Brown the hero as 13-man Laois minor see off Wexford to advance via penalty shoot out

Laois 1-11 Wexford 0-14 (AET) Laois win 4-3 on pens
Leinster Minor Football Championship Round 1

Conor Brown was Laois’s hero as he pulled off two saves and scored a penalty as Laois reached the Leinster minor quarter finals following a penalty shoot out win over Wexford.

Laois played for 10 minutes with 14 men and 20 with 13 men but managed to force extra time and then saw victory snatched from them there before coming back to win on penalties.

It was a seriously dramatic game but Laois have come through against all the odds.

Laois played against the breeze in the first half and actually started well with a free from Kieran O’Donnell and a point from Davy Costello.

Wexford responded through Kyle Rankin and Cian Hughes but another O’Donnell free left Laois ahead 0-3 to 0-2 at the water break.

But it was the second quarter of the game where things badly unravelled for Laois. O’Donnell’s accuracy from dead balls let him down and Wexford got on top on the scoreboard.

Kyle Rankin put Wexford ahead for the first time with Cathal Murphy also scored before Laois were reduced to 14 men after 28 minutes

Vice-captain Jack Byrne was fouled on the 45 but the linesman called referee Stephen Fallon over after spotting something in the aftermath of the free. He adjudged that Byrne had attempted to headbutt a Wexford player and sent him off.

Rankin added another point and Wexford took a 0-6 to 0-3 lead at half time.

Laois were better in the second half despite their man disadvantage – which became two after 40 minutes when Cathal Lee was shown a straight red card.

Wexford went further ahead when Dylan Cooke-Leonard scored a very controversial point that the linesman seemed to indicate was wide but he was overruled by the umpires.

Laois then enjoyed a real purple patch as O’Donnell kicked a free and Cormac Murphy plus Sean Brennan scored to reduce the gap to one at the second water break – 0-8 to 0-7.

Laois had a chance to level it after 50 minutes when the excellent Conor Fitzpatrick, who made a massive impact as a half time sub won a free but O’Donnell just slipped the free wide.

But Laois kept going and Cormac Murphy did level it before sub Daniel McGrath dramatically put the 13 men ahead.

But Wexford got a free in the fourth minute of injury time which Kyle Rankin kicked to send us to extra time – 0-9 apiece.

Laois were now permitted to go back to the full fifteen and they brought on John O’Shea and Paddy Whelan for extra time.

Laois had the wind for the first half of extra time and O’Donnell instantly kicked them ahead from a free.

Wexford had a couple of chances but against the wind they couldn’t convert and Laois led 0-11 to 0-9 at half time in extra time.

The visitors instantly cut the deficit instantly through Darby Purcell from long range.

But then a moment of individual brilliance looked like it had won the game for Laois.

Conor Fitzpatrick played the ball to Cormac Murphy on the end line and he ran past two defenders before squeezing a shot into the net from a seemingly impossible angle.

But this game had one more twist – and it involved referee Stephen Fagan.

Darby Purcell, Eoin Whelan and Tomas Mythen cut the gap to one and then with the final kick the referee awarded Wexford an extremely soft free for what he deemed a foul by Aaron Dorgan.

Purcell nailed it and we headed for penalties – Wexford 1-11 Laois 0-14.

Conor Brown, Cormac Murphy, Aaron Dorgan and Daniel McGrath all scored in the shoot out as Laois prevailed.

SCORERS – Laois: Kieran O’Donnell 0-6 (six frees), Davy Costello 0-1, Sean Brennan 0-1, Cormac Murphy 0-2, Daniel McGrath 0-1 Wexford: Kyle Rankin 0-6 (four frees), Cian Hughes 0-1, Cathal Murphy 0-1, Dylan Cooke-Leonard 0-1, Darby Purcell 0-3 (one free), Eoin Whelan 0-1, Tomas Mythen 0-1

LAOIS: Conor Brown; Ciaran Culleton, Ryan Quinlan, Darragh Slevin; Killian Byrne, Aaron Dorgan, Cormac Murphy; Sean Brennan, Aodhan Lowry; Darren Mulhall, Jesse McEvoy, Jack Byrne; Davy Costello, Kieran O’Donnell, Cathal Lee. Subs: Conor Fitzpatrick for Lowry (ht), Daniel McGrath for Mulhall (45), Cale Brennan for Costello (57) John O’Shea and Paddy Whelan on for extra time, Aodhan Lowry for S Brennan (64, inj), Conor Harte for Quinlan (68, inj), Fergus Langton for O’Donnell (75, inj)

WEXFORD: Eoin Blanchfield; Ruairi Martin, Conor Kelly, Dylan Cooke-Leonard; James Doyle, Cathal Murphy, Andrew Smyth; Sean Hughes, Eoin Whelan; Cian Hughes, Darby Purcell, Michael McGonigle; Ben Rossiter, Kyle Rankin, Daniel Bolger. Subs: Cathal Murphy for Bolger (ht)

Referee: Stephen Fallon (Wicklow)

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source https://www.laoistoday.ie/2021/06/26/brown-the-hero-as-13-man-laois-minor-see-off-wexford-to-advance-via-penalty-shoot-out/