Clare suffered another narrow defeat at Ennis, coming up just a point shy of Laois – 1-12 to 1-11.

This latest luckless loss leaves the Banner County in relegation danger at the foot of the table, joining Fermanagh and Kildare on two points, while the midlanders are now one of four sides with five points, Armagh, Roscommon and Westmeath joining them on the heels of table-toppers Cavan.

Cormac Murphy rolled the ball to an empty net in the 20th minute as the O’Moore County led by 1-8 to 0-5 at the break but the hosts roared back and David Tubridy’s goal from a 65th-minute penalty had them back within the minimum, 1-11 to 1-10.

Goalkeeper Niall Corbett’s ‘45’ offered the visitors the space they needed to hang on for the win, with 37-year-old Ross Munnelly having slotted four points for the winners.

Laois - N Corbett (0-1'45); C Healy, M Timmons, G Hanrahan; P O'Sullivan, R Pigott, T Collins; J O’Loughlin, K Lillis; D O'Connor, E Lowry (0-2), S Byrne; R Munnelly (0-4, 2f), C Murphy (1-2), E O’Carroll (0-3, 1f, 1m). Subs: B Byrne for C Healy, M Keogh for D O'Connor, B Carroll for S Byrne, M Barry for C Murphy.

Clare - S Ryan; K Harnett, C Brennan, G Kelly; P Lillis (0-1), S Collins, A Sweeney; D Masterson, C O’Connor (0-1); D Coughlan, K Sexton, C O’Dea; E Cleary (0-4, 1f, 1'45), D Tubridy (1-4, 1-0pen, 0-3f, 0-1'45), G O’Brien (0-1). Subs: E Tubridy for S Ryan, C Murray for G O'Brien, E McMahon for D Masterson, J McGann for K Sexton, E Collins for K Harnett.

Referee - L Devenney.

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