Galway 2-17
Laois 1-13

Holders Galway survived an almighty scare against Laois at Portlaoise today to book their place in the Leinster SHC final.

Contrary to pre-match predictions, Anthony Cunningham's charges were made to sweat for the victory and only pulled away from the O'Moore County in the closing stages.

Seamus 'Cheddar' Plunkett can be proud of his players' efforts after they matched their more illustrious opponents for much of the contest.

In fact, Galway played second fiddle to Laois for long spells and trailed the hosts for 45 minutes before a David Burke point gave them the lead for the first time.

A Tommy Fitzgerald goal with 13 minutes to go threw the proverbial cat amongst the pigeons but Laois' joy was short-lived as Galway replied almost instantly through Davy Glennon.

A second Galway goal from Aonghus Callanan broke the O'Moore County's brave resistance.

The Laois supporters amongst the 5,387 attendance rose to their feet to acclaim their side at half-time when they went into the dressing room with a 0-8 to 0-7 advantage.

The home side, with a strong wind at their backs, were full value for their slender lead after points from Stephen Maher, Matthew Whelan, Zane Keenan and Willie Hyland parachuted them into a 0-4 to 0-0 lead.

Cunningham made two changes to the Galway starting 15 with Shane Kavanagh and Andy Smith coming in for Niall Donoghue and David Collins respectively.

Joe Canning registered the team in maroon and white's first point via a free in the 9th minute and added another three to level the scoreboard within five minutes.

Laois refused to buckle, however, and Maher and Canning traded points before three unanswered scores from Joe Fitzpatrick, Whelan and Brian Dunne placed them in the driving seat.

Galway finished the opening period strongly to cut the deficit to a point after David and Niall Burke found the target.

As expected, the visitors upped their performance considerably in the second half but still they struggled to shake off the determined hosts.

Even after Glennon's goal, points from Whelan and Zane Keenan kept Laois in contention but Callanan's strike in the 64th minute put the game beyond their reach.

Galway advance to a Bob O'Keeffe decider against either Kilkenny or Dublin but they will have to improve considerably on this display if they are to keep their hands on the silverware.

Canning top scored for the winners with 0-11, eight of which came from placed balls.

Galway - J Skehill; F Moore, K Hynes, J Coen; A Harte, S Kavanagh, J Cooney; A Smith, I Tannian; D Burke (0-2), N Burke (0-1), C Donnellan; D Glennon (1-0), J Canning (0-11, 8f), C Cooney. Subs: D Hayes (0-2) for Donnellan, J Regan (0-1) for Smith, A Callanan (1-0) for N Burke, J Grealish for D Burke.

Laois - E Reilly; B Stapleton, D Maher, JA Delaney; J Fitzpatrick (0-1), M Whelan (0-5, 4f), G Burke; C Healy, J Walsh; S Maher (0-2, 1f), Z Keenan (0-3), T Fitzgerald (1-0); J Brophy, W Hyland (0-1), B Dunne (0-1). Subs: C Dunne for Burke, N Foyle for Brophy, B Duggan for B Dunne, PJ Scully for Fitzgerald.

Referee - J Owens. Tweet

Most Read Stories