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Laois came from something like 6 points down to lead by 4 with game almost up. Robertson equalizing score came from a blatant pick up missed by the ref. That Laois team was coming near the end of its shelf life-was a very competitive team in 90s without ever really threatening a Leinster title. 

Paddy Donovan of Portlaoise won the Men's 50+ World Handball Championship over in the US yesterday. Good 24 hours for Portlaoise
on the sporting field.   

I felt yesterday was the litmus test of this Laois side. They battled to the end which was commendable but the reality is Monaghan had the game won by half time and only for Brody Laois would have suffered a serious drubbling. The loss of Attrite really showed yesterday as he is probably our one marquee defender. Truth be told I was disappointed with this Laois performance. How many times had we players back marking space but not tracking runners. Monaghan will do well to produce a kicking performance again like they did in the first half but too many times they were given the space and time to take shots at the posts.

Glynn and Farrell still need plenty of work if they are to make the mark as inter-county standard half forwards. Monaghan half back line blew them out of it at times. Hopefully everyone will continue to give the commitment required and we can step up a level next year. Promotion from division 3 is a requisite and hopefully a favourable draw in the Leinster championship can provide us with another crack at making a Leinster final. 

I don't necessarily agree that we are doing anything wrong at underage compared to other counties. The fact is that all counties now have very professional underage set-ups. In light of that the bigger counties with the bigger picks are the ones that are more than likely to succeed e.g. Kildare, Meath and Dublin. Every so often a team outside of those in Leinster might have a couple of outstanding footballers come through together that will break the status quo. The biggest problem in Laois and it has been highlighted by posters here time and time again is the pathetically small number of youngsters playing GAA in Portlaoise. A town and surrounding environs of well in excess of 20,000 and the potential this provides is being badly wasted. It's ridiculous to think that the two Arles clubs with two two teacher schools between them have provided nearly as many seniors to Laois county football team as Portlaoise has in the last decade. If we are to be successful at underage then something needs to change and a proper strategy implemented to reinvigorate GAA in our main town.     

Heard something about Delaney bringing in Johnny Kelly as coach with him if he gets the job, that would be good, he has good experience and a good track record.

If true, would be a popular choice within the county. We need to bring in someone who would be invested in the job and willing to build things long term. Naming lads like Jamie Wall doesn't appeal to me. Needs to prove himself a lot more than managing a stacked university team. Next appointment is  too big to get wrong-I don't want to see the wrong appointment made and Laois end up playing Christy Ring come 2020 as a consequence.   

Laois were blessed with how the two groups were drawn this year. In reality that Laois team would struggle to finish fifth if they had been placed in group A. Wicklow, Offaly, Meath and Dublin would all easy defeat our minor team. They beat Longford the first day out after getting off to a fast start. Longford were clearly the better team once they settled and had there been another couple of minutes left in that game probably would have claimed the victory. Still though with how results seem to be panning out there is every chance Laois will end up in the semi-finals. That was the goal at the start of the campaign and once there you never know what might happen. I have the feeling that Donnacha Phelan might fall into the bracket of a lucky manager rather than a good manager. As a supporter I would never say know to a bit of luck.

On a side note-Meath play Wicklow in their remaining group game. They are already guaranteed top stop. If they win Dublin will more than likely sneak second spot. If they lose then Wicklow progress. They have beaten Dublin once already in the competition-not easy to beat any Dublin side twice.

Laois job after Cheddar was always going to be an impossible task with so many retirements and withdrawals from Laois panel. We were basically left with an Under 23 panel that had achieved little at under age and lacked physicality. I worry for the next 4:5 years whoever comes in. Things look to have got progressively worse as the year progressed. Our team looks like a group of Young lads who have lost confidence and belief. Once things started to go wrong on the field of play they folded like a house of cards

Shambolic second half. Men versus boys. Similar to Westmeath and Kerry game where we outfought and out muscled. Lack of 3/4 men leaders down the spine of team very telling.