2021 Allianz Football League Division 2 South – Clare 1-16 Laois 0-12

Clare defeated Laois by 1-16 to 0-12 in Round 1 of the 2021 Allianz Football League Division 2 South on Sunday May 16th at Cusack Park Ennis.

Daniel Walsh’s debut goal sets Clare on course for victory over Laois

Report by Joe O Muircheartaigh for the Irish Examiner newspaper

AFL Division 2 South: Clare 1-16 Laois 0-12

A strong beginning the second quarter by Clare in which they bagged 1-3 within the space of 10 minutes laid the foundations for an impressive seven-point Division 2 win over Laois in Cusack Park.

The high-point of that scoring surge was a sweeping 24th-minute move that began with keeper Stephen Ryan’s kick-out and ended up with left-half-back Daniel Walsh marking his senior inter-county debut with a brilliant goal.

This strike helped Clare into a 1-8 to 0-5 interval lead against a Laois side that relied on full-forward Donie Kingston to keep them in touch and from there, nothing other than a comfortable victory for Colm Collins’ side was on the cards.

With captain Eoin Cleary bringing his tally to 0-10 in the second half, Clare had plenty in hand against a disappointing Laois side that never raised a gallop when playing with the advantage of a healthy breeze.

Scorers for Clare: E Cleary (0-10, 4 frees, 1 ’45, 1 sideline); D Walsh (1-2); K Sexton, C O’Connor, D Tubridy (free), P Lillis (0-1 each).

Scorers for Laois: D Kingston (0-5, 2 frees); G Walsh (0-3, 2 frees); C Begley, N Corbett (free), P Kingston, B Byrne (0-1 each).

Clare: S Ryan; C Russell, C Brennan, E Collins; C O’Dea, S Collins, D Walsh; D O’Neill, C O’Connor; D Bohannon, E Cleary, P Lillis; G Cooney, J Malone, K Sexton.
Subs: J McGann for Malone (4), D Tubridy for Sexton (half-time), A Sweeney for E Collins (54), E McMahon for O’Neill (54), A Griffin for Cooney (63), I Ugwueru for O’Dea (66), C Murray for Lillis (66).

Laois: N Corbett; R Pigott, M Timmons, G Dillon; T Collins, C Begley, P O’Sullivan; J O’Loughlin, K Lillis; E Lowry, P Kingston, D O’Reilly; M Barry, D Kingston, E O’Carroll.
Subs: G Walsh for O’Reilly (half-time), B Byrne for Lowry (45), B Daly for Lillis (54), M Keogh for Barry (54), E Buggie for Collins (62), R Munnelly for P Kingston (66), S Bolger for Timmons (66).

Referee: M Flaherty (Galway)