With just over five minutes remaining at Portlaoise yesterday, Laois trailed the Munster champions by just two points - and seemed to be rallying for victory too.
For the previous 65 minutes Waterford had struggled to open a significant gap on their opponents. And now with the partisan crowd behind them Laois indeed looked capable of winning. Only cool Waterford heads and an unlucky call by the referee denied them.
Dave Bennett first extended Waterford's lead a little further, putting over his seventh free. With the score now at 1-16 to 2-10 and five minutes remaining Laois needed a goal and nothing less. And a couple more squandered chances from Waterford kept their chances alive.
So in the final seconds of added time David Cuddy collected a high ball and charged on goal. On he went, before eventually he slumped to the ground.
Penalty? No, free out. Cuddy objected in vain and with that Waterford secured their first league points.
It was a hard call for Laois, but Waterford too would have been hard done by had they surrendered the full points so late in the game. They were probably the hungrier on the day, and marginally more effective with their use of possession.
Laois had won the toss and chose to play into the strong wind blowing in towards the town. Very often that tactic can backfire, yet Waterford led by just three at the break, 0-12 to 2-3. What kept Laois in the game were two freakish but certainly intentional goals from Tommy Fitzgerald and Damien Culleton at a time when Waterford threatened to run away with it.
Fitzgerald's came on 20 minutes and briefly put Laois a point in front. But the goal also hit Waterford like a shot of caffeine and they hit back with six points in succession, the best of which came from in-form John Mullane - who contributed three in the first half and had two goal chances courageously blocked by John Lyons.
Laois hauled them back again with the goal from Culleton, who made Stephen Brenner pay for his indecisiveness. One more free from Bennett - a model of accuracy - restored the gap to three points in time for the break.
Ken McGrath still seems a little off his usual pace and contributed just a single point in either half. As a whole Waterford found it hard to establish any rhythm, and the defence appeared a long ways off full sharpness. After 10 minutes though Bennett hit the sweetest of goals, and normality seemed restored.
Still Laois fought back again against the wind. James Young began lording midfield and his shooting from 65 metres was faultless. Dan Shanahan's introduction helped ease some of the Waterford nerves.
On 65 minutes Young hit another 65 and then a point, to reduce the gap to two points. But the home supporters were ultimately left with no reward for their encouragement.
WATERFORD: S Brenner; D Prendergast, T Feeney, J Murray; E Murphy, F Hartley, P Queally; T Browne (0-1, a sideline), E McGrath; P Fitzgerald, K McGrath (0-2), D Bennett (1-8, 7fs, 65); P O'Brien (0-1), M Walsh, J Mullane (0-3). Subs: D Shanahan (0-1) for Fitzgerald (46 mins), B Phelan for O'Brien (54 mins).
LAOIS: J Lyons; L Mahon, P Cuddy, P Mahon; C Cuddy, P Cuddy, M McEvoy; J Young (0-5, three 65s), E Maher; B McCormack, L Tynan (0-1), J Phelan; D Culleton (1-0), D Cuddy (0-3, two frees), T Fitzgerald (1-1). Subs: M Dunphy for Culleton (52 mins), M Rooney for Maher (53 mins), L Wynne for Tynan (59 mins), F O'Sullivan for McCormack (60 mins).
Referee: J Kelly (Wexford)
