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Anyone know much about them ..over 40s likes of wolly Chris Conway etc playing I seen a bit of their game tonight they got hammered  by park juniors .

Seemed to be wearing stradballly jerseys .

Can the county board not give them a set ?

Do they have anything to Do with the county board like other master teams or are they on their own ??

Is this excercise not just a waste of time at this stage.....

Mayo go over it costs them a fortune the players have a few beers ...Hammer a New York team who don't even go into the back door draw then.....

What if they won a game what would happen then !Is stupid and pointless!

Scrap!

Really looking forward to this already its only 40 days away ..

There is nothing between the two teams yes they have got the better of us twice in recent times but I still think we can put on a show like we did last year in Tullamore which was the same date the 26th of May on a Saturday.

We have a few options now after John blooded new players in the league and if Piggott's injury clears up we should have a full bill of health going into this one.

Training has stopped for a few weeks and the players are back with their clubs.


It will be interesting to see how things progress from here to the championship!

I see the Handicap keeps going down it was 20 points after Dublin beat Longford but now is as low as 14 ...

Is Cluxton worth 6 points to the Dubs?

Attride is a bigger loss he is Laois's best defender!

Should be a good open game but Dublin will probably have far too much from about 30 mins on!

Hopefully Laois can do what they did in Nolan park two years ago and make a fight of it!

This has potential to be feisty after what happened when the league final was won by Laois ...

Also Carlow backroom staff were suppose to be a disgrace towards Kildare players in Tullamore which doesnt surprise me after seen turlogh first hand in dr cullen park this year .

Laois have the indian sign over the scallion aters and i think will prove too strong again

Has the Westmeath manager Colm Kelly stepped down rumour circulating on twitter he has die to a player going against his wishes and playing at the weekend...

All is not well in Westmeath it seems...

Story going around that Heaslin is fit but doesn't want to play??

Anyone from that area confirm?

Still the makings of a very good team and usually turn it on for the leinster championship so everyone in Laois knows we are still up against it!

Time to start a new thread just a little over a month to our first game and we couldn't ask for much more as regards the league.

I suppose you'll have lads on here giving out about some performances and they have a right to their opinion like anyone else.

However we won every game we played and despite the second half in Dr cullen park I think we were getiing stronger as the league went on.

John has blooded some new players and it means committed players like Strong Donoher (just an example )aren't sure of their places anymore which can only be a good thing.

We have a good forward line and if we can get Donie Kingston Gary Walsh and Evan O'Carroll firing we surely will kick up a few big scores.

add to that Paul Kingston Ross and young Lowry and there is certainly potential there ...

Benny Carroll and Brian Glynn have put their hands up for places and Alan Farrell is there or there abouts!

In the backs we don't have as many options but Dillions performance in Croker has certaily giving the full back line a whole new look...

Timmons is vital to the full back line but we have decent cover in Nerney.

Attride might need to move to half back in my opinion to strenghten that line but Piggott and collins have done okay to be fair to them.

Begley seems most comfortable at number six and is playing well.

Problem is we don't have major cover for the backs We haven't seen enough of Holland or Finn from Portlaoise

I think Crowley is going with the under 20s.I know Strong is there as I said Nerney cetaily looks the part

O'Reilly will be a loss as he could fill in a number of positions and was ideal in that sense adding pace to the team .

Dennis Booth can be an option if he gets back to the pace of it before Championship which will be hard for him!


Lillis and O'Loughlin don't have much competition for the midfield births I'dLove Quigley or Meany to be in there just to add power and strenght to the bench but we know Meaney isn't there and Quigley might not make it.

In a perfect world we would be able to call on the services of Healy Quigley Cahillane Finn and Meridith to boost the panel and the strenght of the team but alas we may go with what we have for the minute and I believe it's good enough to beat Wexford and really have a good lash at a decent Westmeath team!

I Know they wouldn't have been expecting a big crowd and they don't really care about these matches but how on earth can they justify putting the Laois v Carlow game on at 3pm

I know Carlow are going mad about it its terrible and even 5pm for Armagh v fermanagh do they not want supporters of these four counties to be in croker or what.


