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I predicted they would win it after seeing them beat Stradbally in the quaters and I was proved right.

Some fine footballers in Daly,the malones and the baldwin twins.

Not sure why they all wear white ankle socks instead of traditional O'Neills black football socks...

Must be a trend down that part seen a lot of the Killeshin lads at it as well....

#coolkids

Best of luck in Leinster lads!

A good backroom team is vital to anyone at intercounty level now some would argue more important than the manager.

Mick will bring plenty of passion to the job and like cheddar will leave no stone unturned to get the best out of the Laois squad.

I hope the senior players like Begley,Quigley,Strong,O'Loughlin row in behind him.

If he can get Meaney,Cahilane,,Healy,O'Leary,Rodgers ,Gary Walsh and a few more of these guys who left last year and before and a few fresh faces from Portlaoise like Seale,Cotter maybe Eoin Feane then it will create a buzz around the squad again and the players will start to train and fight harder for a place.

Some pride back in the jersey is all we want I think we have the footballers to do quiet well and at least reach the last 12.

He has my support as the Blue and white always will!!!

Killeen will test The Town for sure but the benches will be the difference!

I hear Zac will be there if needed surely worth 3 points alone!

Town by 6

emo will give Arles a hard game and if they can get a goal or two I think they could come very close

Kilcruise by two

Zane Keenan was superb and you've got to feel for him being on the loosing team...

Highlights make it look an thriller which it wasn't but it was a decent game of hurling with some fantastic scores and well refereed by Dj Broc.

Best of Luck Mick seems you have been written off by the so called experts already..

I think if he can get John Surgue on board it could be a good match.

Be intersting to see who his selectors are .


Still a decent outfit there to work with and bar Dublin we should have nothing to fear in Leinster.

Need to get a few players back on board tho...Cahir Healy,Paul Cahilane,Peter O'Leary,Gary Walsh etc maybe he can get these lads on board.

He will also know the Portlaoise youngsters very well like Seale and Feane who I believe could make the step up given the right training and platform.

Arles killcruise should be congratulated they are a credit to themselves

Special mention to Ballyfin it was a great game of football

I here it's mick Lillis to be named tonight

Lads I don't like doing this because it is a thankless job but i think it has to be said now. The refereeing standard in the county is a at a very poor standard. We have 2 top referees and rarely use them.
Last nights referee was 30-40 yards away from the play for most of the game, made some calls that an RTE comedy sketch show would have been proud of and was booed off by both sets of supporters.
If it means stumping up an extra few quid to attract some new blood then so be it.

I agree I have seen two terrible displays this year now By SM in the Ballyfin Joes game and this by VD in this game some of the calls were just hard to stomach for anyone watching neutral or other...They are just not up to it!

Very hard to back against Portlaoise. They have a solid spine and have a decent sprinkling of youth in the right areas. Mountrath will put up a battle but they have a few players with a lot of miles on the clock and it's hard to see them live with Portlaoise for the 60.

I'm going to give the most hesitant of nods to Ballyfin in the other semi. They were laborious enough at times against Shanahoe yet still racked up a massive score in the second half.

Camross should in all honesty beat Ballinakill with a little to spare but I think this could be closer than some realise. Ballinakill look a decent team to me and I don't see their defence being "opened-up" too often. With Cha, they always have a chance as he is eminently capable of firing over points from any range or angle. I wouldn't back against Camross but neither would I be surprised if this was right in the melting pot going into the last 10.

Borris/Kilcotton start as favourites in the second semi-final for me. They suffered throughout the league owing to a huge county contingent but they are all back in harness now and they must see this as their undoubted chance for silverware. I thought CB hurled well in the 2nd half against RE but they'll need extra gears to have a chance here. This could be a game where defences are on top; PJ Scully looks to be in the form of his life and his accuracy from play and placed balls could be telling.

Good post Merman I agree 100% with your thoughts apart from Ballyfin I think they are carrying a few knocks from all the big Duel games and this could be a factor!

Looking forward to a great weekend of hurling!

Barrowhouse will win this now...They are by far the best team left and the Heath will loose one or more players before the final!

He did an excellent job!

I hear the bold Eddie has got the Dublin replay ....He will have to be on top of his game for this after last week.

Hope he can keep a lid on it and we get a better game.

Hesh will be thrilled I hope he didn't have plans to go to the picnic??

Hope its not Jason Ryan!

with Dempsey involved I feel it could be an insider!

That's a very long wait at this time of the year. Why is it so long?

Because its Laois

Yes the young Moore is a great talent I believe if ballyfin had their full side they could have matched if not beaten crettyard.

The Heath look to be going great guns and I think they can get to the final if they avoid the town