Ryan Murray to the rescue as Antrim draw with Laois

Ryan Murray rescued a point for Antrim with the very last kick of their Division 3 contest against Laois at MW Hire O'Moore Park.

That score came just two minutes after debutant goalkeeper Matthew Byron looked to have crowned his first ever league appearance for the home side with the winning score.

In truth, neither side could argue that they deserved a victory after both produced some decent football in patches, but also went through long fallow periods, particularly in an error-ridden second half that produced just six scores, two of them in stoppage time.

Like most of today’s games, the wind was a key factor, and in the early stages, Antrim used it to great effect.

Odhrán Eastwood, Murray, Paddy McAleer, Jamie Gribbon and Rúairí McCann all kicked sublime scores from distance, and in between a turnover at midfield was ruthlessly punished when Michael and Rúairí McCann combined to set up Eastwood for a good low finish.

1-05 to 0-02 to the good after 21 minutes, Laois gradually worked their way back into things, with Evan O’Carroll leading by example in attack. The big Crettyard player earned a couple of frees and then leapt to meet a Gary Walsh dead ball with a decisive punch to cut the gap to the bare minimum.

Rúairí McCann hit back with another excellent point from the right wing but 1-06 to 1-04 looked like a meagre lead to try and defend into the breeze, even more so with Ricky Johnston off the field for the first eight minutes of the second half due to a black card.

It certainly looked like Laois were on course for back-to-back victories when Mark Barry and Gary Walsh pointed in that period to draw them level, but instead of kicking on from there, the Midlanders lost their way and struggled to get their key attackers on