Laois Senior Hurling Championship

[ottoman]

Good minor teams necessarily do not translate to senior. The Harps are doing great work. What The Harps are doing well is getting everyone involved at a young age, maintaining the interested in hurling as they move up the ranks and as a result have a decent size pool of players to pick from who are very well coached. Therefore, The Harps are fielding teams with 15 good to very good players without any passengers onboard. A number of other hurling clubs are fielding minor teams without the same strength and depth at their disposal. What is making the real difference for The Harps are their players ranked 7-15 in ability. While this is great at minor and u20 level, the reality is that these players will not step up to improve the senior teams- the Harps should have some very good second and third teams in the future though. Ultimately, what you want are a couple of star players coming through because these are the players who will step up to senior and make the difference. If you look back on the last couple of Laois minor teams were the players from the Harps the standout players or not? Possibly, one or two but nothing to suggest that it is inevitable that the Harps are going to win a Laois championship in the next few years.   

That's the nuts of it really. You need those stand out underage players to help you cut it at the top table at senior level. If you look at Rathdowney and Clough Ballacolla for example for this years final. I don't think any of Picky, Ross King, Paddy Purcill, Lee Cleere, Willy Dunphy etc have any minors medals between them. But they were all stand out top underage players and you knew they would greatly improve their senior teams when they got there.

[TheGiantSquid]

Hard to look beyond a CB win this weekend? Their backs on paper should have a big handle on the RE front 6.

[Boards]

Hard to look beyond a CB win this weekend? Their backs on paper should have a big handle on the RE front 6.

Would have to agree, hopefully will be a cracker of a game to watch think tg4 supposed to be showing it on tv aswell

[Ballygowen]

Should be a cracker on Sunday. CB are probably slight favorites, but I have a feeling RE will win by 2-4 points. like CB they have some great individual players but I feel its a last hurrah for some of the RE lads and a fairy tale win for them.

BK for the Premier intermediate by 8 + points

Mountmellick for the Intermediate by 4 + points. they lost the final two years ago, fell a bit flat last year but I think they will win it at the weekend.

still a great achievement for Abbeyliex to have their second team Premier Intermediate next year. their second team was junior A 3 years ago.

[georgedoylesrightleg]

ballacolla
borris
abbeyleix
harps

[Laois man]

Minor could be closer than people think. Mmellick to win the intermediate. Borris/kcotton to win after a tough battle. Rdowney to win by 1.

[Verbal]

Mountmellick will rue not finishing off the job last night.
They were in a great position playing with a strong wing.
Abbeyleix experience came to the fore in winding the clock down.

Ballinakill put up a good fight. Intelligent and skillful hurlers. They are better than I thought previously I would have to say.
If they could add Cha and Downey.

If Rathdowney Errill could be a bit more clinical with the ball they deliver to their forward line today I think they can take the senior.
They have defenders to match the various ways in which Ballacolla are a threat.
They have legs, experience, hurlers and a right tough streak.
Eric Killeen could be a massive player today.
Roddy & Picky, Corby & Purcell, Joe Fitz & Darren Maher, Stephen Bergin & Paddy McCanr, Jordan Walshe & Fonsie.... They will all do what they do. 3 or 4 of the above on each side will shine.

But I think Killeen could be a man that Ballacolla don't have an equivalent of the far end.
Rathdowney by 3.

I can't see Castletown living with The Harps in the minor right to the end.
They should pull away to win by 7 or 8.

[Laoisred]

RE great in first half but needed to be 7/8 up at HT with that wind. CB took over in second half and RE never got into it.
Very poor reffing performance, CB got every break today. Got their frees much easier...would have been tighter only for Dunne. Missed about 10 throws too for both teams. Still CB took the chances they were given...good luck to them.

[ottoman]

Decent final, Ballacolla worth winners, but Rathdowney Erill just did not show up in the 2nd half. They went out without as much as a whimper... if CB were more clinical it could have been 10 plus points in it and I don't think they could have complained.

