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Good post Target Man and a fair reflection on the game. I'll tell you one lad who is not on the 26 and he is a man who could do with getting a run out on Sunday with Donie unavailable, Evan Costello. He is only coming back from an injury (played a club game two weeks ago) but he is a score getter and a reliable fee taker. I'm sure he needs match practice though and I'm not sure TOF would be willing to play him in such an important league game. Hopefully he sees some action to set him up for the summer.

As some posters have said already, I don't think Billy is the man to go for in full forward. He is a decent ball winner and a hard worker but he is not a scoring threat which is what we need. Nor is Boyle a threat, although he can kick a score he is more of a playmaking forward. We cannot be dependent on Ross for scores as he will be targeted by Down. Scores need to come from elsewhere on Sunday. I wouldn't mind seeing Paul K, Ross and Sheils in the full forward line, with Boyle, Donoher and O'Carroll in the half forward line.

Whatever we go with though I will be happy to get behind them. If we perform well we are capable of winning. And a final league match like this is great prep for championship with so much riding on it.

A tough loss to take last night, which was made even more sour by the jeering reaction of a few young Kildare supporters sitting behind me. It was a game we could have won but I'd imagine both sets of supporters will be very disappointed by the overall performance of their respective teams. Laois only played football for twenty minutes of the game while Kildare reminded me of the ponderous play of the Northern teams of the last decade, with their constant hand passing back and across the 45m line without any penetration. It was a frustrating game to watch at times.

The goal at the end was a very, very bad goal to concede from a defensive perspective. After O'Carroll missed his goal attempt the forwards were switched off. Kildare took a short kickout and worked it down the field through the hand to open up a one on one goal opportunity. How does this happen? The top teams wouldn't let it happen. They would be cuter. Why did no Laois player opt to bring down the man and maybe take a black card to slow the game down? Why did all the Laois players rush up to tackle the Kildare players only to see the ball handpassed over their head to the newly free man the defender just left? This stuff defies logic. It was all very reminiscent of Timmons last minute goal in the club championship against Portlaoise two years ago.

I don't want to sound negative here but I didn't think our defensive was as solid as people think. The Kildare full forward was very dangerous he won a lot of ball and caused Timmons problems. Although Mark dealt ok with him he certainly was a hand full and our saving grace was that he lacked support on a number of occasions. Our half back line was cut through very easily on numerous occasions in both halves. Cribben and O'Flathery were running at us and they had loads of time on the ball but fortunately for us they did not use it very well. Overlaps were not tracked at all, and this has been a feature throughout the league. In fairness to Robbie Kehoe he did sweep into a lot of space and stop the long kick pass which important in stopping counter attacks.

Up front, Paul K had a bad start but everyone has days like that and he will be back again. No issue with TOF replacing him, at least it shows he is active on the line. His replacement Tom Sheils really impressed me with his ball winning last night. I think he won every ball that came his way and his running power had his marker in trouble on two or three occasions. He is still a little raw at this level and maybe he is slightly naive in possession but he can only improve from here. He had a bad collision with a Kildare player near the end but that looked purely accidental with two lads going all out for the ball.

Quigley caught one of the best kickouts I have ever seen in the lead up to O'Connors point, which was a great score. As someone pointed out, Brody was nearly caught running with the ball twice last night. But in his defence nobody was really looking to take the ball off him so he just took off and tried to start a counter attack on his own. A dangerous tactic for sure.

Didn't see the Kingston incident but it will be difficult to get a result against Down without him. Ross will no doubt be targeted again and scores may be hard to come by in that match. But all is to play for and the lads will be looking forward to it

I would agree with Unlaoised regarding the importance of Boyle to the team. His foot passing is probably the best on the team and he shows great composure on the ball. Maybe centre forward isn't the place for him but without doubt he needs to be playing around the middle third of the field to take advantage of his vision, brain and footballing ability.

Dillon has been unlucky in the games he has played. In fairness to the chap he is trying his heart out and that is clear to anybody who has attended the games he has played in. He is constantly moving and looking for the ball in attack, while tackling and chasing defenders when our opponents have the ball. Perhaps his eagerness is playing against him and he seems to struggle to get his hands on the ball at times. TOF has given him a chance by playing him and maybe he just needs more time to get used to the pace of this level. I still feel that Dillon has something to offer the squad.

This weekend is an important game for us and one that we could get something out of if we play to our potential. But that is a big if considering the inconsistency and Jekyll/Hyde nature of our recent performances.

Agree with Hesh regarding Emo and The Heath. They are two teams who probably reckon they could have a good championship run this year.

A relatively even senior draw with most teams probably fancying their chances against the opposition. Perhaps the most interesting tie will be Crettyard v Ballyroan-Abbey, two teams who most would tip for a relegation dogfight.


Looking at the draws further down the grades the Junior A match between Park/Rath and Castletown S/B stands out. CSB were impressive last year and have some nice players. While Park/Rath have probably underachieved recently and would expect a quick return to Intermediate. An interesting match between two dual clubs.

Credit where it is due, this Laois team performed strongly for 30 minutes against a Dublin team who are All-Ireland minor champions in this age group. We started very slowly and went 4 or 5 points down within six minutes. But after that the lads battled back to eventually take a one point lead in the 40th minute, before missing three very scorable shots, after which the Dubs class seen them push on.


A few positives came to mind while watching the game. Alan Farrell was outstanding in midfield, he was always willing to carry the ball if needs be and he constantly supported the man on the ball. Evan O'Carroll's workrate was incredible. I have never seen a lad get through as much work as he did in the first half. Ultimately, I think he tired towards the end as a result but as very solid performance from him. I thought Dicey O'Reilly was very impressive also. Some of the forward movement was a joy to watch with men taking the ball off shoulders at pace. The foot passing was pacey and accurate and some of the point taking was good.

But, I felt Dublin were always that gear or two ahead of us. They easily cut through our defence when they pleased. And even though I thought some of our forward movement was impressive, theirs was on a different level altogether. They are a very strong outfit with excellent players, both physically and mentally in terms of their vision and ability.

A large number of this team are available for u21 next year and I think credit has to go to Derek Conroy who had this team well prepared. An 11 point beating didn't reflect the game which was hard fought for the majority of the match. This has probably been one of the better u21 campaigns in recent years, compared to the 20 point drubbings we have received from the Dubs and Kildare in the past.