Laois take huge step towards Joe McDonagh final with win in Tralee

Laois took a huge step towards the Joe McDonagh Cup final with a comfortable and deserved 10-point win that simultaneously puts a huge dent in the Kingdom's hopes of reaching their first decider since 2022.

There was little disputing that Laois were the superior team in every facet at Austin Stack Park, and they hurled with a lightness of touch that reflected the sunny afternoon in Tralee.

For Kerry, however, dark clouds have now gathered over their campaign after early wins against Westmeath and Down, and they will probably need to beat Meath at home and then Offaly away if they are to reach the final.

On current form Laois will be a good bet to pick up maximum points from their remaining games against Down and Westmeath, and without getting ahead of themselves, there will - and justifiably so - be growing confidence that they can repeat their 2019 Joe McDonagh Cup title success five years on.

Once Laois cracked in the game’s only goal in the seventh minute the visitors were in full control, and it would be generous on Kerry to say they ever looked like winning.

Laois took a six-point lead, 1-10 to 0-07, to half time and were full value for it. Indeed, but for some wayward shooting and two big saves by the Kerry defence, the Leinster men would have been much further down the road to what already felt like an inevitable win at the turnaround.

Liam O’Connell pointed Laois into the lead in the first minute, and four minutes later Fionan Mackessy boomed over an equaliser from a free touching 100 metres out.

Turnovers are valuable currency in hurling, and two in the space of three minutes were worth 1-01 to Laois. First, in the seventh minute Paddy Purcell picked Ronan Walsh’s pocket and played the ball into Tomás Keyes who buried