Leinster SFC Semi-finals/Laois 0-21 Kildare 0-9: Long way home to Kildare last night. The emptiness players must have felt on that journey was borne out by the manner in which they surrendered without as much as a whimper. All they achieved by the finish was a descent into indiscipline.
Laois were better in every phase of play. The attack was led by the ever rising Ross Munnelly and he was ably supported by huge contributions from Chris Conway and Barry Brennan. Noel Garvan lorded affairs at midfield, with Padraic Clancy proving an able accomplice.
Perhaps the moment that epitomised the difference in class was when, entering the final quarter, the majestic Tom Kelly sauntered forward on yet another of his probing runs. His opposite number, Glen Ryan - an equally important player for Kildare - hovered 10 yards away marking thin air. By the time he got across, Kelly had transferred possession into the scoring zone.
The Laois defence was close to immaculate. The composed brilliance of Kelly has been seen before, but it was the supporting cast that has brought Laois to the cusp of something really special.
"That's just the semi-final won," Mick O'Dwyer was quick to remind everyone. "We're in a Leinster final three years in a row. That's not too bad so we'll just keep plugging away at it and hopefully it will work."
Surely the display reminded O'Dwyer of another lifetime when his Kerry teams used to put everyone to the sword. They were that impressive. Before the game even settled there was a four-point gap, with Munnelly, Brennan and Garvan wasting little time leaving their imprint.
Mick Foley and Derek McCormack stood up for Kildare in reply, but Munnelly was playing like one of those great Kerry attackers from the 1970s. Killian Brennan responded to his fifth point by flattening him. As Munnelly dusted himself off, Conway landed a long-range free.
That left it 0-12 to 0-4. A fast-paced opening half when Kildare simply could not keep with the tempo.
Their dressingroom at half-time would have been an interesting place. Padraig Nolan kept faith with his starters but rejigged every line.
Significantly, the anonymous Dermot Earley went to midfield with Andrew McLoughlin put on Ross Munnelly and Karl Ennis switched to Beano McDonald, who is still a few weeks off his old self.
Initially, it looked effective. John Doyle curled a wonderful point to open the full-forward line's account.
But there the revival ended as the Kildare supply lines were cut off. Laois simply raised their game again, Billy Sheehan and Kevin Fitzpatrick very nearly finding the net.
No matter, though, as the points continued to flow over - Munnelly even managing to kick another quality score despite increased attentions.
Kildare eventually abandoned their discipline. Alan Barry was fortunate to escape with just a yellow card for a punch on Kelly. James Lonergan and Laois replacement Shane Cooke were then both shown straight red cards after the umpire brought their altercation to the attention of referee John Geaney.
It was late in the match and Glen Ryan's shoulder on Cooke as he left the field didn't sit well with the Laois contingent in the 82,012 crowd. Again, it summed up the frustration of the Kildare players.
Padraig Nolan admitted he could not explain what went wrong.
"Look, we were comprehensively beaten. No excuses. I am very disappointed for everybody involved. You know, we gave it our all, it just didn't happen. It was just one of those days - I can't put my finger on it and the best of luck to Laois.
"I didn't see it coming. Nobody saw it coming. In fairness, we were beaten all over the field. We just have to pull ourselves together now for the qualifiers. We have to. We have no choice but to do it."
Unlike in other years, the six-day turnover is now gone, but recovery from this collectively inept performance may take longer than a fortnight.
Laois move the other way entirely. Yesterday, they seemed so comfortable with their style of play, trusting each other unconditionally.
The experience is there, the will is back - now all they need is another set of medals. Then they can start chasing a dynasty of their own. After yesterday, they will be favourites when they meet Dublin on July 17th.
LAOIS: 1 F Byron; 2 A Fennelly, 3 D Rooney, 4 J Higgins; 5 C Begley, 6 T Kelly, 7 P McMahon; 8 P Clancy, 9 N Garvan (0-1); 10 R Munnelly (0-7, 4f), 11 B Brennan (0-4), 12 B Sheehan (0-2); 13 C Conway (0-5, 3f), 14 K Fitzpatrick (0-1, capt), 15 B McDonald (0-1). Subs: G Kavanagh for B McDonald, S Cooke for K Fitzpatrick (both 58 mins), P McDonald for C Begley (65 mins).
KILDARE: 1 E Murphy; 4 A McLoughlin, 3 A Rainbow, 2 J Lonergan; 5 M Wright, 6 G Ryan, 7 K Ennis; 8 K Brennan, 9 M Foley (0-2); 10 D McCormack (0-2), 11 D Earley, 12 R Sweeney; 13 T Fennin (0-1, 1f), 14 R Glavin, 15 J Doyle (capt) (0-2, one 45). Subs: 22 E Callaghan for M Wright (23 mins), 23 S McKenzie Smith (0-1) for R Glavin (41 mins), 21 W Heffernan (0-1) for K Brennan (45 mins), 20 A Barry for D McCormack (54 mins).
Referee: J Geaney (Cork).