Very disappointing

Not that it will bother me I happen to be in Dublin Friday night ...Yehaaaaa

Have to say i love this show now great guests no bullshit and proper Gaa analysis.

Steve McDonnell from Armagh adds greatly to the show

Parkinson is not everyones cup of tea but his knowledge of Gaa is extremely good and the guests he gets everyweek are up there with the best .

Its a great listen all around.

Very sad to hear of the passing of young Dinny Cahill of the Ratheneskia Gaa club.

Dinny was a very promising hurler and had represented and captained Laois all all grades on the way up including being on the minor panel that reached the leinster final a few years back despite being only 16 at the time.

He was also very decent at football and was one of Ratheniska's star young players in both codes.

Thoughts go out to his family who only recently had to deal with the loss of his grandad Martin Cahill another great Laois Gaa man.

Rest in Peace Dinny !

As it says on the tin

Started a new topic on this as it was taking away from the senior final and I think it deserves a thread of it's own.....

HIGH FIELDER POSTED

The Killeen/Kilcruise situation is morally wrong in my opinion. It has gone on for far too long. I don't know the exact details of the row, but my understanding is that it started over a field. If that is the case, and I stand corrected, then all involved should be ashamed. Kilcruise have their title in 2003, but many lads on their current panel don't have a medal, and nobody in Killeen has one. They'd still be formidable for a year or two if they joined immediately, but there's also the future to think about. Time to get some sense.


HESHS UMPIRE POSTED

I think the split was over the club name and the dispute over the rights to the field happened later on.


THE MONUMENT ROAD  POSTED

I remember the whole fiasco well. It happened well over 20 years ago when an Arles club general meeting decided to change the name to Arles Kileen and the minority at that meeting didnt accept it. The outcome was a new club was set up called Arles Kilcruise with the old Arles club called Arles Kileen. As far as i can remember the whole episode went down the legal route. Ironically the two Arles clubs have joined together this year at under 13. Maybe a sign of things to come




RED SETANTA POSTED AN ARTICLE

Article from the Times back in 2003.

From The Sunday Times
November 23, 2003
Kilcruise relight fire amid the fury

A Laois community was split in two by a dispute at the local club. Now the whole county is united behind their pursuit of Leinster glory, writes Michael Foley
Two years ago, driving through Arles from his home in Kildare for the first time on his way to training, Jim Maguire noticed there was nothing to notice. In the village, he saw a church and the Tall Trees pub. He saw a derelict shop on one side of the road and a few houses collected near the pub. Out the road he came across the pitch, lined out on the side of a gentle incline on a lush part of James Kealy's farm, with a cargo container acting as a dressing room and clubhouse.
This was Arles-Kilcruise. They had little but their spirit, and a stubborn belief in themselves. They had known times as bad as they could ever have been, but now unimaginable things seemed possible. The spirit among the players was intense and seeped into every vein of the community. On the muckiest training nights, knots of locals would linger on the sidelines. The team knew they needed the cold input of an outsider, but it took Maguire, a new co-manager, time to cut his way into their trust.

"They were absolute fanatics for football," says Maguire. "For a club like them to achieve what they have they'd have to be."
The last two weekends have brought those unthinkable dreams to life. Last Saturday Arles-Kilcruise won their first Laois county senior title. The following afternoon they beat O'Hanrahans of Carlow in the Leinster club championship and this afternoon they play Round Towers in a Leinster semi-final.
Less than a decade ago, Arles didn't exist. Three years ago they had no field and almost saw their very existence crushed by a judge's gavel. But they found the resolve to survive, nurture their footballers and live the dream. This is their day.
Arles parish holds about 300 houses and three clubs, which carve those thin resources between them. On one side of Arles-Kilcruise sits Ballylinan, on the other Arles-Killeen. For 30 years the parish had two clubs, Arles and Ballylinan. For years Arles existed in happy obscurity. In 1974 they reached a county semi-final, but it was a rare spark that was quickly extinguished.

