58), J Cranney for Killeen (69), N Foyle for Lyons (70).

REF: M Murtagh (Westmeath).

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2017 ALL-IRELAND SHC QUALIFIER ROUND 1

SATURDAY, JULY 1: Parnell Park

DUBLIN 2-28 LAOIS 1-15

Dublin had little difficulty overcoming Laois in this All-Ireland SHC first round qualifier at Parnell Park.

The Dubs led by minimum at the interval, 0-12 to 0-11, but with the wind at their back in the second period the soon began to put clear distance between the teams.

Nh Fionnbarra's Eamonn Dillon had a second half to remember, tallying 2-3 to add to his first half point from play.

It was his goal six minutes into the second half that propelled the Dubs to victory when he controlled a long delivery from corner-back Fionn O Riain Broin before dispatching clinically to the net past Enda Rowland.

That strike pushed Dublin 1-14 to 0-13 clear before points from David Treacy, Donal Burke, two from Dillon including one of the scores of the night when Shane Barrett, Ben Quinn, Fergal Whitely and Dillon combined superbly.

Ger Cunningham's men were enjoying their hurling now and kept the momentum going with further points from Treacy (free), Dillon, Treacy again, two from sub Whitely and David O'Callaghan to see their side out of sight, leading 1-24 to 0-13.

Three minutes from the end of normal time Dillon, with a stunning shot to the roof of the net, made it 2-27 to 0-13 before sub John Hetherton added a close range free - to make it 1-14 for the Dubs without reply.

Of pure consolation was Laois' late goal from keeper Rowland from a 25-metre free and point from Mark Kavanagh.

Kavanagh along with Paddy Purcell were the O'Moore County's best performers and both caused problems for their hosts in the opening half.

Dublin started slowly and trailed 0-1 to 0-4 inside seven minutes.

However, Dublin eventually found their feet and the freetaking of Treacy alongside two fine points from starting debutant Cian O'Sullivan had Dublin back in contention as the half progressed.

SCORERS – Dublin: E Dillon 2-4, D Treacy 0-9 (0-6f), C O’Sullivan, B Quinn 0-3 each, D Burke, D O’Callaghan, F Whitely 0-2 each, S Barrett, N McMorrow, J Hetherton (0-1f) 0-1 each. Laois: M Kavanagh 0-6 (0-2f), P Purcell 0-5, E Rowland 1-1 (1-1f), M Whelan, C Taylor, C Collier 0-1 each.

DUBLIN: C Dooley; C O’Callaghan, E O’Donnell, F Ó Riain Broin; S Barrett, C Crummey, S Moran; B Quinn, N McMorrow; D Burke, L Rushe, E Dillon; C O’Sullivan, R O’Dwyer, D Treacy. Subs: F Whitely for McMorrow (49), D O’Callaghan for O’Sullivan (60), F McGibb for Burke (62), J Hetherton for O’Dwyer (65), T Connolly for Moran (65)

LAOIS: E Rowland; D Palmer, L Bergin, L Cleere; E Killeen, M Whelan, R Mullaney; P Purcell, S Downey; C Healy, C Collier, J Kelly; N Foyle, A Dunphy, M Kavanagh. Subs: C Taylor for Kelly (ht), A Corby for Dunphy (52), S Bergin for Downey (56), D Hartnett for Killeen (71), P Lawlor for Collier (71)

REF: J Keenan (Wicklow).