By Orla Bannon

Fermanagh 1-17 Laois 0-10

Tomás Corrigan’s match-winning haul of 1-11 helped Fermanagh ease to victory as Laois suffered their biggest loss of the campaign so far.

Corrigan assumed the mantle of free-taker in the absence of suspended attacker Sean Quigley and was outstanding, nailing seven out of nine attempts and he also scored a 12th-minute goal.

The Erne county’s movement and energy bamboozled Laois and extended their proud unbeaten home record in Brewster Park to 11 games.

Laois manager Mick Lillis was sent to the stand in the second half as his team ended the day in the drop zone.

All the damage was done early on, with Corrigan the star of the show. He hit 1-5 in a 16-minute spell that helped Fermanagh to a nine-point interval lead.

Fermanagh opened up the second half with four points on the bounce, Corrigan, Aidan Breen, Barry Mulrone and Ryan Jones all on target as they extended their lead even further.

However Laois kicked the last four points to at least get to double figures.

Scorers for Fermanagh: T Corrigan 1-11 (7f), B Mulrone 0-2, R Jones 0-1, P McCusker 0-1, A Breen 0-1, D McCusker 0-1

Scorers for Laois: D Kingston 0-6 (4f), P Kingston 0-2, A Farrell 0-1, D Strong 0-1

FERMANAGH: C Snow. M Jones, C Cullen, N Cassidy. P Rehill, J McMahon, A Breen. E Donnelly, R O’Callaghan. B Mulrone, R Corrigan, D McCusker. P McCusker, R Jones, T Corrigan.

Subs: C Jones for R Jones (53), M O’Brien for Rehill (55), P Cadden for P McCusker (56), P McGovern for Jones (61), D Kelly for Cullen (63), J Duffy for T Corrigan (63).

LAOIS: G Brody. R Kehoe, M Timmons, D Seale. D Strong, C Begley, D O’Connor. J O’Loughlin, B Quigley. K Lillis, N Donoher, D Kingston. P Cahillane, C Meredith, P Kingston.

Subs: R O’Connor for Donoher (34), S Murphy for Seale (35), D O’Reilly for D O’Connor (HT), A Farrell for Begley (53), G Dillon for Lillis (56), E Costello for Cahillane (58).

Referee: Marty Duffy (Sligo).

Substitute Cian O’Brien rescues draw for Meath at Galway

By Daragh Small

Galway 0-15 Meath 1-12

Substitute Cian O’Brien was the hero for Meath as his late equaliser rescued a draw in a riveting clash with Galway in the Allianz League Division 2 at Pearse Stadium.

It was an unlikely scenario after Meath held a strong 1-8 to 0-2 half-time lead thanks to Mickey Newman’s goal.

But Galway hit 13 points to Meath’s single score for the 26 minutes after half-time.

It gave them a 0-15 to 1-9 but points from Graham Reilly, Eamonn Wallace and O’Brien ensured they left with a draw, even though Reilly was shown red for two yellow cards late on.

Meath’s Donal Keogan and Galway’s Damien Comer were both given black cards in the first-half but with a slight breeze at their backs the Leinster side surged into a nine-point half-time lead.

They hit the first five scores, Sean Tobin’s free gave them the lead inside the first minute, and when Newman hit his first they were 0-5 to 0-0 ahead after 19 minutes.

Galway got on the scoreboard thanks to Comer after 20 minutes and Eddie Hoare added to it, but Donal Lenihan shot another Meath point. Then Newman took advantage of a defensive error to find the net after 32 minutes.

Meath were 1-8 to 0-2 up at half-time but it was all Galway from there until the final five minutes, with three wonderful scores from Shane Walsh part of their fight back.

Hoare tied the game up in the 56th minute, and Gary Sice gave Galway a three-point lead but O’Brien’s late effort sealed the draw.

Scorers

Galway: E Hoare 0-4 (0-2f), S Walsh 0-3, P Conroy 0-2 (0-1f), T Flynn 0-2, G Sice 0-1 (0-1f), G O’Donnell 0-1, D Comer 0-1, A Varley 0-1.

Meath: M Newman 1-2, G Reilly 0-3, E Wallace 0-3, S Tobin 0-2 (0-2f), D Lenihan 0-1, C O’Brien 0-1.

Galway: M Breathnach; D Wynne, D Kyne (F Hanley 9-11), E Kerin (Hanley 17); L Silke, G O’Donnell, J Heaney (C Sweeney 71); T Flynn, P Conroy; E Tierney (G Sice 35), E Hoare, E Brannigan (S Denvir 71); D Comer (D Cummins 35, black card), A Varley, S Walsh.

Meath: C McHugh; C McGill, M Burke, D Keogan (N Judge 12, black card) (C O’Brien 51); J McEntee, P Harnan, A Douglas; H Rooney, G Reilly; S Tobin (C Downey 67), C O’Sullivan, D Tobin; E Wallace, M Newman (R O Coilleann 51), D Lenihan.

Referee: Conor Lane (Cork).