Larry Wall captained Arles in 1974, and soon after began calling to Arles national school to coach football. He still turns up every Friday evening, his enthusiasm hardly sapped by the years. The school houses about 40 children and two teachers and provided every player on Kilcruise's current panel. Wastage is considered a crime. No player with even an ounce of talent is left untapped.
Wall's household led the way. His own son Jim played until his mid-teens but after a few years he let it slide. His father worked on him over the year, and eventually he returned. Then a few years ago he broke his leg so badly that he had to have a plate inserted in it, yet he still lined out in midfield last weekend.
"When you drive through the big towns like Portlaoise, with maybe 20,000 people," says Larry, "or see the big clubs like Stradbally or Portarlington, they'd have more in one street than we have in our whole catchment area, but we'd make a team out of what they'd waste. We bring everyone on board and make the most of them."

The circumstances demanded they must. At a meeting in 1993, a group of members from the Killeen side of the parish proposed the club name be changed to Arles-Killeen in order to recognise the input from that end of the parish. Others couldn't understand their gripe. There was talk that the new name might attract a few more players. A vote was taken, and the proposal was passed. Those present who objected — the Kilcruise people — walked out of the meeting, and never came back. The club was ripped in two. At least the Kilcruise group still had people like Wall to fall back on. In 1994, when Laois county board refused to affiliate them while affiliating the rest of the old Arles club under the name of St Michael's, they decided to keep going.
"We tried to hold the club together ourselves," says current chairman JJ Conway. "We knew we had talented young players so we just tried to keep those bunch of players active. We played around 20 challenge matches in 1994. We were only a bunch of junior lads but we went wherever we could get a game."
The following year, the Laois football board decided to affiliate them as a junior B club under the name Arles. Wall took on the job as manager, and has been there since. That year they won the county title. In 1996 Beano McDonald brought home an All-Ireland minor medal to St Michael's, while JJ's son Chris brought one back to Arles, who won the junior A title. Now they were intermediate, and level with their neighbours.
Relations had been tolerable, but both sides kept their distance. The Tall Trees was evacuated by the Kilcruise people, who relocated to Kellys in Ballickmoyler out the road. Brothers and neighbours ended up playing for two different clubs. Little things kept relations strained. The clubs shared the local pitch, but found training sessions were clashing. There might be a comment passed, or a dig given in company, but largely the peace was kept.

In 1996, they met in the intermediate final. Thousands came expecting enough dust-ups and spats to fuel decades of rivalry. Instead, the game was a classic. Arles led to the end but St Michael's sneaked ahead to win. It shattered Arles, but the desolation of losing to St Michael's in a football final was nothing compared to the next twist.
In 1999, Arles won the county intermediate title and St Michael's launched an objection to their retention of the name, which mushroomed into a legal action against Laois county board. Seeing as they had walked out of the club, surely, they argued, Arles had no right to the name or any recognition. There was talk of a High Court action. A priest from Wexford was called in to mediate, but he went home shaking his head. All kinds of old skeletons were allowed to escape.
"I was never in the High Court before," says Conway. "I didn't fancy going up with what was a local dispute. A lot of people were very concerned about the consequences of neighbours fighting over a trivial thing in the High Court."

With the case heading there, Croke Park's turbo-powered disputes committee was called in. With the GAA president and chief executive on board, they set to work on bringing the two together. "You wouldn't believe the tension at the meetings," says one source close to the committee. "All sorts of stuff was raked up. It was a community at war."
After a fortnight of the hardest talking, a resolution was reached. The committee agreed that Arles had acted improperly and were duly banished from the local pitch. However, given their thriving existence, they were allowed to continue under the name Arles-Kilcruise, with St Michael's reverting to Arles- Killeen. For under-age games up to under-21 level, the entire parish, including Ballylinan, would play as one team, called Ballylinan- Glenmore.
Last Saturday, they both fetched up on county final day, Kilcruise in the senior, Killeen in the intermediate. For some in Killeen, although they celebrated when they won their final, the day darkened with the senior result. Others have been able to move on.
"We keep our distance," says Conway. "But last Saturday one of them, a prominent man in the club, came up to me and gave me his congratulations, 'from the bottom of my heart,' he said. Some relations still aren't great. We'd be very good friends with some of them, but there'd still be a certain few. They'd be very much in the minority though."

