For some considerable time Laois seemed capable of beating the highly fancied Kildare at Croke Park yesterday but surrendered two goals in the second half to a less than convincing Kildare side an surrendered their ambitions as well.

There was little to recommend the performance of either side. The pitch was in good condition and the weather favourable even if a strong wind supported the team defending the Canal End.

This is what Laois decided to do when they won the toss but amazingly they seemed more comfortable against the breeze in the second half.

At times Kildare appeared to be ready to demolish Laois in that opening half but their approach showed more ambition than achievement. Even so they were content to defend with some vigour and were happy enough with a four-point lead (0-8 to 0-4) at halftime.

There was a certain lack of conviction in the way they approached the second half, however, and they struggled against the courageous performance of Laois until fortune favoured them in a short space of time with about 12 minutes left for play.

Kildare were leading by 12 points to seven but were less than impressive although comfortable when Niall Buckley pumped a long-range free into the Laois goalmouth and a deflection, probably off the Laois midfielder, Noel Garvan, ended up in the Laois net.

The goal was closely followed by the sending off of Michael Lawlor and this, in turn, was followed by Kildare's second goal.

Laois seemed to be in control of a defensive situation but fumbled the ball and Declan Kerrigan transferred his unexpected possession to Padraig Graven and he drove the ball past the unprotected Fergal Byron.

This wiped Laois out of the match completely and they finished with only 13 players on the field because, apart from Lawlor's sending off, they also lost John O'Reilly, their corner back who was carried off and could not be replaced because Laois had, already, used their allowed three substitutes.

In the closing phase of the game Laois seemed to be without any real shape. This was due mainly to the fact that they failed to cope with the heavy loss of two men and it was no surprise to see Kildare players running free for long passes from their defence when Laois attacks broke down.

And yet, Laois could be said to have laid down a series of questions about Kildare in the period up until the goals showered in. Particularly in the opening quarter of an hour in the second half, Kildare seemed to be struggling.

Tony Maher and Noel Garvan were making things difficult for Niall Buckley and Willie McCreery at midfield and Denis Lalor, David Seeney and Hugh Emerson were causing considerable problems without managing to get the scores which their efforts deserved. For Kildare Glen Ryan, Anthony Rainbow, Dermot Earley, Karl O'Dwyer and, until his injury, Martin Lynch were impressive for Kildare but one is left with the impression that there is much to be done before Kildare can end their long wait for a Leinster title.

The busiest man on the field throughout the rather untidy match was the unfortunate referee, Paul McGann from Westmeath. Apart from sending off Lawlor he " booked two Kildare players and no fewer than seven Laois players.

Nobody could fault these decisions and, in fact, it could be argued that a more strict regime might have been imposed earlier in the match because it appeared that his early laxity was interpreted as weakness by many of the players. His handling of the match also caused some confusion as it was not made clear what he was doing when he spoke to players and it was only after he agreed to give a list of bookings to reporters after the match that the situation could be sorted out.

The opening exchanges, with Laois having a strong support from the wind, were not all that informative. Laois supporters were greatly encouraged by the fact that they scored two points without replay in the first 10 minutes but they also squandered many good chances of scores by wayward kicking. Once Kildare settled down they took control. With the half forward line retreating behind the midfield they crowded out the Laois attack and skilful use of the hand-pass to retain possession relieved them of whatever pressure the wind was imposing upon them.

This factor was commented upon by Mick O'Dwyer, the Kildare manager afterwards. "We won the match in the first half because our lads made the most of their possession and refused to give it away. We carried the ball out of defence rather than kicking away possession and our first half performance was what stood to us in the second half. We ran them into the ground.

"I wasn't all that happy at half time. We had a four-point lead but Laois came back at us early on and made things difficult for us even though we had a good lead and the wind behind us," he said.

He also revealed that Martin Lynch, his experienced attacker, will probably miss the Leinster final after dislocating his collar bone late in the match. "He will be a big loss but we have a strong squad and I'm sure that we will find somebody to fill his place although his experience will be hard to replace," he said.

In the Laois dressingroom Michael Dempsey conceded that his side had lost to a superior side. "We are very disappointed about the way we played but we wish Kildare well. We believe that we are building for the future and that our day will come," he said.