Laois Senior Football Championship 2023

[Spiritof86]

Laois Senior Football Championship Round 1

Ballyfin v Portarlington

Ballyroan-Abbey v Park-Ratheniska

Stradbally v Courtwood

The Heath v Killeshin

Portlaoise v St Joseph's

O'Dempsey's v Graiguecullen

Arles-Killeen v Clonaslee St Manman's

Emo v Rosenallis

[The PRO]

Ah sure why not lash out a load of wild guesses five months from the actual games!

Port to beat Ballyfin
BA should be too strong for PR
Think Strad might edge Courtwood. Hard to call.
Killeshin v Heath will depend a lot on what sort of team Killeshin have available. Another hard to call.
Portlaoise should beat Joes.
Kinda fancy Graigue to get back going this year and maybe edge O'D's.
Clonaslee might edge Killeen.
Emo should be able to win against Rosenallis.
Complete guesswork to be fair!😀

[redsetanta]

Lets be honest will there be anyine other than Port or Portlaoise winning it?

[Unlaoised]

Ballyfin have had some horrendous luck I  the draws over the last few years ...

[Spiritof86]

Venues yet to be decided for quite a few of the opening SFC matches seemingly.

[SCFC]

With the leagues done and dusted, it's less than three weeks now to start of championship. Here's a bit of guesswork.

Ballyfin v Portarlington. Port could win this by more than 10 points. Ballyfin looked very average on Saturday while Port are just timing it nicely for championship.

Ballyroan-Abbey v Park-Ratheniska. Can't see BA being troubled and they should win well. Sugrue is a wily fox however so I expect it to be closer than many might think and am going for a 4 point win for BA.

Stradbally v Courtwood. First hard one to call. Strad were in a higher league and survived and they just might have the edge by a point or 2 though Courtwood had a fine campaign last year.

The Heath v Killeshin. Also could be a close affair but I expect Killeshin to maybe sneak a 2 or 3 point win. A win for The Heath wouldn't be much of a shock though.

Portlaoise v St Joseph's. Good league for Joseph's but a full strength Portlaoise might be winners here by around 3. Both teams should eventually wind up in the semi finals.

O'Dempsey's v Graiguecullen. Both missing some players from last year. Graigue had a slightly better league but I can't get last year's collapse against Courtwood out of my head and am going for an O'D's win by 3.

Arles-Killeen v Clonaslee St Manman's. Killeen keep defying the odds and surviving is their main aim. Clonaslee seem to have injury problems and could be vulnerable to a shock here. Killeen by 1.

Emo v Rosenallis. Emo will be favourites but Rosenallis are not as bad as league results suggest. If they get JOL back, they might spring a shock but the probability is an Emo win by 4 or 5.

[Robbo]

Lot of good games to look forward to. Quality could be low at times but a lot of close ones that are hard to call.

Ballyfin v Portarlington
Port by 6 but ballyfin to surprise a few.

Ballyroan-Abbey v Park-Ratheniska
Ballyroan will have to much. Could be a dour enough game. BA by 4

Stradbally v Courtwood
Think strad are going alright. Few decent lads starting to come through. Edge it by 3

The Heath v Killeshin
Tough one. Maybe momentum with heath lads. Low scoring and Heath by 3

Portlaoise v St Joseph's
Tough one. Think portlaois will be ready for Tough physical battle but ioo go with Joes after a replay

O'Dempsey's v Graiguecullen
Good game as well. Could go either way. I think hraigue might just be closer to full strenght. Graigue by 2

Arles-Killeen v Clonaslee St Manman's
Clonaslee by 5 if they get injuries cleared up. Think they'll run killeen hard and have better spread of players.

Emo v Rosenallis
Think emo might go ok this year. Give them the nod by 5

[Robbo]

Ddid LAOIS ever have a weekend pass that would cover someone going to a good few matches? I know theres a season pass but weekly passes would be good for people who might be on shift work or have young kids where some weeks will work well, others won't.
Especially with a decent set of fixtures for first round

[Spiritof86]

Ballyfin v Portarlington
Port to come through this but not as comfortable as people expect . Ballyfin will cause teams a few headaches this year . Port by 6

Ballyroan-Abbey v Park-Ratheniska
This match is set for Stradbally Friday Week . Don't think it will be as straightforward for Ballyroan as one may think. Park have targeted the Ballyroan match since the draw and Sugrue will have them very well set up . Could be interesting. Ballyroan by the bare minimum.

