Galway 1-26
Laois 0-9

Another facile win for Galway, another hard day for Laois hurling after an All-Ireland hurling qualifier which will do little good for either side.

ATTACK . . . Galway midfi elder Andy Smith bids to set up another attack despite the attentions of Colin Delaney during Saturday's All-Ireland qualifi er at Pearse Stadium. Photos: Alan Gallagher

Galway matched their biggest win over Laois in championship hurling without ever having to hit top gear in front of 2,588 at Pearse Stadium on Saturday.

In many ways, Galway's far from convincing form will serve them well as they face real chamoionship action the weekend after next but the jury is still out on their potential.

Joe Canning scored 0-9, five of them from play, yet his marker John A Delaney was the best Laois player on view and only Damien Hayes and Ollie Canning edged him for the man of the match award. Laois stand-in manager Niall Rigney played with seven defenders from the outset — James Walsh acted as a sweeper — and the unorthodox formation unsettled Galway.

The tempo of the game never rose although Laois played with admirable courage from the outset, although it was clear they were fighting a losing battle.

Yes Galway struggled to pull away despite opening a 0-6 to 0-2 lead after sixteen minutes but Laois got hope with a brace from Noel Costello and the impressive John Brophy.

Iarla Tannian, who thrived when switched to the forty, pointed from both sidelines in the space of a minute but another Brophy effort left it 0-10 to 0-6 after 26 minutes.

But there the Laois challenge died and they did not score for the next 26 minutes. Galway scored 1-4 without reply before the break — Adrian Cullinane got the goal off a Damies Hayes pass — to lead by 1-14 to 0-6 at the interval.

Galway scored a further five points without the reply in the early stages of the second-half before Brophy ended the Laois barren spell with another good score.

But by then Galway were 1-19 to 0-7 to the good and going through the motions.

In fairness, Laois never caved in but Galway finished with a further five points without reply. "We didn't learn much from that," said Galway captain Ollie Canning. "But there was a job to be done and it is now out of the way and we can start preparing for the next one," he added.

Galway rarely looked like scoring goals and that is one of the many things which will bother Ger Loughnane.