When they came home to celebrate last Saturday, Arles-Kilcruise headed for Kellys, Killeen headed for the Tall Trees. Still, there have always been cracks in the tension. Some can remember Beano McDonald and Chris Conway high-fiving as teammates with the combined under-age team. Wall works happily as part of a three-man team that has brought the under-21s to the county quarter-finals, while the minors have reached the semis.
"As far as I was concerned," says Kilcruise's Ross Munnelly, "I don't see it as going to play with 'those lads'. The team I play with are my teammates, whoever they are. Any differences can't come into it if you want success."
While the mood has mellowed, they still egg each other on. In the league section of the county championship, Arles-Killeen won their game against Kilcruise by a few points, leaving Kilcruise needing a win against Graiguecullen to progress. The defeat shattered them, but tested the true meaning of their desire for the summer.

"We thought we were flying," says Munnelly. "Then they beat the stuffing out of us. In a way we have them to thank. We were able to refocus and get ready for our last match, which we won quite comprehensively. After that match I said to the lads that now I felt we could win the county championship."
"This is the kernel," says Wall. "We're out to prove a point. We couldn't fail. We had to succeed. There was a lot of people saying we should've stayed together, that we shouldn't have split. But we drove on and strove to get to the top."
Now that things they could never imagined have happened, who can ever tell them what can and cannot be? They have done their recent training in nearby Crettyard, but next spring they move to a new pitch. Jim Maguire's approach has got them far fitter, fusing seamlessly with the natural drive of Wall and selector Leo Flanagan. The entire county has rowed in behind them, and this afternoon the support will be bigger than anything they could have dreamed of.
But for all the fighting, their survival is rooted in the purest expression of their devotion. Every Friday, Larry Wall heads for the national school, teaching and coaxing and encouraging. Every evening, as the children go home, he tells them that while they have homework to do for school, they have football homework to do in their back gardens for him, too.

When they start skipping that, then they'll know trouble.





JUNIOR EX LAOISTALK

I could write a book on this local spat.
Some 14 years ago when at the time I was a member of the Tipp County Board, I was one of 4 independent mediators asked by Croke Park to investigate and try and solve a bitter dispute which had reached the high court with the legal bills mounting on all sides. The 2 clubs, Laois County Board & Croke Park were all parties to the High Court action, so a solution was required otherwise the legal bills would rocket.

There were plots and sub plots along the line, but here goes, these were the true facts upon investigation.

Back up to 1993 2 adult clubs existed in the parish of Ballylinan. Ballylinan Gaa, a small village team, and Arles GAA, another tiny village outfit, with a slightly more rural make up. Few arguments arose as to who belonged to the two adult clubs. They played together as Ballylinan Gaels, or by times St Michaels at underage level. That was the back drop   .

In the January of 1993, Arles adult club held its AGM. A proposal was taken from the floor that the actual name of the adult club be changed from Arles to Arles Killeen. The proposal was seconded and on a vote won substantially, well over 70%.
From our investigations the actual change of name caused no great bother to most members. What lay beneath the surface was the real problem. Within the original Arles, two big GAA families dominated. The Conways, including ex Leinster footballers JJ and John. And on the other side the Brennans, headed up by Danny, another former inter county footballer, his father before him had been a long standing Runai of Laois GAA. So picture two heavyweight families. From our research we believed that a dispute, non GAA related, was the origin of the bad blood between the two families. Danny Brennan was the brainchild behind the club AGM motion to alter the club name. He covertly rounded up enough of members to get the motion passed. The Conways were kept in the dark and the first they knew about the name change was on the day. They got the hump because they were not consulted. Instantly two factions developed.

Fast forward 14 months then to the middle of March 2005. Internally in Laois the Hurling and Football boards ran their own affairs at the time. When it came to the entry for teams and affiliations the fun started. Arles Killeen, the new name for the original club entered two adult teams as they were entitled to, one intermediate and a junior B . Then at the last moment, the Conways and their allies entered up a junior team calling it Arles, still claiming they were the original.

