Laois Senior Hurling Championship 2016

[finbar o tool]

Agree with the above, coverage has got worse over the last few years. Very little really about the senior final, Not a word about junior or Intermediate all year, not a word about the upcoming finals. RE are going for 2 finals Sunday, C/Ballacolla won Junior A last year and are in the Intermediate final this year. I didnt see the Nationalist so maybe there was something in that but definitely very lazy from the Leinster Express.

[burdizzo]

I suppose the Intermediate is in effect the Junior final - a third grade competition. Rosenalis will win it if they didn't celebrate too hard after the football win. Mind you, Ballacolla are good enough to give them a game of it, though their backs are suspect when being run at. Their good forwards will hardly make up the difference, so I expect Rosenalis to win by six or so.

I'd fancy Slieve Bloom in the junior final.

[Clubber Lang]

The point regarding the media is an interesting one-there is definitely apathy in the county towards hurling and football. You look at media coverage in other counties at this time of year regarding their club finals and you could have entire sports sections of papers giving over to previewing and discussing the upcoming games. In Laois it gets minimal coverage and the fact Midlands radio is spread over three counties dilutes the the coverage even further. There seems to be little talk or hype around the county in the build up to county finals the last couple of years. The interest has certainly waned. 

[Don Draper]

Its worth noting that the Clubs dont help themselves either. They dont want to say anything more, or do anything more than they have to. Only a few years ago I was told the captains of the senior teams refused to even do a photocall, a simple bloody photo of them both holding the trophy!

[merman]

So does nobody give Borris Kilcotton a chance then?

I think they'll edge it actually.
They have to be coming in fresher than RE and this is the Final they wanted, I dont think they'd be as confident if Camross had come through.

I don't think this has been a great championship (we haven't had one for a few years really) but I'd be hopeful we have a decent final.
We will have nearly 15 players with senior inter-county experience on show and a few more minor/U21 prospects.

[Dave like the tv channel]

The issue with apathy is that is often is generated from intelligence. In this case, the intelligence to realise that in the greater scheme of things, our club teams are not good enough.

Whoever wins tomorrow will go into Leinster and probably lose........and these are amalgamated/parish teams!

[The Rover]

Intermediate Hurling Final was a very one sides match Rosenallis were very comfortable winners. They have a number of very good hurlers No. 7, 13 and 16 were
the outstanding players. C/B had a few good individuals but did not perform as a team
the score line was a fair reflection of the game. Referee was good but it must be said that he had very little to do with the exception of late on when two C/B players got yellow cards for trying to take John Lennon out of the game.

[burdizzo]

Yes, indeed, Rosenalis were much, much better. They were first to the breaking ball, they were stronger, and they were fitter. However, they also hit some horrendous wides, and pucked quite a lot of ball into the Ballacolla goalie's hand. Both sides are capable of better, but Ballacolla, especially, were a big disappointment. Rosenalis were always going to win this championship, and I don't think any of the other teams in the grade would have got any closer to them.

[Keyser Söze]

Rosenallis were by far and away the best team. They are an excellent side.
They have built a great club for themselves up there in the last 6/7 years and had great support both last Sunday and tonight.

They are extremely mobile and play an excellent brand of hurling.

I can't decide who will win tomorrow. I think this is a huge opportunity for B/K. There's very little hype or expectation. They will be allowed to "hurl" tomorrow.
Rathdowney Errill had two seriously intense battles with Camross and another with Clough Ballacolla prior to that. A win tomorrow would be a fantastic way to win a final- they'd have beaten all the big boys in knockout hurling in the one year.

We could well be back again next Saturday!

[oneflewoverthecuckoonest]

A hearty congratulations to Rosenallis on their intermediate win. when those two loyal servants of laois hurling, Seamus Dooley and Declan Conroy retired from the inter county scene, they decided to go back to grass roots and in the past dozen years they have developed the underage structure and yesterday's result was an example of long term planning producing results.

we should get two good hurling games today.

