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A 55th minute Donal Kingston goal was the catalyst for victory as 14-man Laois booked a spot in the Round 2 All-Ireland Football Qualifiers draw, following a two point win over Longford at Pearse Park.
All-Ireland SFC Qualifiers Round 1
Laois 1-10
Longford 0-11
By Cóilín Duffy
13 wides, and a two and a half month gap between Championship fixtures, didn't do any favours for Longford manager Luke Dempsey who called time on his career at the helm tonight.
A second yellow card for defender Pádraig McMahon late on failed to unsettle Laois as they advanced to the next round.
Although Longford dominated possession in the opening half, Laois weren't keen to let them capitalise on this dominance, with the likes of Darren Rooney and Tom Kelly forming a centre partnership down the middle in defence.
Both teams failed to find their swagger in the first half as Longford kicked six wides in the opening 35 minutes, and they were very lucky to be just one point adrift at the interval, with Laois more clinical in front of the posts.
Although Longford dominated possession in the opening half, Laois weren't keen to let them capitalise on this dominance, with the likes of Darren Rooney and Tom Kelly forming a centre partnership down the middle in defence.
Kelly's 16th minute point coming following a good move involving Donie Kingston and Brian McCormack, as Laois went 0-3 to 0-2 clear at the end of the opening quarter
A Brian Kavanagh point tied the game for the third time, 12 minutes from the interval, but with Longford also mis-firing heavily, this was still anyone's game and Laois by 0-5 to 0-4 at the break, following a third point from the boot of Tierney.
Laois engineered a strong start to the second half, and following a defensive lapse by Longford centre-half-back Arthur O'Connor, Ross Munnelly capitalised for the first score after the restart, and to open up a two-point lead for the first time in this game.
It took Longford ten minutes to score their first point of the second half, with Paddy Dowd on target, but following quick scores from McGee and Kavanagh, Longford crept into a 0-7 to 0-6 lead by the 49th minute.
A Paul Barden score helped open up a two-point gap, but Laois were far from finished with Kingston's goal paving the way to victory, with the Barrowhouse player scoring 1-2 in the final quarter to secure the win.
Longford continued to pile on the pressure and although Kavanagh misfired from a free, Paul Barden sent the home crowd into raptures when his point, opened up a two point lead as the game entered the final quarter.
But Laois weren't finished yet, as 50th minute substitute Billy Sheehan, fed Kingston for Laois's goal which saw the O'Moore's into a one-point lead with 15 minutes remaining, which ultimately proved to be the match-winning score.
Scorers for Laois – D Kingston (1f) 1-3; MJ Tierney (3f) 0-3; T Kelly, B Quigley, R Munnelly, B Brennan 0-1 each.
Scorers for Longford – F McGee (1f) 0-4; B Kavanagh (2f) 0-3; P Barden, P Dowd 0-2 each.
LAOIS: Michael Nolan; Cahir Healy, Darren Rooney, Cathal Ryan; Peter O'Leary, Tom Kelly, Pauric McMahon; Brendan Quigley, John O'Loughlin; Ross Munnelly, Barry Brennan, Brian McCormack; MJ Tierney, Colm Parkinson, Donie Kingston. Subs: Colm Kelly (St. Joseph's) for Parkinson (BS 26-29); Billy Sheehan for Munnelly (50); Colm Kelly (St. Joseph's) for Tierney (58); Paul Lawlor for Parkinson (66); David Murphy for O'Leary (69)
LONGFORD: Damien Sheridan; Dermot Brady, Noel Farrell, Cathal Conefrey; Shane Mulligan, Arthur O'Connor, Declan C. O'Reilly; Liam Keenan, Paddy Dowd; Declan Farrell, Paul Barden, Diarmuid Masterson; Francis McGee, Pádraig Berry, Brian Kavanagh. Subs: Kevin Mulligan for D Farrell (46); Peter Foy for Berry (64)
REFEREE: Tomás Quigley (Dublin)
Frees: Laois 24 (16,8) Longford 21 (14,7)
Wides: Laois 7 (3,4) Longford 13 (6,7)
45's: Laois 0 (0,0) Longford 1 (1,0)
Yellow Cards: Laois 3 (P McMahon*2, B Brennan) Longford 2 (C Conefrey, F McGee)
Red Cards Laois 1 (P McMahon) Longford 0
Attendance: 5,000 (approx)
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