Laois 1-12 Offaly 1-7: What the hell is in the water down in Laois? That's five provincial titles since 1996, not including the 2003 All-Ireland won via the back door, as an extraordinary youth policy further tightened the grip on underage football in Leinster.
Maybe the exotic hairstyles have something to do with it, although they are more likely a by-product of success, or maybe, like Armagh and Tyrone in Ulster, it is a case of the good times infecting every corner of the county.
The minors have adopted a similar style to their senior counterparts as a natural awareness of space saw them dominate Offaly yesterday. Not until the nervy final minutes did players start taking too much out of the ball.
Yet, before this excusable minor crime, Laois flowed forward, even winning a penalty inside two minutes.
The hugely talented Stephen O'Leary, in much the same mould as recent predecessor Donie Brennan, stole possession on halfway and fed the equally proficient Daithí Carroll who had the good sense to find Ciarán Delaney in a goal-scoring position.
Diarmuid Horan pulled him down, leaving referee Cormac Reilly with little option but to spread his arms. Carroll neatly dispatched the spot-kick.
After the goal, the fluent passing and movement continued with Seán O'Shea and Delaney increasing the lead before Offaly full forward Ciarán Flannery opened his team's account after 14 minutes. It could have been a goal only for some excellent cover defence.
Then Offaly captain Richard Dalton came forward from centre back to further reduce the deficit. However, this score also brought an impressive riposte from the defending champions.
O'Leary's left boot clipped over two points in a minute, making it 1-5 to 0-3, and with Mark Delaney and Kevin Smith cleaning up aimless Offaly long balls, we waited for the inevitable conclusion.
To Offaly's credit, they tightened up after the break and forced Laois to find another gear. Any chance of a revival seemed to have passed when replacement James Guinan fired wide from point-blank range, albeit after taking a hard shoulder. A few more wides duly followed.
But Laois failed to put them away and there were no scores for 10 minutes until a Carroll free made it a six-point cushion. William Mulhall did finally give Offaly hope by slipping inside the cover for a well-taken goal with nine minutes remaining.
It was a long shot, though, as late scores from Brian Brennan and O'Leary gave the arriving Laois crowd some early cheer.
LAOIS: 1 D Maher; 2 P Fleming, 3 M Delaney, 4 K Smith; 5 R Ryan (capt), 6 B Meredith, 7 S Shortall; 8 S O'Neill, 9 C Óg Green; 10 S O'Leary (0-3), 11 J Fennell (0-1), 12 S Conroy (0-2); 13 S O'Shea (0-3), 14 C Delaney (0-1), 15 D Carroll (1-1). Subs: 21 B Brennan (0-1) for O'Shea (48 mins).
OFFALY: 1 D Bracken; 2 K Higgins, 3 D Larkin, 4 D Horan; 5 J Knight (0-1), 6 R Dalton (0-1, capt), 7 G Grehan; 8 C Mahon, 9 R Connor; 10 N Darby, 11 P Duffy, 12 J Gorman; 13 E Mulhall (1-1), 14 C Flannery (0-1), 15 K Casey (0-2, one free). Subs: 17 J Guinan for Flannery, 21 R Brady (0-1) for Gorman (both half-time), 22 P Deehan for Darby (47 mins), 20 B Kelly for Duffy (57 mins), 19 G Treacy for Grehan (58 mins).
Referee: C Reilly (Meath).
