2024 Allianz Football League Division 4 – Laois 5-19 Waterford 0-9

Laois defeated Waterford by 5-19 to 0-9 in Round 7 of the Allianz Football League Division 4 on Sunday March 24th at SETU Arena, Carriganore.

Ruthless Laois secure promtion in one-sided affair against Waterford

Allianz FL Division 4

Laois 5-19 Waterford 0-9

Report by Tomas McCarthy for the Irish Examiner newspaper

‘Calm, composed, ruthless’ read a banner brought out of the Laois dressing room after Sunday’s lop-sided encounter in showery Carriganore.

It was so comfortable for the visitors that manager Justin McNulty took off danger men Mark Barry and Evan O’Carroll after 26 minutes. The full forward line had scored 4-7 between them by that stage. Promotion to Division 3 already secured.

The O’Moore men led by 20 points after just 22 minutes. A gracious McNulty started his post-match interview with praise for the opposition. “Firstly, I want to pay tribute to the Waterford team. My twin brother marked Paul Shankey in an All Ireland minor final in 1992. A hard as nails, teak tough defender. He has a tough job here in Waterford.

“They’ve been the whipping boys of Ireland for many years. After half time, with the match over, they came out with their shoulders back and their heads held high. They should have their heads held high because they keep coming back and they keep fighting on. So much respect and so much admiration for them. From our perspective, we’re delighted to have got promotion.

“Credit to the players who have dug deep. We took a major blow last week, came back and delivered that performance. Mission one accomplished.”

Waterford boss Paul Shankey addressed his players on the pitch afterwards as the rain teemed down. “We fell apart in the first half,” he admitted. “I can’t fault the lads, they’ve been fantastic over the last couple of months, just games and training caught up with us. Laois are strong, very well conditioned, good footballers and have a lovely full forward line so congratulations to them.”

Four goals in eleven first half minutes saw the hosts fall 4-8 to 0-0 behind. “We just came off the rails for ten minutes. Every attack seemed like a goal. Every time we got the ball turned over, we conceded a goal. We just lacked intensity in the first half. We have trained very hard over the last month and maybe lads were mentally and physically tired”

The scoreboard read 4-9 to 0-3 by half time. Laois inside trio Mark Barry (2-3), Evan O’Carroll (1-3) and Paul Kingston (1-1) did the damage. It took Waterford 25 minutes to open their account through an advanced mark from Tom O’Connell.

The Déise made four half time substitutions but it didn’t alter the course of the game. Sub Rioghan Murphy rolled in a fifth goal six minutes into the second period. Even Laois supporters headed for home before David Hickey blew the full time whistle.

A demoralising 25 point defeat for the Déise two weeks out from their Munster quarter final against Tipperary. “There’s no short term solution for Waterford football,” Shankey remarked. “It’s a long term project for clubs, county board and players. There’s no short term fix. All we can do is be fresh and compete as best as possible for the Tipperary match.”

Scorers for Waterford: J Curry 0-4 (3fs), D Fitzgerald, T O’Connell (1 mark, 1f) 0-2 each, S Curry 0-1 (mark).

Scorers for Laois: M Barry 2-3, E O’Carroll, P Kingston 1-3 each, R Murphy 1-1 (1f), K Roche (2fs), E Lowry (2fs), B Daly (1f) 0-2 each, C Heffernan, S Fitzpatrick, N Dunne 0-1 each.

WATERFORD: P Hunt; C McCarthy, C Walsh, C Ó Cuirrín; M Mullaney, D Ryan, R McGrath; M Curry, J Curry; J Power, S Curry, B O’Keeffe; W Beresford, T O’Connell, A Dunwoody.
Subs: A Beresford for Hunt (HT), D Fitzgerald for O’Connell (HT), J Walsh for Ryan (HT), B Hynes for W Beresford (HT), J Keane for Mullaney (60).

LAOIS: K Roche; B Dempsey, S Lacey, J Lacey; E Buggie, M Timmons, B Byrne; K Lillis, D Larkin; K Swayne, E Lowry, S Fitzpatrick; M Barry, E O’Carroll, P Kingston.
Subs: B Daly for O’Carroll (26), R Murphy for Barry (26), N Dunne for Fitzpatrick (HT), S Fingleton for Timmons (HT), C Heffernan for Lillis (52).

Referee: D Hickey (Carlow)

Team News

Allianz Football League – Rd 7
**TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT**

📅 Sunday 24th March
🏟 SETU Arena, Carriganore
🕐 1pm

Ticket sales online only:https://t.co/W58qjVPNPX

List of the active stores attached where people can buy or online.https://t.co/u1Dxyglwtu pic.twitter.com/wLijWN03eS

— Waterford GAA (@WaterfordGAA) March 22, 2024