Laois Senior Football Championship 2019

Started by The PRO, February 28, 2019, 09:51:40 AM

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The PRO

Ballyfin v Graiguecullen
The Heath v Portarlington
Ballyroan-Abbey v Emo
Courtwood v Arles-Kilcruise
Stradbally v Killeshin
Arles-Killeen v Crettyard
St Joseph's v O'Dempseys
Ballylinan v Portlaoise

SCFC

 A few interesting games there.
An early prediction for the craic....

Graigue should be too strong for Ballyfin

Fancy Port to take The Heath with the talented young players they have coming through.

Ballyroan Abbey and Emo could be a tough game with very little in it. Hard one to call.

I think Arles will be a bit too cute for the young Courtwood team.

Killeshin might surprise Stradbally.

Killeen to sneak by Cretty who'll miss the Spink lads

Josephs and O'Dempseys could be a cracker if they both go for it. They are two of the big guns. Won't call it this early.

Portlaoise will beat Ballylinan by something the same as two years ago's final.


Countyminor

Championship starting Wednesday lads and barely even a whisper around the place! Anyways here's my first round predictions to get things started:

1. Portlaoise v Ballylinan: Has the makings of a decent game but without Walsh Ballylinan to lose by about 9

2. Killeshin v Stradbally: Very 50/50. Killeshin down Evan Lowry and Deering. Stradbally to win narrowly

3. Port v the Heath: Fancy Port to win handy enough. Best equipped to challenge Portlaoise

4. Joseph's v O'Dempsey's: O'D's by 6

5. Graigue v Ballyfin: Can't see anything other than a handy Graigue win. Graigue +8.

6. Killeen v Crettyard: No Cha but I fancy Cretty to scrape by. Two poor teams who'll be happy enough to face each other

7. Emo v Ballyroan: Tough one to call. Fancy Ballyroan, Emo are poor defensively

8. Courtwood v Kilcruise: Courtwood to win but only just

Silkyskillssunshinee

Quote from: Countyminor on July 22, 2019, 09:15:17 PM
Championship starting Wednesday lads and barely even a whisper around the place! Anyways here's my first round predictions to get things started:

1. Portlaoise v Ballylinan: Has the makings of a decent game but without Walsh Ballylinan to lose by about 9

2. Killeshin v Stradbally: Very 50/50. Killeshin down Evan Lowry and Deering. Stradbally to win narrowly

3. Port v the Heath: Fancy Port to win handy enough. Best equipped to challenge Portlaoise

4. Joseph's v O'Dempsey's: O'D's by 6

5. Graigue v Ballyfin: Can't see anything other than a handy Graigue win. Graigue +8.

6. Killeen v Crettyard: No Cha but I fancy Cretty to scrape by. Two poor teams who'll be happy enough to face each other

7. Emo v Ballyroan: Tough one to call. Fancy Ballyroan, Emo are poor defensively

8. Courtwood v Kilcruise: Courtwood to win but only just

Only one I disagree with is Crettyard winning. They'll do very well to avoid relegation without the Spink lads. Arles-Killeen are a far cry from what they were, but should still have enough in attack to pull through.

BallyroanAbu

#4
Portlaoise V Ballylinan: Portlaoise prob win this but I have Ballylinan as Dark Horses for Championship, first day out is prob not where it's going to happen.  So Portlaoise win here but Ballylinan at big odds to win the county final.  Could be boring and say Portlaoise but feck it.

Killeshin V Stradbally:  I will go with Killeshin, Stradbally have good young lads coming but just not yet.

Port V The Heath: Has to be Port I suppose, but they do have the capacity to implode.

Joseph's V O Dempsey's: O Dempsey here

Killeen V Crettyard:  Killeen in a tight one

Emo V BallyroanAbbey  50/50 here BallyroanAbbey with my heart.

Courtwood V Kilcruise: Kilcruise here, this will be an eye opener for me. Is the talent that Courtwood undoubtedly have be able to cope with the grizzled old veterans of Kilcruise ?  I think Kilcruise find a way to win this.

This is another watershed year for Portlaoise, personally I think they are done.  But who can take the crown Ballylinan for me with O Dempsey & Port in the mix.  Port have the capacity but plenty of times they have had the talent they really need to come together and knuckle down. 

The PRO

Portlaoise – should win with ease

Killeshin – both teams going to be short players, think Killeshin might edge it

Portarlington – as someone said you can never be sure with Port but surely they will win this

O'Dempseys – the form team of the year so far. Josephs will put it up to them though and might be a narrow win

Graigue – playing Division 3, even though they won it, has to come against Ballyfin

Killeen – think they'll win this handily

Draw (Emo v B Abbey) – I can't separate these.

