Two late points from Mark Barry saw Laois tiptoe past a fiery fourteen-man Fermanagh as the visitors booked their quarterfinal slot in the Tailteann Cup. 

Inside a tense Brewster Park, both sides needing to win to remain in the Tailteann Cup.

Thus ensued a cagey start, Che Cullen’s opening Fermanagh point three minutes not levelled for Laois until ten minutes had gone, Mark Barry pointing.

That, comparatively, opened the floodgates as quickfire scores from Paul Kingston and Shane McGullion followed leaving it 0-2 apiece after twelve minutes.

Laois then seized the initiative and steadily shifted the scoreboard their way, in a five-minute spell, they had struck thrice from the boots of Evan O’Carroll, Mark Timmons and Colm Murphy to pull three points ahead.

Despite Ryan Lyons hitching one back for Fermanagh, their heads were down, and the home faithful had more woe when injury forced off Tommy McCaffrey and Aidan Breen in quick succession.

O’Carroll’s second point deepened the dreary mood and Ryan Jones then made it worse, seeing a straight red card for a moment of angry recklessness, leaving his team with it all to do.

The hosts did though reduce the arrears on half time, McGullion’s well-struck second point leaving it a two-point match, 0-4 to 0-6.

That score, though, seemed to spark Fermanagh’s fight and they flew fantastically out of the traps after the break.

Four unanswered points saw them turn the tables and the score around so that they now led, with a man less too, by two points.

Luke Flanagan, substitute Conor McGee, Lyons’ second strike and Brandon Horan all transforming the mood in Brewster Park. 

Laois looked shell-shocked but turned the tie upside-down again, Timmons sauntering up field and caressing a calm finish beyond Sean McNally for the game’s opening goal.  The visitors in front once more, this time by one point, setting up a grandstand final twenty minutes.

Moments later, Fermanagh struck back devastatingly, Sean Quigley scoring their first goal with a well-taken effort before O’Carroll’s third point made it a nip-and-tuck, one-point margin once more, Fermanagh 1-8 to 1-7 up.

Kingston’s second point saw us at stalemate entering a nail-biting final ten minutes.

He made another decisive contribution with his third point, but Lyons repelled it with his own hat trick of points.

Barry, though, who opened the Laois scoring looked destined to be the match hero, his sixty-sixth minute strike sailing over the bar as Laois tiptoed ahead by a point.

With injury time nerves high, Barry had the last word, poetically rounding off proceedings with his third point as Laois’ scorers came full circle.

Of more significance to them will be the win that secures them a quarterfinal in the Tailteann Cup this year, despite being under the cosh, Laois very much kept their cool to advance.

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