NFL Division One B/ Laois 1-16 Derry 0-10: This was a monster of a performance for the third Sunday in March. We had fierce, ravenous football and scenes of total domination. If you had to pick a favourite for the league right now it would have to be Laois.
Rarely have a team looked so fast and fit and cool so early in the year. Derry had arrived in Portlaoise as the only unbeaten team in the division, and reputedly building up to be a force again. They managed to run with Laois for the first 20 minutes or so, but then suddenly dropped off that pace. If it were a long-distance race Derry would have been lapped.
In the end nine different Laois players made the scoresheet. It was a total team performance, although Billy Sheehan, Derek Conroy, Paul Lawlor and Pádraig Clancy added that bit more. Barry Brennan also chipped in with a classic goal before retiring early with a mild concussion.
For Mick O'Dwyer, the only problem afterwards was trying to play down the performance. Laois move into second behind Derry in the league table, and in this sort of form look certain of a place in the play-offs.
"Well I hope it isn't too early," said O'Dwyer. "That's the only thing about it. We're still short a few players, and it's great the ones we have put in are playing exceptionally well. That's because they know there's such competition for places. This keeps us in the running for the play-offs, yeah, but we're happy enough to stay in this division. Sure we'll keep it going though."
Laois played with the smart, speedy kind of confidence so frequently the mark of O'Dwyer's teams, and long before the final whistle Derry knew they'd been comprehensively outplayed.
It started out evenly enough, with Derry isolating Paddy and Eoin Bradley as their full-forward line, and keeping almost everyone else behind the ball. That didn't appear to suit Laois, and at first their swift, charging runs were broken down. After exchanging a couple of points, Paddy Bradley's free put Derry 0-3 to 0-2 in front on 19 minutes. Little did they realise they would never lead again.
Just a minute later, Lawlor sent a slightly ambitious crossfield ball into the path of Brennan, whose sudden surge beat the Derry defence and he bravely punched the ball into the net. Brennan took a heavy knock in the process (retiring at half-time) but Laois were on the way.
Lawlor's influence steadily grew, and last year's under-21 is now a real option for O'Dwyer come the summer. Sheehan had started at midfield instead of Clancy, and possibly had his best game yet for his adopted county. Ross Munnelly closed out the half with a free and a point although, like Brennan, he had to retire early with a leg injury.
Laois were up 1-5 to 0-6 at the break, with the two Bradleys adding frees close to the end to reduce the deficit. Derry were clearly hanging on. Their half-forward line and midfield were struggling badly with the pace of Laois, and even if they were without the suspended Patsy Bradley and Fergal Doherty they looked a very ordinary team. Their attacking options soon dried up once Laois snared the two-man full-forward line.
So the second half was played out as a classy exhibition for the home crowd, which numbered around 7,000. Derry hit three points early on to briefly level the score again, but went 17 minutes before their next and last score.
In the meantime Laois were sending points over from practically every angle. Lawlor got the point he deserved, Sheehan hit two great scores, one on the run, and one from way out, but the three best points of the day (including a free from the halfway line) were reserved for Clancy, who came in after 45 minutes for Munnelly. Joe Higgins rounded it all off with a typically cunning score. Laois had hit the last six points without reply.
Derry manager Paddy Crozier could have few excuses afterwards: "Yeah, for the last 20 minutes their pace was fantastic," he admitted, "and it was a nightmare for us. We were getting run over. So this was a reality check for everybody . . . But I wouldn't see it as a serious setback. We came down here looking for another two points, nothing more. We didn't get them, but we were never thinking about play-offs just yet."
LAOIS: F Bryon; A Fennelly; D Rooney, P McMahon; J Higgins (0-1), D Conroy, B McCormack (0-1); B Sheehan (0-2), T Kelly; R Munnelly (0-3, two frees), C Conway (0-2, one free), G Kavanagh (0-2); K Kelly, P Lawlor (0-1), B Brennan (1-1). Subs: B McDonald for Brennan inj (half time), P Clancy (0-3) for Munnelly inj (45 mins), C Parkinson for Sheehan (67 mins), N Garvan for Kavanagh (69 mins).
DERRY: S McGuckin; F McEldowney; K McCloy, S M Lockhart; P Cartin, J McBride, L Hinphey; K McGuckin, J Diver; G O'Kane, E Muldoon, G Diamond; C Mullan, P Bradley (0-3, all frees), E Bradley (0-5, one free). Subs: M Donaghy (0-1) for Diamond (28 mins), P Diamond (0-1) for Mullan (48 mins), F Crossan for McEldowney (55 mins), C O'Brien for Cartin (62 mins), J Kelly for Diver (67 mins).
Referee: P Russell (Tipperary).
