Evan O'Carroll inspires Laois to comfortable Division 4 final win over Leitrim

Leitrim will have to wait for their first win at Croke Park after a strong Laois finish secured the NFL Division 4 title for Justin McNulty's side.

Ben Dempsey's first-half goal put the Leinster outfit in the ascendancy though Leitrim rallied bravely and reduced the gap to two points in the third quarter before goals from Eoin Lowry and Paul Kingston wrapped it up for Laois.

Laois ultimately reeled off an unanswered 2-06 in total from the 48th minute as Leitrim, playing at Croke Park for just the sixth time, failed to score again after that mini-revival.

It means that Leitrim will head into next weekend's Connacht SFC quarter-final clash with Sligo following a chastening 14-point defeat.

But Laois have capped promotion to Division 3 with the title outright and will approach their Leinster SFC quarter-final against Offaly on 13 April in confident mood.

Kingston and Lowry finished with 1-02 apiece though Evan O'Carroll was the Man of the Match. The Laois captain scored six points and played the final pass for the first two goals.

He played a key role in what is a first piece of league silverware for Laois since claiming the same title in 2018.

Leitrim were unchanged from the side that beat Tipperary in Round 6 though Laois brought in James Kelly in defence for Jack Lacey.

That was a significant switch because Kelly was detailed to man-mark Leitrim dangerman Ryan O'Rourke who fired 5-18 on the road to Croke Park including 3-03 against Wexford.

All the early drama centred around Laois full-forward O'Carroll at the other end of the field. The powerhouse Laois skipper struck 2-19 ahead of the final and immediately displayed his appetite for further destruction.

Twice he made terrific catches in the air in the opening quarter hour or so