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I know. There was no stopping the Dublin games when they were 'lock-down', was there?

This is a very good point. I know the situation is unprecedented but this kind of thing is very hard to take when there are inconsistencies like the ones you've mentioned above.

The scenes from around the country at the weekend were a disgrace. GAA HQ had to act if they wanted to maintain any semblance of credibility. It looked like there was at least 400 in the stand at one match which showed a blatant disregard for the rules.   

 
We are a dual county with dual clubs such as Portlaoise who are due to play a Premier intermediate hurling final next week. While their exit today makes it easier to bring the games forward, that could only be decided after the match today.  Kildare don't give a dam about hurling while Offaly have a round less.

Great result for Rosenallis this afternoon. Didn't  see it coming after the Ballinakill yesterday. Good for the championship as it has taken some of the predictability out of it.

Have to agree

I streamed the first game as I hoped Abbeyleix would make a game of it. Final margin barely reflected the gap between the teams. Any of the big 4 can win it but the gap is definitely widening.

First things first. He is from Rosenallis so he is only going back home. No question he will make a difference. However, his move is typical of the clan who move clubs when it suits them. He is not the first. When he started with  Rosenallis they had a poor team  and headed to Mountmellick  not long after they hammered Tinnahinch in an u12 game. He left Mountmellick the year after they barely survived relegation. No surprise  he is leaving St Brigids a few weeks after they flirted with relegation.

I see that o Flynn came on in the divisional match and scored a goal. This after having a monster of a match earlier in u20 v port. I heard that three courtwood and an Emo chap went from the match in courtwood to the divisional match. For a lad not to tog for his club in championship isn't good enough play and just be part of the panel there will be plenty of evenings when they won't clash

The Clonaslee lads played in both as well.

Ratheniska hammered sarsfields yesterday, apparently jack priestley and Sean O'Neill didnt play with sarsfields. They opted to play with the divisional side instead. U20 players shouldn't be selected for the divisional games while the u20 championship is on.

If this is true it is nothing short of a farce

True all right

The margin of victory was a little surprising, but the results as expected.
I didn't get to either but from what I have heard and read the two beaten semi finalists are simply very very limited.

A bit of doom and gloom about Colt and their future, but I think they have a brighter one than Ballyfin in the next few years.
Underage has been cruelly neglected in that parish for several years. Hop into bed with anyone, under any name and any jersey. It's hardly the way to build a club, an identity or produce a strong squad.
Colt, in fairness to them were involved in a steady long term arrangement and always pulled their weight in it. It's a bit more muddied now, but they are committed to it at least.

The Harps and Rosenallis are the top two, and it will be a good game. I'll reserve judgement for now!

Considering Ballyfin got to the senior football semi, it's a cheap shot having a go at them as a lot of their key players play both codes. They looked a tired team tonight.   

After last night's senior game and the league final last week, I'd have to change my view that Portlaoise might win the IFC.
Micky Nolan is gone up as are Rogers, Mulligan, Paddy Downey, and the two young lads Maher and Ronan Mc. Along with that, t the likes of Adrian Kelly, Scott Lawless, Conor Dunphy and John Kavanagh weren't named on the panel last night so I doubt they'll play intermediate.

Portlaoise  win with a bit to spare. Hard to make sense of league form.

I was disappointed with the result as I thought we would put up a much better show. Still think there are a lot of players with potential who will learn from tonight and progress to senior. I thought one of our problems was that we didn't track back and a number of scores came from mistakes at critical times. Now I'm been a bit petty here but what the hell is it with promising Laois teams and haircuts? Tonight we had every player with more or less the same haircut. Might have been more in their line to concentrate on the football. We had the same nonsense back in the 90s with the successful minor teams who underachieved at senior level by any yardstick. One of my abiding memories was all their flashy hairstyles that were doing the rounds when there were going well at underage. All I'm saying I would prefer substance to style.   

As I said above, Laois' infrastructure and its mechanics are a soap opera.

