Kerry's Joe McDonagh Cup hopes ended after heavy loss to Laois

Kerry's hopes of qualifying for the Joe McDonagh Cup final fizzled out on two front this evening: by being comprehensively beaten by Laois in Tralee by 14 points, and also by events in Cullen Park in Carlow, where the home side trounced Offaly to set up a rematch in the final in a fortnight.

The hosts knew they had to beat Laois to give themselves any chance of a top two finish, but with Offaly qualified and understandably sending a weaker team to Carlow, and consequently losing there, Kerry’s fate was more or less decided by happenings there.

Whether or not news of Carlow’s 10-point half time lead filtered back to the Kerry dressing room is moot, but the Kingdom certainly played the second half like a team that knew their fate.

Kerry had trailed by just two points at half time, 1-12 to 0-13, with Stephen Maher's 18th minute goal the difference in the main.

Padraig Boyle and Shane Conway (free) scored the first two points of the second half to tie the score, but thereafter Laois took over, with Maher leading the Leinster men, while his team mates lashed in three more goals to rescue a morale boosting win for William Maher’s team as their season comes to an end.

The first half was an odd 35 minutes of hurling, a championship game played with more than a flavour of a league fixture with little on the line. There was, of course, everything on the line from Kerry’s point of view, but Laois were up for it toto o, and kept pace with the home team right through.

Kerry were leading 0-7 to 0-5 when James Keyes set Maher through on 18 minutes and the Ballycolla man cracked his shot past John B O’Halloran to give Laois the lead they held to the interval.

Shane Conway converted six frees for Kerry in the first half, with Jordan Conway and