Kilkenny 2-34 Laois 1-14
Another Leinster SHC bludgeoning dispensed by Kilkenny, this time at Nowlan Park to the delight of their fans, though this could be where the cakewalks end for the reigning Leinster champions.
A perfect 10 points for TJ Reid on the occasion of his first start of 2022 for Kilkenny was perhaps the main takeaway from this one sided second round rout, a week after hitting Westmeath for 5-23.
Kilkenny struck 36 scores in total and could still afford to drive 18 wides, indicating just how dominant they were against a Laois side severely hit by injuries.
Eoin Cody struck 1-5 too while Shamrocks clubmate Adrian Mullen contributed 0-6 and there was a 1-1 haul from substitute Tom Phelan.
All in all, a pretty straightforward evening for Kilkenny though the level of their opposition will increase considerably from here on in with Galway next up at Pearse Stadium, followed by a trip to Dublin and another home tie in round five against Wexford.
In defence of Laois, an already tough assignment was made all the more difficult by a spate of injuries which seriously limited boss Cheddar Plunkett’s options.
Captain Podge Delaney and key forward Ross King both picked up injuries in the round one defeat to Dublin while Ben Conroy, Mark Kavanagh, Stephen ‘Picky’ Maher and Willie Dunphy were already ruled out.
It was one-way traffic from the off and while Kilkenny were frustrated by their ever rising wides tally, they pulled decisively clear in scoring terms thanks to points from the likes of Padraig Walsh, James Maher, Mullen and the influential John Donnelly, opening up a 0-9 to 0-3 lead after 18 minutes.
Reid, Mullen and Cody then struck five points between them to stretch the deficit out to 10 points.
Laois were completely overrun and not even the deployment of Fiachra C Fennell as a seventh defender, roving between the full and half-back lines, could stop Kilkenny’s march forward.
Cody was twice denied goals, first shooting into the side-netting and then thwarted by goalkeeper Enda Rowland, though finally delivered in the 30th minute.
It was Paddy Deegan who boomed the long ball goalward and Cody beat a couple of Laois defenders in the air before converting from close range on the right.
The strike appeared to kill Laois off for good with Kilkenny reaching the interval 1-20 to 0-6 to the good.
It got a little better for Laois in the second half in the form of an excellent goal from Paddy Purcell when he slalomed through for a 57th minute major, before getting a whole lot worse as Kilkenny hit the throttle hard and delivered a series of points and a second goal from sub Phelan.
Kilkenny: E Murphy; H Lawlor, T Walsh; P Deegan; M Carey, C Browne, M Butler; J Maher (0-2), A Mullen (0-6); W Walsh (0-4), P Walsh (0-4), J Donnelly (0-2); B Ryan, TJ Reid (0-10, 7f), E Cody (1-5).
Subs: S Walsh for Ryan (h-t), T Phelan (1-1) for Donnelly (46 mins), R Reid for Deegan (49 mins), C Delaney for Lawlor (56 mins), D Corcoran for T Walsh (62 mins).
Laois: E Rowland; S Downey, C McEvoy (0-1), D Hartnett; FC Fennell; J Kelly, L O'Connell, R Mullaney (0-1); P Purcell (1-2, 0-1f), A Corby (0-1); C Dwyer (0-3), M Dowling, J Walsh; J Keyes (0-1), PJ Scully (0-4, 4f).
Subs: C Byrne (0-1) for Walsh (44 mins), E Killeen for Corby (50 mins), B McGinley for Dowling (57 mins), J Maher for Scully (69 mins), P Dunne for O'Connell (69 mins).
Referee: L Gordon (Galway).
