Sport

Laois grab late draw

Laois 1-10; Galway 1-10: In front of a crowd of over 7,000 in Portlaoise yesterday, Laois opened with a point from Ross Munelly…

Mon Mar 15 2004 - 00:00

Laois 1-10; Galway 1-10: In front of a crowd of over 7,000 in Portlaoise yesterday, Laois opened with a point from Ross Munelly while Michael Donnellan replied with a point almost immediately.

Galway centre-half forward Padraig Joyce gave Galway the lead with a goal after four minutes and when the same player added points in the fifth and seventh minutes it looked comfortable for the Westerners.

However, the home side's defence tightened up and they went on to score six unanswered points, two from Brian McDonald and a point by Michael Lawlor after 21 minutes saw Laois regain the lead, but from there to half time the visitors were the dominant side. John Devane scored two fine points and a third by Derek Savage saw Galway lead 1-6 to 0-7 at the interval.

Within a minute of the resumption, Noel Garvan had narrowed the gap to one point but Michael Donnellan restored his side's two-point advantage. Six minutes into the second half, a speculative free from Ross Munelly rebounded off the crossbar and Laois full forward Colm Kelly boxed the ball to the net.

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The final 20 minutes produced championship-like football and a Galway point from John Devane levelled the game after 60 minutes and a point by Padraig Joyce five minutes from time saw the Connacht champions regain the lead.

However, in the last minute of normal time, a good Laois move was completed by centre-back Tom Kelly when he kicked over a fabulous equalising point.

Both sides had chances in injury time but both managers, Galway's John O'Mahony and Mick O'Dwyer, will have been pleased with their side's performance.

LAOIS: F Byron; P McDonald, C Byrne, J Higgins; D Mulhall, T Kelly (0-2), K Fitzpatrick; P Clancy, N Garvan (0-1); R Munelly (0-3), I Fitzgerald, B McDonald (0-2); M Lawlor (0-1), C Kelly (1-0), C Conway (0-1). Sub: P McMahon for M Lawlor.

GALWAY: A Keane; B Dooney, G Fahey, C Monaghan; D Burke, M Comer, S De Paor; J Bergin, S O'Domhnaill; P Joyce (1-3), M Clancy, J Devane (0-3); M Donnellan (0-2), D Savage (0-2), N Joyce. Subs: T Joyce for D Savage; P Clancy for N Joyce; D Blake for D Burke.

Referee: John Geaney (Cork).