Laois minor hurlers 2015

[portlaoisekid]

not sure about PP but other bookies wont take bets on under 18 competitions...

[Buffalobull]

A solid team there, Pat has picked, that will be very hard to handle. Super pace in that forward line with all 6 well able to create chances and take their scores! I don't know an awful lot about the two corners backs, but with such talent in the county at this age this year, they'd have to be good to nail down a starting spot.

Don't be surprised to see Mark Kavanagh moving to corner forward, pushing Dylan Conroy out to half, which will allow Stephen Phelan moving into full where I'm sure he would wreak havoc to the Wexford goal!

I'm very optimistic about this bunch of players, very best of luck to them all!

[redsetanta]

Laois leading 0-13 to 1-02 after 25 minutes. Playing with the wind but 13 scores to 3 says it all.

[redsetanta]

Some collapse in the second half. Only 1 point scored. Musn't have had a sniff at goal.

Anyhow very important to regroup and do what Kilkenny did last year.

[G@@]

Very disappointed to having been pipped at the post. Only to score 1pt in the second half is not good enough and conceding two soft goals killed us. Laois have to learn that they must hurl for the full 60 minutes and start being ruthless. I hope that we didn't win the toss and opted to play with the wind in the first half. To do that would have been suicide.

[Helix]

Hard luck lads will have learnt a lot about themselves today. Hopefully it'll stand to them in the long run. Look how the kilkenny minors turned it around last year. Meath next I think should bounce back comfortably.
Hopefully they'll be let back to the clubs to refocus and get plenty of gametime for the lads on the sideline.

[portlaoisekid]

Absolutely gutted by todays result, in the first half we hurled very well and in my minds eye I really thought I was watching something special. The goals were sucker punches and the second half was an unmitigated disaster but his happens at underage GAA and I for one still think this bunch could be real contenders for Leinster if we learn from this match but we have a hell of alot to learn.

[TheGreatGame]

Hard luck to the lads today, couldn't make the game but was following it as best I could and thought with 16 points at half time we'd win it.  What went so wrong in the second half PortlaoiseKid (or anyone else who was there)?  Obviously only scoring a point isn't good, were we overly defensive?  I've just viewed footage of the two goals and they were of the extremely soft variety, but as was said this can happen to minors.  Thank God there is a back door.  We got off to a disastrous start v Kilkenny in 2013 before going on to reach a Leinster final and this is perhaps a better group of players.  It's still there for them, but last chance saloon now.

[Buffalobull]

It simply came down to the wind in the second half. Stephen Kelly's puck outs weren't even going passed our own 65 in the second half and many were dropping on our own 45, this, along with Laois not being able to run the ball out of defence led to only 1 point being scored in the second half. No ball got into our full forward line. One player who impressed in the second half was Lee Cleere, a strong lad that won every ball that came his way.

One special mention to a Stephen Phelan point in the first half where a great pass from the back (think it was Liam O'Connell) up to Phelan and he caught the ball practically on the sideline going away from goal and turned with an audacious effort and it went straight between the post. As good a score as you'll ever see.

Disappointed at the result and I'm sure the lads will be kicking them sleves for the sloppy goals, but they'll move on from here and get things back on track.

[TheGreatGame]

Just had a look at the championship format there and the loss yesterday, while obviously disappointing, might actually work out in our favour in the long run..

[redsetanta]

If Wexford get beaten the next day they're out as there is no back door in semi final. We could play two losers games against opposition that we should be far too good for and find ourselves also in a semi final. It's better for us to get the games similar to 2013 as it gives a chance to mix things up again and get confidence back. They would also get momentum going into semi final. Getting beaten in first round is not that bad. The manner of the defeat wasn't great but at least they can work on it. Don't think Laois were in the minor league so they wouldn't have had that many games together.

[redsetanta]

Info info in my last post is incorrect.

Wexford play Kilkenny and Offaly play Dublin with the losers going on to play the winners of the 'losers' games. So Wexford will get a second shot if they lose to KK the next day.

