Laois SHC 2023

[TheGiantSquid]

Didn't see a thread for this so I said I'd get the ball rolling.

I know it's far too early to discuss winners and relegation fodder but it seems highly likely now it will be:
Camross & R/E in semi.
Rosenalis vs Abbeyleix QF
C/Bcolla vs Borris QF
Harps vs CTown Rel

[Laois man]

Looks that way so far. Ctown hit by alot of injuries and could in trouble with such a young team. Rdowney to win it out.

[burdizzo]

Didn't see a thread for this so I said I'd get the ball rolling.

There was a bit of chat in the Laois Senior Hurlers 2023 thread - but far better for it to have its own thread.

Borris slipping out of the 'Big 4', big time.

[Galtee1]

With Podge Delaney back can Harps pull off a surprise win this weekend against Ballacolla?

[BallyroanAbbey]

Didn't see a thread for this so I said I'd get the ball rolling.

There was a bit of chat in the Laois Senior Hurlers 2023 thread - but far better for it to have its own thread.

Borris slipping out of the 'Big 4', big time.

Borris produced that run of minors from 09 to 13 or 14 which prompted the amalgamation in the first place, unfortunately since they came together at adult level they have the ball slip big time underage and it's now starting to catch up with them, they have grossly underachieved and that's why they are now drifting away from the group with Camross Rathdowney/Errill and Clough/Ballacolla

Change can happen very quickly and usually teams change every 10 years or so but generally in Laois there is always 3 or 4 above the rest. Castletown won a title in 06 I think and haven't been in a final since, Portlaoise were in 3 straight from 09 to 11, two years later they were relegated and been bopping up and down since
Looking at the next few years looking at it from underage you would imagine The Harps will break into the contenders group along with Abbeyleix because these are the two that have consistent success, at least one of them have been in minor finals since 2016 except for 2017, and they are the two front runners this year again
I can see Rathdowney dropping out for a time, although they seem to maximise their players ex John Purcell, Shane Dollard

[Laois man]

Castletown have a lot of very good underage teams coming through but that don't mean success at senior level. Harps had outstanding juvenile teams in the 80s winning minor and u21s but never made the break through at senior.

[TheGiantSquid]

The Harps were absolutely diabolical for the last 40mins today. Countless countless errors, dropped balls, bad choices and aimless handpassing out from the back. The trapdoor looms large on the banks of the Erkina I feel.

[Ogie]

Poor games all weekend again,
Harps & Ballacolla prob the most entertainment even tho result was sorted early

Rathdowney Errill moving well but this is the norm for them at these stages, bigger tests to come,

Camross done what they had to do today, Abbeyleix very spirited, worked very hard, just probably lacking the real quality forward to hurt teams
Mossy Keyes an absolute joy to watch

Borris Kilcotton the biggest story of the weekend, atrocious performance, gutless & spineless against a poor Castletown team missing some of their best players.

This crew of players have choked on so many occasions,

Their underage set up is probably one of the best in the county with a lot of work being done, but this guarantees no success,  especially now with the gap from 17 to adult hurling,
The Harps, huge juvenile success, no adult success,

Rathdowney Errill and Camross show the joys and successes of maturing later, without much success, leads to adult success, BK won everything on the way up easily, but it takes more to win and win consistently at adult than talent alone.
Character, commitment, consistency ..

At the moment it's RE favs, CB second, Camross third imo,
BK to just about survive and get by The Harps, maybe ..

[burdizzo]

Borris Kilcotton the biggest story of the weekend, atrocious performance, gutless & spineless against a poor Castletown team missing some of their best players.

This crew of players have choked on so many occasions,

Their underage set up is probably one of the best in the county with a lot of work being done, but this guarantees no success,  especially now with the gap from 17 to adult hurling,

Really? They're "B" at u17 and u15. Not exactly what you'd expect from a strong senior club...

[Keyser Söze]

Mad post in parts there Ogie.
They might be putting a lot of work in at underage but so is everyone else. Most of their teams at underage very low on quality.
Long, long road ahead.

Hard to credit how poor they have been in last two games.
It's like they downed tools once Castletown got a few scores in second half.
This isn't choking. They never looked liked winning.
Successive managements who have decent track records have failed to handle this group.
Have the senior/star players dictated too much over the years?
Are there elements of politics at play to keep the merger on the rails?
Is there any threat to it? The last thing Borris, Kilcotton or Laois need is to split up.

Abbeyleix impressive enough against Camross. Should have too much for Castletown.

The two games on Saturday sound like they were par for the course.

Next round:
Clough Ballacolla
Rathdowney Errill
Camross
Abbeyleix

There may be no game closer than 7 or 8 points.

That would leave quarter finals
Clough Ballacolla v Castletown
Abbeyleix v Rosenallis

Semi Finals*
Camross v Clough Ballacolla
Rathdowney Errill v Abbeyleix

Relegation Final
The Harps v Borris Kilcotton

*Presuming repeat fixtures are avoided?

[Laois man]

Anyone who thinks borris/kilcotton are strong underage don't no alot about there juvenile set up. I taught were good today Savage work rate and they down a few top players they could give Aleix enough of it in there last game. Rdowney look strong as do camross Cbolla still very dangerous and that win at the weekend will have them back on track. Borris/kcotton will struggle to stay up all is not good in that club at the moment.

[Laois man]

I taught castletowns work rate was Savage today..

[Keyser Söze]

Yes in fairness they did work hard. And it is an upward step mentally as much as anything. Missing a few too. I just think BK's poor form is the bigger story.

[Laois man]

Ye agree borris/kcotton were poor castletown back played very well as a unit. I think borris /kilcotton could struggle to stay up.

[Ogie]

Agreed on the poor form,

It looks like a case of too much too early for that team of players, won all underage and unable to figure out winning / seeing out / turniing up for big days in 2013, 19,20 and letting 21 slip has finally broken them mentally with the losses of Joe Campion and Patrick Whelan also.
Dont think theres politics at play or any fear of a break up, too far down the road for that

Camross should see them off easily, I do think they'll have enough to see off The Harps

Camross seemed to have reinvented themselves this year, RE with a decent second team supporting top team and CB not gone away yet with Dunphy to come back on board


Predictions -
Camross Semis on one side Rathdowney Errill on other,

CB V Castletown one quarter
Abbeyliex v Rosenallis the other

Camross v Clough Ballacolla
Rathdowney Errill v Rosenallis again

Rathdowney Errill v Clough Ballacolla

Rathdowney Errill