BRIAN DUIGNAN and Dan Ravenhill led the charge as Offaly blew Laois away in the second half at O’Moore Park.
Duignan landed 13 points, ten from frees, while Ravenhill cut loose after the break with four exquisite points from play.
Johnny Kelly’s side trailed by 0-11 to 0-9 at half-time, their promotion hopes looking precarious after last week’s below-par performance in their opening-round draw with Carlow.
But Offaly’s fitness came to the fore in the second period as they ran Laois ragged in the repeat of last year’s Joe McDonagh Cup final.
Faithful boss Kelly said: “It was a good second half and the reality is we had a really good first half as well, but we didn’t put the scores on the board when we had the opportunities.”
Offaly were wasteful in that opening period, which allowed Laois to edge ahead, with Aaron Dunphy and the returning Charles ‘Cha’ Dwyer impressing for the hosts.
The deceptively strong and chilling breeze was a factor but the second half was a different story as Ravenhill, Oisín Kelly and Duignan switched to rampage mode to pull away on the scoreboard.
Kelly added: “We were quite compact at the back and it was all about building the ball through the middle and putting in the right delivery.
“It was like a game of two halves — that’s a cliche, I know, but it really was. We had 23 shots with nine scores in the first half.”
David Nally put the finishing touches on a comfortable Faithful victory when he rattled the net with his first touch after his 68th-minute introduction.
Laois keeper Enda Rowland — making his 100th appearance for the O’Moore County — fired home a consolation goal from a penalty with the last puck of the game.
OFFALY: M Troy; P Cantwell, C Burke, J Mahon; R Ravenhill, D Shirley 0-1, C Spain 0-1; C King, J Sampson; K Sampson, D Bourke 0-1, D Ravenhill 0-5; C Mitchell 0-1, O Kelly 0-2, B Duignan 0-13, 10f. Subs: D Nally 1-0 for Duignan 67 mins; D King for Kelly 70; DJ McLoughlin for Spain 70; J Clancy for Mitchell 70.
LAOIS: E Rowland 1-0 pen: P Dunne, L Cleere, D Hartnett; T Cuddy, P Delaney, F C-Fennell; A Corby 0-1, J Walshe 0-2; D Dooley 0-2, C Dwyer 0-2, A Dunphy 0-7, 5f, 1 65; J Quinlan, T Keyes, M Phelan. Subs: B Conroy for Quinlan h-t; P Purcell 0-1 for Phelan 43 mins; E Lyons for Dunphy 59; M Dowling for Corby 65.
REFEREE: A Kelly (Galway).