Laois Senior Hurling Championship

[Laoisred]

Terrible reffing performance. 9 more frees awarded to CB than to RE. And he missed stephen bergin deliberately dropping the Hurley to get the first goal. RE should have been 7 up at HT. Still might not have not been enough the way CB played in 2nd half but it would have been tighter with a different ref. No one wants to see free taking contests deciding finals...very poor but its Laois so he might get 3 finals in a row next year.

[ottoman]

Terrible reffing performance. 9 more frees awarded to CB than to RE. And he missed stephen bergin deliberately dropping the Hurley to get the first goal. RE should have been 7 up at HT. Still might not have not been enough the way CB played in 2nd half but it would have been tighter with a different ref. No one wants to see free taking contests deciding finals...very poor but its Laois so he might get 3 finals in a row next year.

Stephen Begin dropped the hurl because it got slapped out of his hand. Clear as day when I looked at the reply on TG4.

[Verbal]

Terrible reffing performance. 9 more frees awarded to CB than to RE. And he missed stephen bergin deliberately dropping the Hurley to get the first goal. RE should have been 7 up at HT. Still might not have not been enough the way CB played in 2nd half but it would have been tighter with a different ref. No one wants to see free taking contests deciding finals...very poor but its Laois so he might get 3 finals in a row next year.

I don't think there's any rule against dropping your hurl?!
He didn't hand pass the ball?

[ottoman]

Terrible reffing performance. 9 more frees awarded to CB than to RE. And he missed stephen bergin deliberately dropping the Hurley to get the first goal. RE should have been 7 up at HT. Still might not have not been enough the way CB played in 2nd half but it would have been tighter with a different ref. No one wants to see free taking contests deciding finals...very poor but its Laois so he might get 3 finals in a row next year.

I don't think there's any rule against dropping your hurl?!
He didn't hand pass the ball?

I don't think you can drop the hurl intentionally, regardless of the actions after. But his hand that was holding the hurl was clear struck and he dropped it after that, so the ref can either call a free from the illegal stoke, or allow advantage.

[Verbal]

You are correct.
I genuinely thought that rule was associated with hand passing specifically.

I'm not sure I've ever seen a free given for it bar when someone drops the hurl to handpass.

Hurl being dropped is almost always in some form of contact. Be very difficult for a referee to establish that it was deliberate.

4.8 To drop the hurley intentionally, or to throw the hurley in a manner which does not constitute a danger to another player.

[redsetanta]

I was out on Sunday and only caught the last 20 minutes on TG4.

I thought R/E looked very poor and lacked any structure. Maybe that's how the game had gone as I hadn't seen the first half.

They never looked like getting the goal they needed and the last couple of balls dropped in went wide. Couple of other long balls easily cut out by C/B defenders.

Agreed there were a lot of frees in the last 10 minutes or so and at that stage C/B had no problem keeping Rathdowney at arms length.

As someone mentioned earlier Paddy Purcell seemed to be out of teh game and had very little influence on what I saw.

All in all not the greatest game and it's hard to see C/B upsetting Leinster.

[Plentymorehurlsontheline]

I was out on Sunday and only caught the last 20 minutes on TG4.

I thought R/E looked very poor and lacked any structure. Maybe that's how the game had gone as I hadn't seen the first half.

They never looked like getting the goal they needed and the last couple of balls dropped in went wide. Couple of other long balls easily cut out by C/B defenders.

Agreed there were a lot of frees in the last 10 minutes or so and at that stage C/B had no problem keeping Rathdowney at arms length.

As someone mentioned earlier Paddy Purcell seemed to be out of teh game and had very little influence on what I saw.

All in all not the greatest game and it's hard to see C/B upsetting Leinster.

In fairness to Purcell, he took a fair bit of punishment throughout the game and was dragged down or hammered every time he ran through.
I thought C/B were good value for their win but did think they got their frees easier. I also thought that Dunne let them away with cynical fouling a lot, I think Cleere was the only one booked and that was right at the end.

R/E couldn't get the ball up the field against the wind. The puckouts weren't breaking half way and they couldn't get decent ball to Dowling, McCane and Kileen who were going well.

[georgedoylesrightleg]

if lads tink paddy is rathdiwneys provlem they dont know much. he also took a bad belt tens mins into second half but never went missing. ballocala went for rathdowney fullback line and murdered them there. simple

[Laois man]

Rathdowney:Errill are losing a few to emigrated I hear shortly wlth a few lads pushing on age wise aswell could be a hard push to get back to the top again. U20 cship starting this weekend always a good Cship Harps and Camross could be the stand out teams in it.

[Laois Rising]

The Harps will be reeling from losing the minor final. Would have been quietly confidence with the panel of players that they had this year. The marquee players of Castletown really stood up in the final though. The Harps will look to atone for that loss by winning the U20 championship. That had an excellent minor team last year that went goal crazy against Abbeyleix (who themselves might think they have an outside chance this year) in the county final. If those players can make the step up and add to what is already a strong team they should be the team to beat this year. Clough Ballacolla won the minor title two years ago and they cannot be ruled out of consideration either as they were a decent team if memory serves me correctly.

[Spiritof1915]

I agree with all the comments re R/E.
There is serious concern in the area that their lack of underage success presently and in the last 10 to 15 years will catch up with them very soon.
Their competing in B competitions from u13 to u20 in 2024 which is hard to believe for a proud hurling area. (Obviously Laois hurling will suffer too)

Throw in the fact that club legends joe Fitz and John Purcell are nearing the end of their senior careers, Roddy and Eric Killen gone for a year at least, Mark Kavanagh and Jack Kelly away already, it's hard to see any senior title success going forward.

In saying that the club are one of the best in the county at maximising the resources they have.
Their 2nd team got to a PI semi final but without that quality of youth coming thru to replace the undoubted quality of player above I think it could be a while before they see another county final.

