Laois Senior Football Championship 2020

Started by Junior Ex Laoistalk, February 27, 2020, 11:21:40 PM

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The PRO

#45
Quote from: Hospital Pass on August 27, 2020, 02:29:12 PM
The First round was really a mixed bag. some great games mixed in with some really poor standard, low intensity games.
I suppose that can be expected given the lack of preparation time teams have had. Id expect it to improve as the year goes on.
I think the Laoisgaa tv service deserves great credit. 5 euro is excellent value for money. if they were able to publish a weekly match programme that we could download it would be very welcomed.
On the structure discussion I agree now that we probably have too many senior teams. 2 or 3 teams are clearly getting cut adrift in my opinion which wasn't the case a few years ago. I like the look of that round 2 draw some nice looking games on paper.
I'll do me best to give a power ranking of where I see teams after round 1.

1. Portlaoise: no explanation necessary. on paper still the team to beat
2. O'Dempseys: move marginally ahead of Port after hammering Courtwood I think. 7-17 is a scoreline that few teams in Laois could post on their best days.
Didnt see the game.
3. Portarlington: Struggled over Stradbally, although conditions seemed appalling. If Colm Murphy is not fit to face Portlaoise I dont think they will have the firepower to down the town the next day. They have best strength in dept in the championship.
4. Graiguecullen: impressive display against what now looks like a weak Killeen team. rallied from a shaky start to completely dominate. Lee Timmons was excellent in attack. With Brian Byrne, Trevor Collins and Dicey back they have serious mobility.
No sign of Aaron Forbes on the match programme. any news on him. Big loss.
5. Emo: Beat Killeshin very comfortably. seem to have added a nice bunch of young lads into the team. could quite easily have had another bag full of scores the last day. be interesting to see if they can repeat that performance.
6. Ballyfin: looked nervy at the finish of their local derby against Rosenallis but they clung on. A nice balance to their team.
7. Ballyroan-Abbey: If you said to me before the game that Ballyroan would be without Tierney, Scott Conroy, McMahon and Marty Scully then I would have given them no chance. to their credit they dug it out and if they can add these 4 back into the group of impressive young lads they could surprise a few again.
8. Stradbally: The first of the first round losers in my opinion, id have them ahead of the heath. ran Portarlington close and have a few bodies back this year.
9. Ballylinan: gave Portlaoise a game, didn't get a chance to see it. I presume it was very defensive judging by the final score. still have the quality to make a run. looking forward to them vs Rosenallis.
10. Rosenallis: A young team that's full of running. a nightmare round 2 draw for them really. Regardless i cant see them getting into trouble this year and with the age profile of the team they will be senior for a good few years to come.
11. The Heath: again another Team that has added a lot of young lads in. really great to see. A notable omission from the match panel the last day is Evin Keane. anyone know why he is missing? without him I doubt they will have the forwards to beat some of the bigger teams.
12. Courtwood: again didn't see the O'Dempseys game but Niall dunne and Niall Donoher are two big losses to them.
13. Killeshin: looked a shadow of the team that was very impressive last year. their defense at times looked wide open. they need Attride back.
14. St. Josephs: for me the most disappointing performance in Round 1. I thought this year would have been ideal for them. with an experienced management set up and possible players returning from abroad. Dylan Doyle was abut their only forward the last day against a patched together Ballyroan team.
15/16. take your pick with the 2 Arles teams. Both look like they are waiting to be put out of their misery. they simply don't have the legs to compete with some of the younger teams anymore. Killeen's best defender Joe Mulhare was missing, anyone know if he will be back?
I'd have Josephs a bit higher, I think. Ahead of Courtwood and Killeshin.
On The Heath, yes, it was a good win but Arles Kilcruise are not a great benchmark. I'd have Port marginally ahead of their neighbours O'D's.
I didn't see Ballyfin v Rosenallis at all so I'm not sure where either of them stand.
Early round 2 predictions; Killeshin, Killeen, Josephs and Ballylinan to stay alive leaving Courtwood, Arles Kilcruise, Rosenallis and Stradbally to fight to avoid the drop.
Portlaoise, O'Dempseys, B Abbey and Graigue to go straight to q finals.
On Joe Mulhare, I believe he is not around this year.

SCFC

Emo excellent again last night. Nearly no weak links. Maybe the full back could be got at by a small, nippy forward. And possibly Langford and Gorman aren't that mobile. But I'm nit picking. Great, direct running through the middle. Owens is super when he's in the mood.
No one will fancy playing them in the quarter final. 

Keyser Söze

Fair play to them. Is Paul Lawlor the main man from a coaching point of view?
The greatest trick the devil ever pulled.......

SCFC

Quote from: Keyser Söze on September 04, 2020, 10:31:29 PM
Fair play to them. Is Paul Lawlor the main man from a coaching point of view?
I don't know tbh but John Strong is an excellent manager. Paul was player manager for the two previous years.