Arles Kilcruise – think they will be far too cute for Courtwood who are still a few players short of being competitive


Silkyskillssunshinee

#6
Quote from: BallyroanAbu on July 23, 2019, 12:39:10 PM

This is another watershed year for Portlaoise, personally I think they are done. 

Genuinely asking, what signs do you see to make you believe Portlaoise are done? They performed better in the league this year, and that was without six or seven Seniors and two U-20's..

They might not be quite the team they once were, but they're still strong enough to walk another championship. Portarlington will give them their best game. In a couple of years Portarlington could well dominate, but Portlaoise should still get through this year.

Ballylinan with Gary Walsh might have been an interesting prospect , but no chance they  beat Portlaoise without him.

Countyminor

Are the town what they used to be? No.

Are they still better than any other team in Laois? Yes, by a distance.

Do they have credible opposition in this years championship? Possibly Port if they were up for it.

What should be done to address this imbalance plaguing our championship for over 10 years?

We could start by implementing what was recommended in the strategic review which took place 2 years ago but this should not be done at the expense of Portlaoise doing well and being successful and merely in response to the growth of the area.

A new club is needed for the health of gaelic games in Portlaoise. The more playing football and hurling in the town the better. Our championship is weak because our structure allows it to be. This year will be a handy procession for Portlaoise as 11 out of the last 12 have been. There is no reason why the next biggest urban areas like Port and Graigue shouldn't be challenging them. A smaller more cutthroat championship or one with area teams would force them to get their act together.

Sorry for getting sidetracked  ;D

redsetanta

Easy run out for Portlaoise this evening
The real glory is being knocked to your knees and then coming back. That's real glory. VinceLombardi

Silkyskillssunshinee

Quote from: redsetanta on July 24, 2019, 09:18:53 PM
Easy run out for Portlaoise this evening

Didn't make the game tonight but judging by the score-line and considering they played the whole second half with 14-men, Portlaoise haven't digressed at all under Niall Rigney.

They held the likes of Frank Flanagan and Michael Dowling back as well, so I wouldn't be surprised to see their Intermediates beat Clonaslee and win the Intermediate as well.

Anyone know why Graham Brody was nowhere to be seen? On his travels?

thegreeenandgold

 Portlaoise never out of second gear,  Ballylinan very poor.

Helix.

Quote from: Silkyskillssunshinee on July 24, 2019, 09:29:10 PM
Quote from: redsetanta on July 24, 2019, 09:18:53 PM
Easy run out for Portlaoise this evening

Didn't make the game tonight but judging by the score-line and considering they played the whole second half with 14-men, Portlaoise haven't digressed at all under Niall Rigney.

They held the likes of Frank Flanagan and Michael Dowling back as well, so I wouldn't be surprised to see their Intermediates beat Clonaslee and win the Intermediate as well.

Anyone know why Graham Brody was nowhere to be seen? On his travels?

Ballylinan were poor. Portlaoise missed few goal chances aswell but overall weren't overly tested in the backs. Good blend of youth in team tonight Damon Larkin, Ronan McEvoy and Jason Maher were decent. Red card was harsh I felt nothing malicious Saunders didn't have much of a chance to pull away from the contact.

Brody was in the stand tonight no idea why. Mickey Nolan was excellent with kickouts and good under high ball. Team seems to be picked on league form and will be hard beaten.

on the hop

That was one poor ballylinan team, they had no one bar the full forward who is a decent player. Portlaoise far too much pace for them and Lillis in particular was very impressive. Very noticeable the difference in size of the two teams. As for new players, Ronan mcevoy with five or six points from
Play and Jason Maher who was very mobile weren't too bad.

I hope the officiating tonight is not going to be the standard, The red card was very harsh on Saunders, they simply ran into each other. I am amazed at Maurice Deegan as lineman not copping this and also not assisting the ref when a point was signaled that was Cleary wide on his side.

Silkyskillssunshinee

Hard to know who will win tonight. Killeshin are without Deering, Lowry and Bolger due to travel. Stradbally I think are missing a few due to injury.

I'd say Stradbally might edge it with Begley and Dillon pushing them over the line. They'll do well to make the quarters though.

Silkyskillssunshinee

Well Stradbally were way, way worse than I expected. Without Jody Dillon they offered nothing up front.

Killeshin were decent, especially when you consider they're missing three good lads. Stevie Attride was the best player on the park. David Aston was very good and Michael Doran showed well in spells.