Stradbally v Courtwood
Stradbally for me will be one to watch this year . Championship primed under O'Dwyer and have all the big hitters back this year . Stradbally by 5

The Heath v Killeshin
The Heath had a more than decent league campaign. Killeshin seem to have a fresh lease of life under Kelly . Have a feeling The Heath may have peaked too soon this year . Killeshin by 3

Portlaoise v St Joseph's
Tough one to call this . Nothing between these teams . Portlaoise at full strength might just snatch it .

O'Dempsey's v Graiguecullen
This should also go to the wire . Fancy a draw in the one .


Arles-Killeen v Clonaslee St Manman's
Clonaslee by 7 . Don't think Kileen will survive this year .

Emo v Rosenallis
Another close one . Emo seem to be motoring along nice and little under the radar . Rosenallis are down a few stalwarts I believe . Emo by a goal

[Spiritof86]

Arles-Killeen v Clonaslee St Manman's is one of two fixtures scheduled for outside OMP . Scheduled for Ratheniska Saturday evening .

[GAAFan2003]

Is Laois Gaa TV finished or will it be back for any of the 2023 Championship?

[Spiritof86]

They streamed club games from the later stages of the 2022 Laois Club Championships  so hard to know what they'll do this year . Unlikely imo .

[Spillane]

What better way to prepare for the first round than giving my predictions for the first round that no one asked for 

Ballyfin v Portarlington - Again Ballyfin to open their campaign against the Co. Champs. Hard to see them getting revenge here. Port won topped Div 1 with a lot of absentees, that seem to be coming back into the panel at the right time. Talk of the Moore's being unavailable will make this a very tough task for Ballyfin. I also did hear of potential bad injuries in Port, but could be Chinese whispers. Port by 8.

Ballyroan A v Park/Rath - First match outside of O'Moore Park on Friday. Expect a big crowd in Stradbally adding to the atmosphere. BA to win by 6/7, feel they will have too much for P/R. Will be close for the first half as I expect Sugrue will want to remain in the game and then will have to open up in the 2nd half and BA young guns to pull away.

Stradbally V Courtwood - The start of the tough calls, CW a very good league winning Div 2, return of injured players boosting the small club, along with a few younger players getting use to adult football. Any idea if Collins is playing this year for them? Stradbally on the other hand, just don't know what you are getting. Steady in Div 1, but didn't exactly catch the eye. Expect them to have enough experience on board to get the win, Strad by 1/2 points.

Graigue V O'Dempseys - Graigue to grind out a 3-4 win in a low scoring game. ODs missing too many players from last year. I expect a few welcome returns for them since the league, but Graigue aren't an easy team to play against and don't put up big scores too often, so a comfortable win in a lack luster start to Championship.

Heath V Killeshin - Again another tight one, Heath return from their quick stay in intermediate, and be hopefull not to be worrying about dropping back down. Where as Killeshin now have been flirting with the drop the last few years. Attride emigrating has hurt them massively, County finalists only a few years ago, time catching up on their stalwarts, Cathal Brennan not appearing any more and the warrior Arnie Mahon still a leader on this team. The Lowry's will have the biggest say in this game, how heHeath handle them is their main concern. I'll go with a draw here, and if ET - the Heath to win.

Portlaoise v St Josephs. My pick of the round. I expect  a real championship feel to this in terms of pace and physicality. Think Joes will want this more as Portlaoise have knocked them out at least 5 times in the last 10 years. Joes will also want to take a scalp in championship and rid themselves of the "league team" tag. Still think Portlaoise will have a big say at the business end. A hesitant nod to St Josephs by the minimum.

Arles Killeen v Clonaslee - 2nd match outside of O'Moore park. Has AK time at senior come to an end finally? Or are they going to beat the drop again. For some reason I can see AK winning this match. Clonaslee had a fantastic year last year but I think they will be caught in Rathineska. Paul Kingston to shoot Killeen to an unlikely win.

Emo V Rosenalis - Emo coming in a bit under the radar this year, whilst Rosenalis having to juggle the dual commitments of senior hurling and football. I think the big win over the Harps last weekend, took a huge amount of effort from the small club and the week's turnaround will be felt here. Huge commitment over small numbers will be felt, Expect Emo to pull away again by the end, 6+. Is young Hosey back fit? He loves getting a goal, will be a great addition along with young Costello close to goals.

[Cunny Funt]

Out of interest where will Emo be playing their home championship matches this summer? Pitch will be out operation for a while after the 3 day music festival in the rain on it at the weekend.

[marty34]

Out of interest where will Emo be playing their home championship matches this summer? Pitch will be out operation for a while after the 3 day music festival in the rain on it at the weekend.

Was it a success?

I read about the solicitor who was running it and his ambition in bringing a festival to Laois.