Laois Senior Footballers 2024

[The Saint]

Have to give credit where it's due and say that was a very solid performance last night. We were easily 7/8 points a better team. Their goal at the end was sloppy/fortunate and we could have had a couple more goals (James Kellys chance and the disallowed goal from Seamus Lacey being two). Obviously Killian Roche is going to get a lot of the plaudits following on from kicking 5pts but Damon Larkin had a massive game in midfield. He's powerful and more mobile than I'd previously thought. Shaun Fitz went thru a tonne of ball and used it well too. The thing that pleased the most was our willingness to be direct when facing a massed Longford defence (how do teams still put 15 behind the ball when losing by 7pts!!!???). We didn't do the whole forward and backward bullshit around midfield and there was great effort put into supporting the man on the ball. Really pleased with what I saw.. definite green shoots.

[les Antiques]

Good solid win .Scoreline flattered Longford. They weren't up to much and we were much the better side all over the pitch .

I like the look of our full back line . Dempsey,Lacey and Kelly all tigerish markers and decent at breaking forward. 
Also noticeable how physical we have become on the ball and in the tackle .
There's a plan in place and it's evident in how we keep the ball more comfortably in possession .
Early days but lots of reasons to be positive. 

[on the hop]

good to get the win, first of the tougher games in the division to be out of the way. It looks like its going to be a very even division in terms of quality with everybody bar Waterford feeling they have a chance. Certainly the type of football played was alien to the Dublin / Monaghan game on tele later but we are where we are. we were far better than Longford who I was surprised were a bit flat but we gave them a small bit of hope with concession of two soft goals. There is an obvious change in style with less emphasis on direct goal to the full forward line and more through the hands which suits a few of our newer players. At times it was hard to figure out the shape of the team and players were constantly finding themselves in strange positions. Going forward we will probably have to modify things a bit, I can't see Roche been given such leeway again by other teams and we will need a better scoring return from the inside forwards. In fairness, we didn't really have an inside line for a lot of the times so an out ball wasn't really an option. interesting to see where Wexford are at today with their game in London before we travel their next week.

[County Man]

A thoroughly deserved win against Longford. A lot of twists and turns lie ahead though in a very competitive division four with 4 or 5 teams chomping at the bit to get out. We started last year with a fantastic win away against Sligo. It will be a tough assignment next Saturday evening in Wexford.

It was a game that we controlled for the most part, the only real worrying moment was when Longford scored their penalty to bring the margin back to 1. We responded brilliantly though with 1-2 without reply started by an excellent team goal superbly finished by Damon Larkin who also got 2 points in the first half and was immense. A mention to for his midfield partner Conor Heffernan who also put in a good shift.

Killian Roche was unreal scoring 5 points, 3 from play. His kickouts were also good and he pulled off a fine save late in the first half. Great to see James Kelly back he has really matured and got on a lot of ball especially in the first half. Ben Dempsey made a super interception in the first half and great to have Seamus Lacey back from injury.

The half back line were solid. Great to have Brian Byrne back from long term injury, the return of Eoin Buggie and Timmo plugging away again for another season! We may have a number of lads missing from last year but great to see some returnees. Dannny O'Reilly came on late in the second half.

Our captain Evan O'Carroll was constantly dangerous and got a beaufiful score in the first half. He was backed up well by Mark Barry and Niall Corbett. Our half forward line ran all day and are pacy.

We have good options on the bench and I also hear that Paul Kingston, Kieran Lillis and Padraig Kirwan are involved but out injured at the moment.

Fitness levels looked decent and there was a lot of running and support play. A good crowd was in O'Moore park last night, certainly up on previous years.

Great to see Justin back in charge and Ross Munnelly there beside him.

Well done to all involved.

[georgedoylesrightleg]

big diff was a bit of class on the line none o the shite we had ta listen to last year. good night out, good start. no negative shitw.

[Jd]

Good to see a decent crowd out. The team looked like there was a structure to them and knew their roles. I thought the first half was a difficult watch to be honest with a lot of basic errors but to be expected for the first serious day out. Second half I was impressed by the way they handled being pegged back to one point. A comfortable win to be honest. Great start to the campaign

[redsetanta]

Great to get the win but we need to keep the momentum going. Last year we had a very good opening win away to Sligo but our season petered out. .
Fair play to Timmons who gave the 'assist' for our goal. There's a lad that should inspire the younger players with his committment and desire.