Matters were complicated at the Football affiliations meeting because, the then Chairman of Laois football board was D.ick Miller. He was also a first cousin of the Conways and firmly in their corner.
So as a fudge, he allowed the two teams to enter the Laois championships, and the players from the original Arles club were freely allowed to pick their choice of new club. The championship was played out that year, with neither making any inroads, before the nitty gritty of GAA law and national law arose.

Arles Killeen, took cases to the Leinster Council and Croke Park, and were proven to be 100% correct in their actions and that they were found to be the original club. But as you get with Gaa matters, no organ within the association was prepared to dismiss the other club from the picture.

Arles Killeen had acted correctly by the letter of the GAA law and with a fudge emerging not to their liking, took the decision to thrash the case out in the High Court, a main bugbear with them being that the new club should never have been affiliated by Laois football board, and under no circumstances could it be named Arles.

Along with 3 others, I was appointed, by the then GAA president Jack Boothman, plus a mediating member of the cloth to offer a solution. Our interventions were stonewalled, getting nowhere and the gulf was growing between the factions. After a few high court injunctions, with the legal bills reaching well beyond six figures   (sky high back in mid 90s   )   , a deal was brokered, reluctantly I might add on the part of Arles Killeen.

Arles Killeen was accepted as the original club, they had rights to the original pitch, and it was a poor pitch without dressing rooms at the time. The other club could not use the name Arles, they were given a variety of alternatives, selecting Arles Kilcruise, not to the pleasure of Arles Killeen. My part in this polluted episode ended then, I do know that the legal costs were agreed to be borne by the provincial and national bodies.

Reconciliation was not an outcome, so from my experience I would be convinced the bad blood will remain for a number of decades, assuming the two main families remain at the helm of the different clubs.

From a distance it looked a piece of cake to solve, the more you scratched beneath the surface the more poison emerged, and it still appears to be as toxic as ever.




REDSETANTA POSTED

Never heard that about slurry being spread by the Brennans the day of Chris Conways wedding. And robbing the greyhound and painting it black and white.

I do know that there were plenty of rows in Pedigree Corner back in the day that were directly as a result of the split. All the younger club members would have drank there at the time. It got very bitter with rows and arguments a regular occurence.


BALLYROANABU POSTED


They will sort it out themselves in time when their both Junior A, one of the greatest disasters in Laois football.  With the talent they had in the early millennium could have won an All Ireland Club.  St Michaels were a serious underage team back in the day.

Its a kind of Left field appointment but he certainly has got some good men in with him in Mickey Mcgeehan ..Also Tommy Toomey who guided Tipp u21 s to the All Ireland Final last year and was selector with the Tipp Senior footballers this year has been named along with Michael O'Loughlin who was with Cork u21 s this year.

Its rumoured he would have been appointed months ago but for the fact he wouldn't work without Toomey who Tipp were very keen to keep a hold of...

Surprised Tipp let him go....

I know we've had some discussion in the last thread about it but I think it deserves a thread of its own...

I hear John Sugrue is not interested in it as he is building a new house.

I have heard Evan's from Tipp will be approached how true that is I don't know.

I think they should get back Sean Dempsey as a selector or be some way involved  but it needs to be a modern appointment with experienced selectors who are currently watching the championship here in Laois at moment .

I agree with Wolly I think there is still one kick left in this bunch of players!

http://www.sportsjoe.ie/gaa/colm-parkinson-inch-inch-gaelic-football-ridding-copycat-nonsense-tackling-structures-vital-future/85844


No always his biggest fan but thought this was a great read!

I see the game has been changed from Saturday evening to Sunday at 2pm

I was hoping it might be on the Thurles bill but I suppose squeezing in 4 games would be a bit much....

Hard to know how this will go Clare are on the rise and have had a good year.

Laois are one of the most inconsistent teams out there but on their day like two years ago in Ennis they can be lethal.

I think the Armagh games barring no injuries will stand to Laois and they will squeez past an improving Clare team by two points!

Anthony Cunningham (born 16 June 1965) is a former Irish hurling manager and former player. He had been the manager of the Galway senior team from 2011 to 2015.[1][2][3][4]

Born in Peterswell, County Galway, Cunningham was raised in a hurling stronghold in the south of the county. He was a two-time Connacht medallist at colleges level with Our Lady's College while simultaneously joining the St. Thomas' senior club team.

