All-Ireland Football Qualifiers 2016

[Junior Ex Laoistalk]

Laois Senior Football Manager Mick Lillis has announced his starting 15 for Saturday's All-Ireland SFC Qualifier game Armagh



1. Graham Brody (Portlaoise)

2. Stephen Attride (Killeshin)

3. Mark Timmons (Graiguecullen)

4. Damien O'Connor (Timahoe)

5. Darren Strong (Emo)

6. Kieran Lillis (Portlaoise)

7. Gareth Dillon (Portlaoise)

8. Brendan Quigley (Timahoe)

9. Kevin Meaney (Arles-Kilcruise)

10. Niall Donoher (Courtwood)

11. Paul Cahillane (Portlaoise)

12. Colm Begley (Stradbally)

13. Conor Meredith (O'Dempsey's)

14. Donal Kingston (Arles-Killeen)

15. David Conway (Arles-Kilcruise)


Good to see Lillis back in action again, should add strength to the backline. Strange to see David Conway jump straight onto the team ahead of lads who have been training all year with the squad. Wonder if Gary is back on the panel..??

Walsh returns to Laois after 'clear-the-air' talks with Lillis
http://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-games/gaelic-football/walsh-returns-to-laois-after-cleartheair-talks-with-lillis-34802381.html


Armagh Team v Laois

Armagh manager Kieran McGeeney has rung in the changes, making six switches to his starting line-up for Saturday's visit to O'Moore Park to face Laois


                        Patrick Morrison

Shea Heffron, Brendan Donaghy, Mark Shields

  Joe Mc Elroy, Ciaran Mc Keever, Andy Mallon

               Charlie Vernon, Aaron Findon

      Tony Kernan, Rory Grugan, Aidan Forker

Miceal Mc Kenna, Stefan Campbell, Niall Grimley.

Throw in is at 3;30pm

[blueandwhite1]

David Conway's inclusion in the starting 15 sums up this set up. Happy that he is involved and hope he does well but what does it tell you about game planning for this team? If the team were structured and had a plan, everyone would know their roles. How could you possibly fit into any system within a week? Cheddar wouldn't do it with the hurlers that's for sure.

[Giovanni]

It is good to see David Conway back with the panel but it is strange to see him listed as a starter.

The so-called "clear the air" meeting with Gary Walsh obviously wasn't that successful. I'm not sure if the management are trying to make some point or other but I doubt very much that the benefits outweigh the costs of that kind of point-making.

[Tony]

Same - very odd to see Conway and Lillis starting after being out for so long. Doesn't make sense if you think about it, especially in Conway's case.

[les Antiques]

Maybe there is justification in playing Lillis as he was there at the start  this year until that horrific . injury . The Conway selection is altogether baffling . Granted I'd welcome him on to the panel again but to go straight back into the team ahead of lads who have been there since January ...?
His club form has been good not brillant so I would be interested in hearing the managements take on his selection .

[steven seagal]

Conway's selection is a bit of a joke. He's an excellent footballer, I'm not doubting that, but starting him can't be going down well in the dressing room, and the relationship between Lillis and the panel has hardly been harmonious this year anyway. He was injured about a month ago, got called into the panel the week before the Dublin game, and now he's starting. He played well against Portlaoise in a league game a few weeks ago, I presume Lillis was at it and called him up based on that.

I don't see how he'd be ready (fitness wise) for intercounty football after the year he's had so far, because he's missed a few of Kilcruise's league games. Maybe the rationale is that he won't mind being taken off at half time?!

Kieran Lillis must be some way off match fitness as well, but our options in defence are limited, and with Cotter not available someone had to step in. I can't see him lasting the 70 minutes though.

[Giovanni]

Why is Cotter not available? I'd imagine Gearoid Hanrahan (who came on against Dublin) and Robbie Kehoe can't be too far off the starting line up.

Without JOL and Evan O Carroll in particular it looks a bit short somehow.

[Tony]

The lads will have to be very up for this and ready for the pace of it from the 1st minute - we saw what happened against Dublin. KM will have his lads firing - it will be a total embarrassment of a season to KM if he loses, especially with all the latest rubbish in the media with Joe Brolly. We have to want it more than Armagh - this will be a dog-fight.

[Saint75]

Great win in fairness but the worst game I've seen in my life.
Hard to know where Laois are now really.

[Tony]

An ugly win but a win nonetheless - definitely a dog-fight as expected. Great to win those games - really shows we're up for it.

We've made a tangible difference to our attitude / setup since Cunningham has come in. Even Brendan Quigley mentioned it at the end - he's probably running the show more than anyone and that's a good thing in my mind.

To come close to anyone in division 1 or most of division 2, we'll have to seriously improve our conversion rates however our defensive setup has made a MASSIVE improvement since the League.

With a bit of momentum - we could see a few more rounds but really does depend on opposition. It'd be great to get momentum with Cunningham around now to work on the lads, it looks more promising.

We still have a lot of improving to do but we can take a lot of positives from the game with JOL still to come back and good competition for places with Conway and Lillis doing well today after being out for so long.

Great goal by Merideth and I for one am delighted to see the win after the disappointment of the Ireland match. Laois wins in the championship are rare enough so let's enjoy this one and build and focus on the next one.

[High Fielder]

In the next round of the Qualifiers Saint. That's where. It might have been the worst  game you saw in your life, but it wasn't the worst performance by a Laois team. In fact, the second half display really impressed me. For the first time in how long I don't know. they were patient and held onto the football. You have to understand that these lads have been neglected in terms of coaching, and a lot of them are very low on confidence. We're no world beaters but there are a lot of counties who would like to have some of these lads. I thought Attride and Quigley were immense today. Worked their socks off. It mightn't have been pretty but we won, and the result is all that matters at the end of the day. At this stage, it's best not to get caught up in how pretty it all is. We have struggled recently as a county. A few positive results can only help, not hinder.

[the old vet]

Really enjoy that win today,to see a team that only score 10 points today against us.
that a big change from the last few months,  so well done to the lads
now looking forward to the next round.

[blueandwhite1]

Great that we won and was better defensively. Absolutely shockingly poor going forward. Armagh were spectacularly poor. We were slightly better.

[maccer]

Sometimes we should just enjoy the ride. Far from perfect but massive commitment and desire to win. The players were thrilled at the end and they deserve some joy. Watching Gary Walsh and Mick Lillis embrace at the end just showed we are a mad shower of hoors like no other

[The Boy Wonder]

Well done Laois - it's a boost to get a win over a team with a bit of pedigree like Armagh. Ok, Armagh may have slipped back in the ranks but they would have been expecting to come through today. Hopefully Laois supporters will come out in bigger numbers the next day - these lads deserve our support.
A special mention for Gearoid Hanrahan - I thought he excelled on his championship debut.