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2025 Allianz Football League Division 3 – Clare 2-22 Laois 1-21

March 15 @ 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm

Clare defeated Laois by 2-22 to 1-21 in Round 6 of the Allianz Football League Division 3 on Saturday March 15th at Laois Hire O’Moore Park Portlaoise.

Clare turn tables on Laois to maintain promotion push

Report by Kevin Egan courtesy of the Irish Examiner newspaper

Allianz FL Division 3: Laois 1-21 Clare 2-22

Clare’s first away win of this year’s Allianz League leaves them effectively in control of their own destiny in advance of their final round fixture at home to Offaly next Sunday, and they’ll bring plenty of momentum into that tie after firing the last six points on the spin to crown a dominant second half performance.

This isn’t the first time in this year’s league that a team turned around a significant half-time deficit, but the flags were perfectly still in Portlaoise, so this had nothing to do with a breeze and everything to do with a series of excellent individual displays. Manus Doherty switching over to marshal Mark Barry shut down the main Laois attacking threat, Brian McNamara came into the game at midfield, while Emmet McMahon shot all seven of his points in the second half, bringing others into the game around him in the process.

With Ikem Ugwueru and Aaron Griffin carrying their strong first half form through to the second period, that was enough for Clare to overcome a six-point interval lead and win well, without the aid of any two-pointers.

The Banner also made an explosive start, with Aaron Griffin finding the net at the end of an incisive run through two tackles, but Laois started to exert control at midfield, with Damon Larkin and in particular Conor Heffernan very impressive.

Barry tacked on several good points, former Clare player Killian Roche hit the first of two two-pointer frees from distance, and a flicked Ronan Coffey goal with the last action of the half made it 1-13 to 1-7.

After the two teams traded the first two points of the second half, McMahon exploded into the game with three points in two minutes, and Clare never lost momentum from there. Laois kept their noses in front, relying on orange flags from Roche and Heffernan to stem the tide, but they were taking on water at the back.

Pa Kirwan did brilliantly to deny Keelan Sexton a tap-in goal after Clare worked the ball through with slick handpassing, but there were no home-town heroes to save the day when a similar move saw Alan Sweeney add the decisive touch at the far post in the 57th minute.

Laois replied well with three out of the next four points, but a driving run from Manus Doherty set up a fisted score from Griffin with six minutes to play, and that kicked off a sensational finish that sent Clare back down the M7 in high spirits.

Scorers for Laois: M Barry 0-8 (4f), K Roche 0-4 (2 tpf), C Heffernan 0-3 (1tp), R Coffey 1-0, N Corbet 0-2, D Larkin 0-1, K Swayne 0-1, J Hogan 0-1, B Byrne 0-1.

Scorers for Clare: A Griffin 1-4, E McMahon 0-7 (4f), E Cleary 0-3 (2f), A Sweeney 1-0, M McInerney 0-3 (2 45s), C Downes 0-2, I Ugwueru 0-1, B McNamara 0-1, D Walsh 0-1.

LAOIS: K Roche; B Dempsey, S Fingleton, T Collins; P Kirwan, S Lacey, B Byrne; C Heffernan, D Larkin; K Swayne, R Coffey, D O’Reilly; M Barry, J Hogan, N Corbet.
Subs: B Carroll for O’Reilly (51), P O’Sullivan for Larkin (62), S Fitzpatrick for Hogan (67), S Griffin for Sweeney (70).

CLARE: E Tubridy; M Doherty, C Brennan, C Rouine; C Meaney, F Kelleher, A Sweeney; I Ugwueru, B McNamara; C Downes, E Cleary, E McMahon; M McInerney, K Sexton, A Griffin.
Subs: D Coughlan for Meaney (half-time), D Walsh for McMahon (46-53, blood), D Walsh for Downes (53), D Burns for Sexton (57), R Lanigan for Kelleher (67), C Lee for Corbet (70).

Referee: David Murnane (Cork).

Team News

Details

Date:
March 15
Time:
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm

Venue

Laois Hire O’Moore Park Portlaoise

GAA Units

Clare GAA
Cork GAA
Kerry GAA
Limerick GAA
Tipperary GAA
Waterford GAA
US GAA