Senior footballers cruise past Laois into Leinster semi

DUBLIN 2-21 LAOIS 2-10

A good start is half the battle . . . . as so it proved to be as reigning Leinster and All-Ireland champions Dublin cruised into a provincial semi-final with victory over Laois at Nowlan Park, Kilkenny on Saturday evening.

From the throw-in Brian Fenton delivered a long ball into the inside line which Dean Rock collected and angled on goal before slipping the ball past Laois keeper Graham Brody.

Four minutes later a brilliant kickout from Stephen Cluxton found James McCarthy breaking beyond midfield and he galloped forward before placed Diarmuid Connolly who expertly steered the ball to the net under the body of the advancing keeper Graham Brody.

Inside ten minutes Dublin were 2-4 to 0-1 clear much to the delight of their supporters, who must have outnumbered the Laois contingent about 15:1 among the 16,764 attendance.

The Dublin attack was moving well with Rock, Connolly and Ciaran Kilkenny especially to the fore and further points from Dean Rock (three, including two frees), Kilkenny and corner-back David Byrne had Jim Gavin's men 2-12 to 0-7 clear by the interval.

Laois lost John O'Loughlin to a straight red card in the 27 minute which typified their opening half as Dublin ruthlessly went to close the game off as early as possible.

However, the O'Moore County rallied despite the numerical inferiority in the second period.

Seven minutes into the second half Paul Cahillane beat Stephen Cluxton from the penaty spot and not long after wing-back Stephen Attride brilliantly fired to the net following good work by Kevin Meaney and Donie Kingston.

Dublin had become a bit shapeless at the back at this stage as they got drawn out of position with Laois capitalising on the counter-attack.

But the boys in blue settled again with two superb Diarmuid Connolly points and Rock added two more to wrestle back the momentum when moving 2-18 to 2-8 in front.

One of the largest cheers of the evening was reserved for Eoghan O'Gara's return to competitive action following his long layoff following his cruciate knee injury and subsequent surgery.

Con O'Callaghan, the shining forward on this year's U21 team, was also brought into the action for his senior championship debut and scored a point as well as superbly fetching a long delivery from Connolly before having his goal attempt smothered.

Late on Connolly was denied by Brody from the penalty as Dublin ran out 11-point victors and now face the winners of Meath v Louth in the Leinster semi-final in Croke Park on June 26.

SCORERS - Dublin: D Rock 1-10 (0-6f), D Connolly 1-4, C Kilkenny 0-4, D Byrne, K McManamon, C O'Callaghan 0-1 each. Laois: P Cahillane 1-2 (1-0 pen, 0-2f), S Attride 1-0, D Kingston 0-2 (0-1f), D O'Connor, D Strong, J O'Loughlin, G Walsh, K Meaney, R O'Connor 0-1 each.

DUBLIN: S Cluxton; P McMahon, J Cooper, D Byrne; J McCarthy, C O'Sullivan, J Small; B Fenton, MD Macauley; C Kilkenny, K McManamon, D Connolly; P Mannion, D Rock, B Brogan. Subs: D Bastick for Macauley (blood 28), Macauley for Bastick (45), M Fitzsimons for McMahon (45), C Costello for Brogan (51), C O'Callaghan for Mannion (56), D Daly for O'Sullivan (59), E Lowndes for Cooper (62), E O'Gara for Rock (63).

LAOIS: G Brody; M Timmons, P Cotter, S Attride; D O'Connor, D Strong, G Dillon; J O'Loughlin, B Quigley; E O'Carroll, P Cahillane, C Begley; D Kingston, G Walsh, C Meredith. Subs: K Meaney for O'Carroll (30), N Donoher for Walsh (ht), R Munnelly for Dillon (47), A Farrell for Cahillane (62), R O'Connor for Quigley (65), G Hanrahan for Cotter (65).

REF: C Brannigan (Down).