Quote from: les Antiques on February 13, 2024, 10:56:38 AMQuote from: on the hop on February 13, 2024, 08:24:52 AMfirst time to see the hurlers in a while and they made hard work on beating a very limited Kildare team who were down several injured players. Strong wind throughout the game was with Kildare in the first half and they started very strong before Laois got their bearings. Both teams deployed a sweeper at times which benefitted Kildare more as they got off a lot of shots, had they been more accurate they could have been further ahead. Laois seemed to have issues tracking players in the middle third. Despite the wind being very strong Laois seemed to persist in hitting high balls into the corners which didn't suit the inside line.
Scoring rate for both teams decreased in the second half as both seem to be very laboured at times, possibly doing heavy training. Laois exploited a few mistakes in the second half and finished with three good goals. Kildare fell away for 20 minutes where Laois scored well to open a gap. near the end they became a bit ill disciplined and let Kildare get a few scores. Wasn't the best performance but got over the line.
What are the facilities like at Hawkfields OTH ? Never been out there .
it always has the feel of a training / centre of excellence but the fact that newbridge is closed there isn't really much more of an option for the hurlers, Clane have a stand where a few club games are played in the hurling area of the county. There is a lot of games played there during the year with the lights and the majority of the county teams use it to train. i know that the camoige play a bit more in Kilcock recently , Rathcoffey and the Leixlip 4G astro pitch, the facilities have improved in a lot of clubs. its a narrow site, just over the length of a pitch and each pitch is in a row after that the further you go in. There are four pitches and a training area / wall ball. pitch one with the small stand is the main pitch. it feels a bit short for hurling. Pitch two is often used for juvenile / LGFA matches and then there are two more training pitches. The dressing rooms are in the main building and are basic enough. They have built a fairly big gym there recently. Parking can be a disaster if there is a decent crowd there.