Camross favourites for u20 for me. With The Harps, Abbeyleix and C/B in that order best of the rest

[KyleExile]

Didn't make it home for the final this year, bar Covid finals, my first to miss in over 20 years.

Great that it was on TG4, so I got to enjoy it from the comfort of the couch. It was a strange final, I wouldn't call it poor, there was some fine hurling played between both sides with some really well taken points, and the 2 goals were superb. But at the same time, it never really sprung to life. Myself, like many others I suppose, was waiting for RE to come to life in the 2nd half, and it never happened. They played some fantastic stuff in the first, and were just so completely flat after the break. I know they were against the wind, but that's no excuse to lose pretty much every battle and breaking ball. CB could have had it properly sown up with 10 to go only for they wasted 2 good goal scoring chances and hit some dreadful wides in that period.

On the ref, while I think his performance was probably just above average. I definitely don't think he favoured any side as one poster seem to suggest. In fact, he made some quite baffling decisions for both. A few that stuck out were a free awarded to Paddy Purcill right on half time, left myself and even the commentators perplexed as there seemed to be no contact at all. A very similar one was awarded to CB No.13 where I just couldn't see where the supposed illegal tackle was even made. Coincidentally both those same players were on the receiving end of 2 hefty late tackles and got nothing for their troubles.

Unfortunately for Rathdowney Erill, I think that loss could spell the end of that teams era. They struggled to match that Clough Ballacolla teams over 60 minutes, and now with emigrating and retirements on the horizon. They might drop back to the middle order for the next few years. Its not great for Laois hurling in general, Laois needs a strong Portlaoise and Rathdowney to be competing year in year out at the top end of Laois club hurling. For the next 2/3 years, its very hard to look outside Clough Ballacolla or Camross for your winners. 

[The infidel in exile]

Considering the weather I thought that the standard of hurling is slowly improving in terms of skill. Remember, club and for that matter, hurling and football at Club and County level is cyclical. Clubs whether rural or small towns will struggle every few years due to retirement, poor management. Lack of numbers etc. Castletown dominated during the late nineties and early 2000s then due to the loss of the two cuddys and some others, they fell away for a period which is understandable considering the population basis. But judging by their minor win and playing A hurling at juvenile level, they are on their way back which is a positive for the county. The Harps are definitely going places and have some lovely hurlers which will definitely benefit the County going forward. Abbeyleix definitely have improved and they will definitely have more than one County panelist next year. Unlike some of you I don't believe that portlaoise will be contesting County finals or contributing to Laois hurling. Borris are back where they belong so I don't believe that the apparent demise of Rathdowney Errill is going to put Laois hurling back years. Mark kavanagh was an awful loss for them but they will hang around and in a few years be back where they belong. We have a few good hurlers and I'm hoping that this manager will unearth one or two more gems to help the county like Mossy and David Dooley have last year. Laois are not an old panel and I for one would love to see more of James Duggan and young Byrne from Abbeyleix. We're in Division 1B and could quite easily beat Antrim Westmeath Offaly and Dublin on a bad day are no world beaters. Other than the Deise there's one other team that has slipped my mind. So look ahead to the league and see what this Tipp man has up his sleave

[ottoman]

Considering the weather I thought that the standard of hurling is slowly improving in terms of skill. Remember, club and for that matter, hurling and football at Club and County level is cyclical. Clubs whether rural or small towns will struggle every few years due to retirement, poor management. Lack of numbers etc. Castletown dominated during the late nineties and early 2000s then due to the loss of the two cuddys and some others, they fell away for a period which is understandable considering the population basis. But judging by their minor win and playing A hurling at juvenile level, they are on their way back which is a positive for the county. The Harps are definitely going places and have some lovely hurlers which will definitely benefit the County going forward. Abbeyleix definitely have improved and they will definitely have more than one County panelist next year. Unlike some of you I don't believe that portlaoise will be contesting County finals or contributing to Laois hurling. Borris are back where they belong so I don't believe that the apparent demise of Rathdowney Errill is going to put Laois hurling back years. Mark kavanagh was an awful loss for them but they will hang around and in a few years be back where they belong. We have a few good hurlers and I'm hoping that this manager will unearth one or two more gems to help the county like Mossy and David Dooley have last year. Laois are not an old panel and I for one would love to see more of James Duggan and young Byrne from Abbeyleix. We're in Division 1B and could quite easily beat Antrim Westmeath Offaly and Dublin on a bad day are no world beaters. Other than the Deise there's one other team that has slipped my mind. So look ahead to the league and see what this Tipp man has up his sleave

If he could find a way of getting the best out of Lee Cleere, that would be another bonus. The best player across the half back line in the county the last 3 years, but he can barley get off the bench for Laois. We can't afford to not have lads of that level involved.

[Laois Rising]

Based on what you have seen Ottoman from the championship who else do you think might add to the Laois starting 15 next year. I felt while we gave Offaly a really good rattle in the Joe McD final I do think we are a couple of quality players light if we were in Leinster this year. We have yet to replace Kavanagh and Cha in an attacking sense (granted Quinlan, Keyes and Duggan still have plenty of scope for further improvement to reach those levels) and defensively, while solid, it currently won't be enough to compete with the top level sides. Wexford hit us for 32 points easing up in the prelim this year. Cleere is an excellent club hurler but you could argue for the merits of O'Connell and Cuddy who were given the starting wing back positions ahead of him. Cuddy is a player of huge potential and O'Connell has done well in the wing back position the last few years for club and county. Cleere does bring a scoring threat and perhaps that is something Gleeson will look to when thinking what way to set up in 2025. If Cb could get a run in Leinster and Cleere continues to perform it would be hard to dismiss his claims for more gametime.