Cunningham made his debut on the inter-county scene at the age of fifteen when he first linked up with the Galway minor team. An All-Ireland-winning captain in this grade, he later captained Galway to an All-Ireland title with the under-21 team. Cunningham joined the senior panel during the 1983-84 league. He went on to play a key role for Galway in attack during a hugely successful era, and won two All-Ireland medals and one National Hurling League medals. He was an All-Ireland runner-up on four occasions.

As a member of the Connacht inter-provincial team, Cunningham won four Railway Cup medals between 1986 and 1991. Throughout his inter-county career he made 15 championship appearances. Cunningham retired from inter-county hurling following the conclusion of the 1993 championship.

Equally adept as a coach of both hurling and Gaelic football, Cunningham's first position as manager of the Roscommon senior hurling team was an unsuccessful one. In 2006 he took charge of the St. Brigid's football team, guiding them to back-to-back championship titles. Cunningham later guided Garrycastle to an All-Ireland appearance having already secured a Leinster title and three successive championship titles.

In 2009 Cunningham was back as an inter-county manager with the Galway under-21 hurling team. A successful tenure, culminating in the winning of the All-Ireland title, led to Cunningham being appointed manager of the Galway senior team on 27 October 2011. He has since gone on to lead Galway to two All-Ireland final appearances and a Leinster title.


Can he help Mick Lillis with the Laois footballers to have a better season than they have had so far?

So with Carlow Kerry Westmeath and Offaly all playing to meet Galway or Laois surley its in Offaly's best interests to make sure they loose one game in this and finish second thus meeting Laois and not Galway??

why would first meet Galway makes no sense!

This has the makings of a decent game on Sunday ...
Suprised it's not a Saturday evening game in O'Moore Park which surely would suit both counties better.

The wet conditions probably will suit Tyrone better and they will be hot favourites to win ..

The O'Moores are known for a shock result in the league every year could this be it??

I see we have a restructure of the leagues and despite the county board saying they would make two senior team divisions based on who finished at Senior level in 2015 they have thrown O'Depmsey's and Timahoe in at the expense of Clonaslee and Ballyfin..


Div 1 A
Graiguecullen    
Portarlington   
The Heath
Arles/Killeen   
Stradbally      
Arles Kilcruise   
St Joseph's   
Portlaoise

Div 1 B
O'Dempseys
Crettyard   
Emo   
Ballylinan   
Mountmellick   
Ballyroan Abbey   
Timahoe   
Killeshin   


I think teams play home and away...not 100% sure....

Suppose it's taken on league positions from last year but seems a bit unfair if you are senior you don't get Senior games in the league as such..

2A
Balyfin
The Rock
Clonaslee
St Joseph's B
Portlaoise B
Annanough

2B
The Heath B
Rosenallis      
O'Dempseys B   
Park Ratheniska   
Courtwood   
Graiguecullen  B


3A
Spink   
Stradbally    B
Portarlington B
Portlaoise C
Barrowhouse   
Kilcavan   

3B
Killeshin   B
Timahoe   B
St Fintan's   
Ballylinan    B
Ballyroan Abbey B

Div 4
Ballyfin B
Mountmellick B
Kilcotton   
Emo B
Arles/Killeen B
Arles Kilcruise   B
O'Dempseys C   
The Rock B
Ballyroan Abbey B   

DIV 5
Courtwood   B
Clonaslee St Manmans   B
Barrowhouse GAA   B
Camross   
Crettyard   B
Timahoe   B
Annanough   B
Park Ratheniska B
Rosenallis    B
Camross

(Camross in twice must be a mistake could be Rathdowney Errill ??)


The new restructure looks fair enough to me I'm sure Clonaslee and Ballyfin might be a bit peeved but O'Dempseys and Timahoe finished top of Division 2 last year and Both Ballyfin and Clonaslee struggle early in the leagues because of their participation in high level Hurling being in Division 1A


14 league games is a lot for the Div one teams when you consider the Senior Hurling teams only play 7?