I note the junior semi from last weekend, the local derby, was not covered in the leinster express, despite drawing one of the biggest hurling attendances of the year. ben conroy gave an exhibition in that game. slieve bloom will be hot favourites in this game, their potential problem is the anticlimatic aspect, because for all the world the semi final had all the ingredients normally associated with a final. Rathdowney/errill did win a first round clash between the sides by a point, but conroy was suspended for that match. I think this will be a high scoring encounter, and if like last weekend, conroy could be unmarkable, and a bit like Cha Dwyer clock up a huge personal tally and edge his side to victory. Of course, some will note, this game will feature a return to O Moore Park for James Young!.

The big game should also be a shootout.  On all form to date Rathdowney deserve to be favourites having accounted for the other big guns in Camross and C/Ballacolla, whereas B/K have really only beaten Ballinakill.
This R/E team is not as good as the 2012 or 2014 versions, yet have a number of players capable of proving match winners on a given day.  Plus they have plenty of experience to use from the bench as we saw in the semi final.

Looking at B/K I don't think they have improved much under Hogan....for my money Tommy Buggy got a better tune out of them the first year...this game will be the real test of Hogan as a trainer....to date he has got nil out of Foyle.
Joe Campion strikes me as the B/K player showing form and his performance will be critical for B/K.
A worry for B/K is free taking, with Scully sidelined, the way Quinlan took the 2 late frees against Ballinakill(missing one and scrapping the winner inside the post),  it would not recommend confidence in him under pressure.

On the balance of season form R/E get the nod, yet B/K will fancy taking them more so than opponents such as Camross...B/K believe they can win, and it will be some classic if it is very close come the dying stages.

Finally on the county manager scene........my sources say.......ex Limerick manager...TJ Ryan has put himself forward for the job and working hard to influence our executive to take him on..........his overall record in Limerick not good, Limerick in particular looked a damp squid in the 2016 championship....I suppose if he gets it, Ger Cunningham will remain as coach.

[Dave like the tv channel]

wow!

/discussion

[welcomehome]

just back from the laois county hurling final ..absolutely brilliant game of hurling from both sides.Best game i have seen in years...The scores were top class..a draw was a fair results..who said that laois hurling was dead....

[Helix]

Looking at B/K I don't think they have improved much under Hogan....for my money Tommy Buggy got a better tune out of them the first year...this game will be the real test of Hogan as a trainer....to date he has got nil out of Foyle.

Foyle didn't do too bad today when it mattered. 2 well taken goals, the first one probably one of the best in championship this year. Absolutely fantastic game great game for neutral. Rathdowney/Errill will be happy with a draw as they were chasing it for most of it. Tadhg Dowling super game today has been filling the void for Mark Kavanagh with ACL injury. Big winner today: county board. Great attendance today and should be similar next Saturday (most likely).
Good to see Slieve Bloom do the business in Junior A. Will surprise a few in Intermediate in 2017.

[The Rover]

exhibition hurling from both sides To Day in the Snr. hurling final what a Classic.
Quality of hurling was top class and a joy to witness certainly puts pride into Laois hurling. Hope there was some prospective county managers there to witness what can be got out of Laois if the players commit. R/E will be the happier of the two with the result B/K just could not put them away. Referee did not deserve the booing from certain so called supporters at the end of the game. Overall I feel that referees are letting the game run a bit more this year than the did in the past, this is contributing to better hurling and less frustration from players.
I.H. Final last night also showed some future county hurlers.
James Young certainly got the best out of Slieve Bloom and they will be strong contenders for the Intermediate Championship next year.

[Goku]

Been going to hurling matches in Laois a long time now and honestly cant remember a better game. Some of the scores from play from both sides where brilliant to watch. Dowling with 3 beauts in a row to draw R/E back from the death. Foyle finally turned up in this years championship with 2.2 from play and a goal of the championship contender. If the replay is half as good i would be happy.. Hard to know who is favourite now. B/K looked the more likely to win today but can they produce the same performance the next day? Any idea when the replay is??