I'm not sure what went on at half time, but I just couldn't get over how flat they were.

[georgedoylesrightleg]

taught dunne reffed very well. half hanpassed balls are trun now, impssible alsmost. willie won the manager battle, ballacolla looked to target rathdowney fullback line n claned it out.darren solid at back wit diarmaid lee n jordan all on top.ballacolla serious outfit n made hay wit good side. rathdowney havent.

[ottoman]

taught dunne reffed very well. half hanpassed balls are trun now, impssible alsmost. willie won the manager battle, ballacolla looked to target rathdowney fullback line n claned it out.darren solid at back wit diarmaid lee n jordan all on top.ballacolla serious outfit n made hay wit good side. rathdowney havent.

Likewise, I didn't see any major issuing with the referring. The handing passing is so hard call now, as we have seen with the inter county games this year, when the refs have pulled them up on throws, the TV replays clearly show that they were legal hand passes, 2 of them were crucial wrong calls in the All Ireland semi and finals this year.

I think that final could be the end of that Rathdowney team, by the end of the 60 they had won so few battles across the park, and it was hard to see what they could do to turn the tables. Clough Ballacolla probably should have won it by 4 or 5 more in the end. Themselves and Camross have gradually introduced new talent to their lines over the last few years, I think it will be very hard to look beyond those 2 for the next 3 or 4 years. Rathdowney with just the 1 final win in the last 10 years is a poor return from the talent they had coming through. 

[Laois man]

Super minor final yesterday 2 good teams massive win for Ctown.

[Laois Rising]

Good call Ottoman. Where CB and Camross have shared out county titles over the last ten years RE have only landed the two (2014, 2019). I remember that 2014 final well and RE blew Camross out of the water with young players at the time like Liam O'Connell, Paddy and John Purcell, Ross King and a very young and gifted Mark Kavanagh really standing out as top class hurlers. I think most people thought, like myself, that RE were capable of winning up to numerous titles over the next decade. To only win one more title with that team was disappointing for the club. I do think though had Mark Kavanagh not had those the terrible injuries that RE might have won much more. Nice to see Michael Verney in the Irish Independent do a write up with him in the lead up to the final. Only for injuries he would be in the prime of his career now and probably operating out of centre forward for club and county with great success. Any club side to lose such a marquee player would struggle to reach the same heights as before.

[ottoman]

Good call Ottoman. Where CB and Camross have shared out county titles over the last ten years RE have only landed the two (2014, 2019). I remember that 2014 final well and RE blew Camross out of the water with young players at the time like Liam O'Connell, Paddy and John Purcell, Ross King and a very young and gifted Mark Kavanagh really standing out as top class hurlers. I think most people thought, like myself, that RE were capable of winning up to numerous titles over the next decade. To only win one more title with that team was disappointing for the club. I do think though had Mark Kavanagh not had those the terrible injuries that RE might have won much more. Nice to see Michael Verney in the Irish Independent do a write up with him in the lead up to the final. Only for injuries he would be in the prime of his career now and probably operating out of centre forward for club and county with great success. Any club side to lose such a marquee player would struggle to reach the same heights as before.

I agree, Mark Kavanagh is such a loss to both club and county. An extremely talented player of which counties like us produce few and far between unfortunately. RE badly needed someone like him in the 2nd half, I'd love to see the statistics on first and 2nd balls won, I doubt it would look to kindly on them.

Like yourself, I was sure that RE teams was destined to win 2,3 maybe even 4 in a row, I just couldn't see anyone keeping in with them over the course of 60 minutes. They also, for whatever reasons, could never get the best out of Paddy Purcill on too many occasions down through those years. 

[Verbal]

Yes.
That 2014 win was a really superb performance.
I am always guilty of tipping them. I'll never learn.
They will indeed look back on these past ten years with a sense of underachievement.

I thought the referee was a little bit harsh on Rathdowney Erill.
He seemed much quicker to give frees against them than to them.