The signs are good and lets see where we are after game 3 or 4.

[Saint 1963]

Interesting to see Laois GAA getting a mention on a Northern Ireland politics programme but it seem our Football Manager has a decision to make with regard to his future commitment to either Laois or Stormont!

[The Boy Wonder]

The business in Stormont starts around lunchtime on Saturday. Assuming Justin attends he would need a helicopter to get down to Wexford for 6pm. Here's hoping that he sticks with us anyway.

[From the Terrace]

Great start last weekend, let's hope we can back it up this evening. The McNulty political situation is going to be interesting going forward.
Great to see our new players & inexperienced players playing so well vs Longford - optimistic for 2024, hopefully promotion & being towards business end of tailteann Cup for me. Glad our experienced lads still on the panel bedding our new players in.

[Joeythelips]

The McNulty situation is not going to end well, he is now suspended by his party
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-68196052

Surely this could have been avoided, Stormont was back after a long absence and Laois had a match in Wexford that same day. Could it not have been possible to allow Munelley to take the reins for one game?

[les Antiques]

Good convincing win down in Wexford.

The difference to the last couple of years was very evident last night. 
There is a plan in place and strategy that all the players are following. 
Defensively we look so much more sound and the players are instructed to play to  there individual strengths. 

I thought all the subs made an impact . Murphy , Fingleton and O'Reilly all were all introduced at appropriate times .


I expected more from Wexford tbh. 

Carlow in a few weeks will be interesting.  Not sure where they are in development etc . Beat an under strength Tipp team and a poor Waterford outfit last night .
We never get too worried about Carlow .

[County Man]

Very comfortable win in Wexford in front of a huge crowd. Certainly didn't expect it to be so easy.

Great to see a lot of different scorers for us during the game. Shaun Fitzpatrick had a fantastic game with 1-2. Evan O'Carroll is really playing a captain's part with super scores, great workrate and even a bit of great defensive work to snubb out a Wexford goal chance.

Workrate is key this year. Fitness levels are high and players are working hard for each other and supporting each other. Very pleasing to see. Most of the scores for Wexford were hard earned.

Killian Roche was superb again with 5 frees, the best one being the last one way out near the sideline. Seamus Lacey was powerful in defense. Damon Larkin had to go off injured at half time and we really missed him in the 2nd half. He is becoming a huge player for us.

We had a couple of missed goal chances as well so we were full value for the 10 point win. Excellent performace all round.

Carlow up next at home in round 3.

[on the hop]

It was a very open game in Wexford, the conditions and the pitch were good and that dreaded wind that often ruins games down there wasn't present. Both teams didn't really employ any heavy defensive tactics so their were plenty of shooting chances on both sides, Laois were fair more economical. Really strong performance in the first half, team played a very high pace game, snappy passing and avoiding going into contact at all times. A few noticeable things was that team attacked mostly down the stand side where Brian Byrne and Kevin Swayne operated, Shaun Fitz had a roving role which suited him and Niall Dunne did a lot of running to show for ball, much of it appeared to be a game plan to make space.

The second half was much more even, the little spurt of scores at the end tipped the second scoring in our favour. We did go flat for a period and a few of the players took some very sloppy options especially with poor shooting. I thought we got slightly leggy and should have made a few changes to freshen things up. There are a few issues to sort out which never is a bad thing, we still have issues with teams running at us through the centre, glen malone the wexford wing back clipped over three points nearly unopposed and Evan of all people ended up stopping a goal. There is a small lingering doubt that we might be vulnerable to pace up the centre. Roche got off some good short and medium kickouts but we were well beaten in terms of fielding high ball on both their and our own kickouts once we were high pressed, probably short a fielding centre fielder. The carlow game will be a different proposition and probably will be a tougher test.

[georgedoylesrightleg]

fare play to justy. great committment and a great example to players to foolow. hes put neck on line for them n Laois.