Laois 2-10 Kildare 0-7:A wonderful display from Tracey Lawlor, who scored five points, was the highlight of a hard-fought game at Wexford Park that turned on two second-half goals from Kay O'Reilly and Martha Kirwan.
Kildare were well beaten by Laois in the Leinster final, but provided a much stiffer test on this occasion. They began with serious intent, racing into a two-point lead after two minutes.
Laois gradually settled down with a pointed free from Mary Kirwan and a fine finish from her sister, Nóirín. Lawlor lofted over soon after to put the Leinster champions in front and they led by 0-7 to 0-4 at the break.
Aisling Jennings pointed to reduce the deficit after the resumption, but Kildare's hopes were dashed when O'Reilly scored a goal in the 34th minute. Laois were flying and Martha Kirwan finished clinically to push Pat Critchley's side nine points clear.
Kildare tried hard with Maria Moolick and Simone Gilabert scoring, but a comeback was never very likely.
LAOIS: B Deegan; L Hyland, L Muckian, E McEvoy; A Casey, P Fogarty, A Quigley; M Casey, K O'Reilly (1-0); Martha Kirwan (1-0), N Kirwan (0-3), T Lawlor (0-5, one free); G O'Connor, Mary Kirwan (0-2, frees), E Fitzpatrick. Subs: A Moore for O'Reilly (42 mins, inj), M O'Gara for Quigley (58 mins), C Delaney for Fitzpatrick (59 mins), A Miller for McEvoy (59 mins).
KILDARE: C Dolan; A Holton, C Hogan, A Lambe; K Leahy, D Berry, M Moolick (0-1); B Leahy, E Dillon; A Herbert (0-1), A Jennings (0-3, one free), N Earley (0-1); H Mulligan, S Gilabert (0-1, free), A McBride. Subs: T Noone for Mulligan (44 mins), S Melia for Herbert (52 mins), Herbert for Berry (59 mins, inj).
Referee: D Byrne (Limerick).