ALLIANZ HURLING LEAGUE DIVISION TWO Laois 1-19 Westmeath 0-9:LAOIS WERE never seriously troubled by a lacklustre Westmeath outfit in this opening round clash in the National Hurling League Division Two at a sparsely-attended Cusack Park, Mullingar.

Any quality hurling on show came from the visitors who led from start to finish. Buoyed by a goal from lively corner forward John Purcell in the fifth minute, Laois dominated the exchanges against token resistance and went on to lead by 1-9 to 0-5 at the interval, despite having had the luxury of shooting 10 wides.

The overall fare on offer was no better on the change of ends. Brendan Fennelly’s charges continued to score points at regular intervals, with eight players making the scoresheet.

LAOIS: P Mullaney, JA Delaney, B Campion, B Stapleton, J Fitzpatrick, M Whelan, C Dunne, J Walsh (0-1), S Burke, B Dunne (0-2), N Costelloe (0-1), W Hyland (0-5, 0-3 frees, 0-1 65), J Purcell (1-3), N Foyle (0-1), J Brophy (0-3). Subs: T Fitzgerald (for Brophy, 52 mins), O Holohan (0-3) (for Costelloe, 52 mins), D Maher (for Burke, 56 mins), R Gill (for Hyland, 65 mins), B Galvin (for Delaney, 65 mins).

WESTMEATH: P Burke, R Whelan, P Greville, E Price, P Gilsenan, A Mitchell (0-3, 0-3 frees), D McCormack, N Flanagan, C Flanagan (0-1), B Smyth (0-1), D McNicholas, B Murtagh (0-3, 0-1 free), A Devine (0-1), B Lahart, D Carty. Subs: J Shaw (for Carty, h/t), C Curley (for Lahart, 47 mins), S Bardon (for McNicholas, 55 mins), A Craig (for Devine, 70 mins).

Referee: T Carroll(Offaly).