All-Ireland MFC Final / Dublin 1-11 Laois 1-11: David Murphy, introduced in the 58th minute, had a day to remember at Croke Park yesterday. The Portarlington player needed only a couple of minutes to make his All-Ireland minor final debut a memorable occasion by scoring the equalising point in the final minute of ordinary time.
The crucial point, from 30 yards, over the Canal End crossbar, was the sort of score Laois had been promising throughout a tense but free-flowing encounter.
Centre-back Colm Begley collaborated down the middle with Chris Bergin and Murphy astutely popped up to take the telling pass despite the desperate closing down efforts by the Dublin rearguard.
It was the seventh time the sides drew level and there was not a neutral, at least, in the packed stadium who would have wished for one or other side to steal it in the remaining seconds of injury time.
Barney Rock, who figured on Dublin minor teams in two finals, was fascinated by the flow, excitement and skill of it all.
"Great end-to-end stuff, brilliant football that only the minors can produce, just like the minor hurling final," he said afterwards.
Laois should have finished some of the most cohesive moves imaginable with more scores. Instead they had 10 wides, against eight for Dublin, and they lacked a long place-kicker - nothing came of the four 45s which they forced. Dublin must also rue the fact they did not convert a few more scores off some of their classy build-ups.
Barry Kennedy must still be wondering how Laois goalkeeper Conor Gorman kept out his sizzling close-range shot moments after Mark Vaughan had set the game alight with a brilliant goal in the 26th minute.
Five of the Laois forwards had scored for a 1-5 to 0-4 lead by the 21st minute. Vaughan's goal was welcome, especially by the cluster of Laois fans on the Hill, and when Gorman made that spectacular tip-over save from Kennedy, the sides were level.
Laois's goal-scorer, Colm Kelly of Stradbally, popped up to restore the Laois lead with a point just moments before the break.
Dublin had more cause to be worried at the interval, mainly because of the manner in which their defenders were lured out of position by a flexible and versatile Laois front six.
The Dublin captain and full back, Kian Cleere, was having a particularly difficult time in trying to cope with the unpredictable movements of the scheming Laois front runners.
The Dublin midfield was also having their problems against a more agile Brendan Quigley and Craig Rogers and it didn't help Dublin's confidence to see their St Vincents' centre back, Gerard Brennan, having to retire injured.
Fortunately for Dublin, they had a player of the calibre of Francis Fitzgerald of St Margaret's.
The Dublin manager, Ciarán O'Hare, afterwards expressed his concern about his side's general first-half showing.
Fitzgerald shared in a bonanza period for Dublin, scoring the middle point of three in as many minutes after the half-time break. This meant Dublin forged a 1-8 to 1-6 lead, but fortunately for Laois they had in Quigley a player of class and huge influence to steady the ship. His work rate had to be admired at all times.
The Dublin cover looked extremely vulnerable when he moved forward on penetrating solo runs.
Dublin's John Coughlan has had better days in the middle. He tried to get his forwards going with passes for the most part and then, when he tried to add to his one-point tally with a feasible opportunity almost at the death, he was badly wide for what could have been the winning score.
Laois were not finished at that stage however, and they were presented with a chance for the winner when Bergin shaped up to kick a line-ball on the 20-metre line. His shot was knocked just wide of the far post.
The mood in the Laois dressing-one afterwards was one of satisfaction and manager Seán Dempsey said he was happy enough to get another chance.
In the replay, Dublin will be hoping to push their scoring tally beyond 1-11 - the amount they also scored in the Leinster final.
DUBLIN: K Walsh; A Downes, K Cleere, W Lowry; D Reilly, G Brennan, I Ward; B Phelan, J Coughlan (0-1); G O'Meara, B Kennedy (0-4), M Vaughan (1-0); A Relihan (0-2, one free), K Leahy (0-3, one free), J O'Hara. Subs: F Fitzgerald (0-1) for Brennan (29 mins), J O'Brien for B Kennedy (58 mins), C Moore for O'Hara (60 mins).
LAOIS: C Gorman; C Healy, C Ryan, R Stapleton; P O'Leary, C Begley, N Donagher; B Quigley, C Rogers; D Brennan (0-3), C Bergin (0-2), P McNulty (0-2); M Tierney (0-2, frees), C Kelly-St Josephs, C Kelly-Stradbally (1-1). Subs: D Murphy (0-1) for McNulty (58 mins).
Referee: J Geaney (Cork).