Keyser Söze

Ah yes sorry, that was last year. They look well coached.
The greatest trick the devil ever pulled.......

The PRO

The streaming service is excellent but a small criticism. I'm just watching Portarlington v Portlaoise at the moment and there's an analyst Aideen? Dunne who offers absolutely nothing. Zero insight. This isn't sexism either. If it was a man I'd say the same.

town1980

We had chances to draw it but in fairness I think port deserved it Coffey and Murphy both injured for today Byrne only getting back fit and paddy o Sullivan to come back also,so they are definitely the team to beat this year ,, without Healy n Bruno we are nearer the chasing pack as ever ,port deserved winners,, joes were so lucky to beat Stradbally it might bring them on though it's a win they badly needed ,,,ballylianin a good win for them on the back of a good performance too against portlaoise

Silkyskillssunshinee

#52
I reckon that Portarlington and Portlaoise will meet again further down the line, possibly in the final. They are the two teams who have the  best squad depth in the county. It was more important for Portarlington that they got the win today and it will give them great belief going forward.

Portarlington and Portlaoise look like the two top teams, while the likes of Emo, Graiguecullen and O'Dempsey's will fancy their chances on any given day. It's a more open championship than it has been in years gone by, but the quality has dipped in line with Portlaoise's drop of standards.

thegreeenandgold

#53
Quote from: The PRO on September 05, 2020, 06:06:32 PM
The streaming service is excellent but a small criticism. I'm just watching Portarlington v Portlaoise at the moment and there's an analyst Aideen? Dunne who offers absolutely nothing. Zero insight. This isn't sexism either. If it was a man I'd say the same.

The stream is very good, Camera Work is decent.  Before I would start on stats,  the commentary bar Killian Whelan is poor.  Jack Nolan painful as he is would be a far better alternative.  They are charging €6 for the stream,  that's a fair price considering NOW TV charge a €10 for a Premier League match.  Leo Turley the other night was brutal, if I wanted a coaching session with Leo I would make it my business to attend one !    At the end of the day it's year one but one way or the other this is part of the future going forward.

The PRO

Quote from: thegreeenandgold on September 05, 2020, 11:08:03 PM
Quote from: The PRO on September 05, 2020, 06:06:32 PM
The streaming service is excellent but a small criticism. I'm just watching Portarlington v Portlaoise at the moment and there's an analyst Aideen? Dunne who offers absolutely nothing. Zero insight. This isn't sexism either. If it was a man I'd say the same.

The stream is very good, Camera Work is decent.  Before I would start on stats,  the commentary is absolutely brutal no flow to it.  Jack Nolan painful as he is would be a far better alternative.  They are charging €6 for the stream,  that's a fair price considering NOW TV charge a €10 for a Premier League match.  Leo Turley the other night was brutal, if I wanted a coaching session with Leo I would make it my business to attend one !   
I thought Leo was grand! As was Eddie Kinsella yesterday. Killian Whelan is a very good commentator. Pat O'Sullivan isn't a natural but he tries hard.

Butch Cassidy

The streaming will have teething issues and it's a new world for the commentators but think they are improving week on week so need to cut them some slack. It's great to be able to watch the games.

On the Portlaoise game, I thought Dillon was brilliant and hope he answers the phone call that will come from Quirke. Looks like it's the end of the road for the Portlaoise dominance. Bruno is a huge loss and they dont have the calibre of player coming through to match the teams of previous years. In saying that it's up to Port and the other teams to finally step up.

Ports corner backs were very good, Byrne and David Murphy were inspirational at times when needed. Port were missing some key players but be hard to drop that young Murphy lad the next day, good problem for their manager! Port will learn a lot from yesterday, they managed the Portlaoise black card very badly but first win over Portlaoise in 19 years should give them the confidence going forward

thegreeenandgold

If you want to know what Leo would of done in that exact position every time yep his grand !  Pat's grand but when he is continuous like yesterday it's poor as it's done with best of intentions but their is no flow to it.  It's a paid for service the odd match with Pat is fine but they actually have gone downhill from Killian & Greg the first night.  Also Pat needs to stop calling people by their nickname not everyone knows who they are.   

town1980


Chrimtain

Both Laois and Offaly were subjected to two weeks of lockdown in August. Yet, Offaly now know the four semi finalists in their football championship because hey had the sense to modify their championship. We in Laois, however, will not play the quarter finals of our championship before another month passes. It seems crazy to me. Like Offaly, we should have modified our championship.

Keyser Söze

Depends for whose benefit Chrimtain?

In reality both Laois & Offaly are probably going to have fairly short seasons at InterCounty level. What exactly would we be rushing the club champ for?
Better weather or better pitches or being able to play in daylight in OMP. All fair enough reasons.
If the reason is to allow the InterCounty preparations kick in earlier then I don't agree.
The greatest trick the devil ever pulled.......