Donegal 2-11 Laois 0-16:Donegal held on despite a valiant Laois fightback at Croke Park to claim the NFL Division Two title.
Goals from Michael Murphy and Colm McFadden proved crucial for the Ulster side as they saw a eight-point lead whittled away to one in the second half after the dismissal of Adrian Hanlon.
Hanlon was dismissed with a little over half an hour to go after receiving a second yellow for an off-the-ball incident. It came minutes after captain Murphy set up McFadden for Donegal’s second goal and almost undermined the good work that had gone before.
Donegal held a three point lead at the break, thanks to Murphy’s penalty after the skipper was adjudged to have been taken down by Darren Strong. His thunderous finish off the underside of the crossbar was a thing of beauty, typical of a man high on confidence.
He extended the lead immediately after the restart with one of three points on the day, before his powerful run set up McFadden’s goal. When Hanlon was dismissed it was the skipper again who kept them going forward when pointing from the sideline.
The numerical advantage was with Laois, however, and they made it count with seven unanswered points – two each from Paul Cahillane and Ross Munnelly – and one apiece for Strong, captain Colm Begley and substitute Paul Kingston.
With gap narrowed to one point, McFadden’s point for Donegal was as timely as it was inspirational. Rory Kavanagh and Kevin Cassidy followed suit, leaving Laois chasing a four-point deficit.
MJ Tierney, Cahillane and Kingston closed the gap, but not by enough.