Laois took advantage of the sending off of Louth's Mark Stanfield in the second half to edge home slender victors over the Wee County in a heartwarming O'Byrne Cup match in Portlaoise. Laois 0-13 Louth 0-12 Playing with the aid of the wind, Louth looked more likely winners in the first half with points from Christy Grimes and Nicky McDonnell helping them to race into an early lead. Laois dug in though and Chris Conway got them up and running with a point just after the quarter hour mark and then Colm Parkinson added to Laois' momentum. Both sides proceeded to add a brace of points to leave the Wee County leading by 0-6 to 0-5 at the interval. Although they recorded five wides in as many minutes after the interval, Laois eventually pulled away to lead by 0-9 to 0-7 by the 46th minute. And with midfield domination plus the dismissal of Mark Stanfield, Laois seemed to be coasting but Louth hit back with four successive points to lead by 0-11 to 0-9 on the hour mark. But the homesters then hit a purple patch with four points on the trot to sneak home, thanks in part to a brilliant late save by Fergal Byron. Tweet

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