In these sort of arrangements, I have seen first hand the pressure that exists to get everyone on the field. People can no longer accept that their youngster, their player, does not deserve to start. So some bright spark said when we have enough of one age group, we'll register them as a single team. This is not the first time this has happened. I think this is what brought Ballylinan Genmore to its knees as well. It needs to be discussed at length and arrangements need to be set in stone. There is a feeling of Open Season about everything we do, and it's very divisive. Talk about area teams and players getting access to senior football can be shelved until this sort of nonsense is resolved

Have to agree 100% Ballylinan went on their own a few years back due to one team initially pushing for it. The Rock split with St Pauls over one team. St Josephs and Barrowhouse probably over one player but it was hard to blame Barrowhouse. The word is that Crettyard pulled the trigger on their split with Killeshin while Kilcavan went on their own once they were able to. This is only football and hurling is probably similar.  Have to admire Stradbally Parish Gaels for going the distance. There is no problem with any club going on their own if they have the numbers but they can't have it everyway. Killeshin were dead right to pull the whole thing if Crettyard initiated the latest split. Why deal with a club who will let you down when it suits them.

 I heard Pat Spillane this evening discussing the success of Kerry teams in the All Ireland Intermediate and Junior championships. Considering what happens in Laois with having 16 club senior teams, it is hard to get the head around Kerry only having 8 club teams.  They have 8 divisional teams to cater for the intermediate and junior players.  But it explains why Kerry have such a good record in the club competitions. Courtwood who actually performed well all things considered  won the competition for the 16/17th best team in Laois while Kilcummin in Kerry were the 8th/9th best team in Kerry. At a national level, our clubs haven't a chance of competing unless we reduce the number of teams at our highest grade.

https://www.laoistoday.ie/2019/01/25/croke-park-deem-all-proposed-gaels-teams-in-laois-for-2019-illegal/

Let's call a spade a spade: the reality is any team that was relying on a 'Gaels' amalgamation to prop them up at senior in the first place is pathetic. Either accept you're going to struggle or accept a championship reformat which regrades you at intermediate, holding onto the senior tag just for the sake of it is watering down the SFC standard to conserve your pride, and in turn keeping county priorities below your own. Killeen looking to get into bed with Barrowhouse, given their history of picking off some of their best players, is embarrassing. They're a perfect example of a dying club, no youth coming through, virtually the same players every year and in the meanwhile they're getting that bit older. Themselves and Kilcruise need to have a serious look at themselves, they are doing a serious disservice to their players and to themselves. Ending this Gaels nonsense is only half the battle: the next step needs to be cutting down championship numbers to at least 12 as was proposed several years back before divisional teams are even considered.

Nail on head.

Agree 100% 16 Senior club teams in Laois is way too many considering Kerry has something like 8.

Makes Ballinakill look a tad embarrassed I think. They voted very strongly (except for 15) in favour) and now Abbeyleix don't want them by an equally large majority with less than 20 in favour. The only thing I would hope for now is that there is no fallout in either club but I can't understand how a few good tally men and a few soundings could not have avoided the whole process.

You'd be surprised. A mood can shift on the night. A realisation that your club ceases to exist.
Has happened in OY before. Then again unfortunately these dreadful mergers have happened, too often for my liking, to the detriment of both the initial clubs. Lost identity, dilution of tradition.

The fact that more turned up at the Ballinakill meeting is interesting. Abbeyleix on paper is a much bigger club  but has a smaller hardcore which doesn't surprise me. My take on it is that Ballinakill know they have a problem in the long run and were prepared to do.something about it now. I imagine that Abbeyleix on the night took the view that they will survive one way or another. Funny enough, I think they are going to be wrong on that one as the shift in the parish will be to football.

Not a hope Rathdowney or Kilcotton would have titles on their own. I don't think this amalgamation will go through  as the vote  will require 3 logical/rational people out of 4 to vote for it  to counteract the high level of head bangers who probably do nothing from one end of year to next.