[Junior Ex Laoistalk]

Laois caught late on after excellent first half showing


Laois minor hurlers produced the proverbial 'game of two halves' performance in Wexford Park on Saturday afternoon to lose out by two points.

For the opening 30 minutes, Pat Critchley's charges turned in as good a half of hurling as you could hope to see from a Laois team. They scored 0-16 , with 0-12 of that coming from play as they dominated the home side.

For that opening period they enjoyed a strong wind advantage and they gave a masterclass in how to use the elements to your advantage, bombing over points from distance.

They were dominant in the air as well, winning a huge amount of clean possession from puckouts, and but for two brief moments, were flawless.

Those two lapses which would ultimately come back to haunt them were the concession of two goals to Wexford, both of which were entirely avoidable.

The general consensus among both sets of supporters after the game was that Laois didn't deserve to lose the game, but they at least have the chance to put things right. The second half performance, playing into the wind which yielded just one point for Laois, will no doubt have left the team keen to put things right.

They can do that in two weeks time against Meath, and the team should be confident they can still make a big impression on this Leinster championship.

They certainly showed that in the first half, as they raced into an early lead. The impressive Stephen Phelan got the scoring under way in the third minute, and Liam O'Connell added another from distance within a minute.

Those scores set the team up, and Lee Cleere caught a Wexford puck out soon after and sent it soaring back between the posts. Stephen Phelan notched his second before Wexford finally opened their account, with a point from Mikey Dwyer.Liam O'Connell hit back for Laois with a point from a free on his own 45 yard line, and Aaron Dunphy quickly added another.

Ciaran O'Connor pointed a free from a rare Wexford shot on goal, but Laois powered on thanks to two brilliant points from Stephen Dunphy and a sideline cut from all of 55 yards by Mark Kavanagh.

Wexford struck for their first goal after that, when Ian Carty's ball in held up in the wind and Stephen O'Gorman caught it in the penalty area and fired to the net.

Laois were undeterred by that setback and bounced back really well, rattling off five points in a row, the pick of them a wonderful catch and shot on the right wing by Stephen Phelan.

Much of that good work was undone, however, when Liam O'Connell failed to control the ball in the penalty area and O'Connor again pounced for their second goal.

Both teams managed two more points apiece before half time and that left Laois leading by 0-16 to 2-4 at the break.

Playing into the strong wind in the second half it was always going to be difficult for Laois, but it probably turned out to be more difficult than they thought it would be.

Wexford didn't really come roaring back at them, instead they slowly chipped away the lead. Seamus Casey got their first point of the half and Ciaran O'Connor added a couple of frees to halve the deficit.

Three more points from the home side saw them draw level with 15 minutes to go, but Laois re-took the lead thanks to asuperb score from Mark Kavanagh out on the right wing.

That was the last score Laois got, however, and three more points for Wexford before the end saw them sneak home with the win.

[TheGreatGame]

Laois Minor Hurling Manager Pat Critchley has announced his starting 15 for Saturday's Electric Ireland Leinster MHC clash with Meath
1.Stephen Kelly - Rosenallis
2.Joe Geaney - Portlaoise
3.Conor Phelan - Castletown
4.Cillian McEvoy - Abbeyleix
5.Liam O'Connell - Rathdowney/Errill
6.Aaron Dunphy - Borris/Kilcotton
7.Lee Cleere - Clough/Ballacolla
8.Sean Downey - Ballinakill
9.Stephen Dunphy - Borris/Kilcotton
10. Stephen Phelan - Borris/Kilcotton
11.Martin Phelan - Castletown
12.Aaron Bergin -Portlaoise
13.Mark Kavanagh - Rathdowney/Errill
14.Robbie Phelan - Clough/Ballacolla
15.Andrew Mortimer - Camross

A few changes made from the last day and I'd expect a few positional switches on the day.  If a forward is to be moved to centre back then Robbie Phelan would be the obvious choice, but it would be a pity to move him from our attack as he has such potential for scores.

[Tobias]

Bizarre selection in my opinion, I will be shocked if the team lines out as as selected. If it is a dummy team I really don't see the point, especially against the likes of Meath.