Galway’s rising stars make short work of hapless Laois opponents

Galway 4-21

Laois 0-7

John McIntyre in Portlaoise

IT’S just as well there was virtually no live audience at O’Moore Park, Portlaoise on Friday evening. Watching a team being pummelled on the hurling field doesn’t make for edifying viewing regardless of what side of the fence you are standing on.

Laois U20 hurlers weren’t just heavily defeated in this hopelessly one-sided Leinster championship quarter-final, they got such a pasting you’d wonder will some of their players have the stomach to even continue with their inter-county careers?

The Midlanders were simply out of their depth. Lacking Galway’s fitness, cohesion and skill, Laois proved cannon fodder on the night. Losing by 26 points and only managing three scores from play illustrated their overall poverty.

Sure, they suffered early misfortune when losing defender Aaron Gaughan and Tomas Keyes to injury, but the dismissal of full back Enda Parlon on a straight red card in the 47th minute and their lack of physical conditioning were self-inflicted blows.

Laois players were dropping like flies due to cramp in the second-half and though there was a big gulf in standard between the teams, the hosts’ failure to keep pace with Galway only added to their woes.

Of course, none of this is Galway’s problem. Despite only having a handful of squad sessions behind them, the young men in maroon really warmed to their task as the game progressed, in particular picking off some wonderfully created points which were all about the angles of support running.

Even the trend of the early action was ominous for Laois. They were 1-4 to 0-1 behind after 12 minutes and didn’t win a single position on the field, though wing back Padraic Dunne was prominent in the opening-half, midfielder Joe Phelan had his moments and Keyes, one of their point scores from play, looked dangerous prior to his injury.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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