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Having 6 teams in the competition is one too many. I know they are reducing it next year but an imbalance has been created in the number of home and away games between teams which is highly unfair. Antrim have the perfect draw with Westmeath and Meath away and arguably the three strongest teams-Laois, Kerry and Carlow all at home. I would expect them to take one of the two spots in the final based on the favourable draw. Laois are away to Kerry in week 2 and then play Antrim away in week 3- will be a stern test of the squad. Finishing in the top 2 positions won't be easy and Carlow will hold no fear of meeting Laois in O'Moore park. The final places could easily go down to head to head/score difference.   

The game with Offaly will have a serious championship feel to it. Win that game and both counties will see it as signs of continuing progress. The opposite is the case for the team that loses out. In Offaly's case all the positively generated from their opening day Croke Park win will be eroded away (would be sweet if it is this Laois team that can do it). From a Laois perspective, we have beaten them on a couple of occasions the last couple of years and it has been the benchmark of our progress. To lose/not be competitive would be a blow to the apparent steps forward taken in the opening three games of this year's league.

I fear for Laois if dragged into a relegation play-off. In all likelihood it will be played in Páirc MacUílín in Ballycastle, Antrim and against a physically superior Antrim side on a tight pitch, Laois may come undone. This panel would benefit from a continued stay in division 1b so lets hope they can pick up the required results in their remaining group games.

Evan has all the attributes to be an exellent footballer for Laois. The last few seasons he probably wasn't where he needed to be be physically to play inter-county championship football. This year he seems to have rectified that and having a run playing on UCD team will definitely stand to him. I expect O'Carroll to nail down starting position come the championship.

The one benefit to having so many players missing at the moment is that it allows Kelly to build his squad and give lads an opportunity to stake their claim for a starting jersey. With the revised championship format, Laois will use approximately 25 lads (rotation and injury) in those games so getting everyone game time in the league is paramount. It is a pity though we are missing so many front-line players at the moment. With a full strength team at home against a very rusty Galway team it would have been a great opportunity to take a notable scalp.

It was encouraging to see this Laois team stay at it until the end and restrict Limerick to one goal. Last year we shipped a huge amount of goals and it was pleasing not to see Limerick tag on goals when they built up a 6/7 point lead near end of first half. Hopefully Galway can be restricted in a similar manner at the weekend.   

 

If memory serves me correctly that minor team were easily beaten by Meath, Kildare and Galway. By a pure fluke of a draw they managed to avoid the strongest three/four teams in Leinster in quarter and semi-finals. 

Billy is young, ambitious and can relate very well with young lads. He has been part of a set up that has reached a Leinster club final which they realistically should have won. He has serious connections built up over the last decade or more through his work at colleges level and I know many inter-county players from other counties speak positively of him.

Why not give him a chance and see what he can achieve in the job. At end of day there was an interview process and he clearly stood out as the most outstanding candidate. With Phelan in as minor manager and Billy in as U20 it is good to see the county board appointing young managers with determination and drive.     

Those results highlight again the gulf between Dublin and Kildare with the rest of Leinster at underage. This Laois team shouldn't lack confidence after impressive wins over Louth and Longford.

I'm just hoping this is not a PR exercise for county board to take the heat off them. Whatever does emerge from this review lets hope it is implemented. Change is badly needed to restore optimism and hope within the county. With the current structures in place in Kildare and Dublin at the moment it could take the guts of a decade of hard work to produce a competitive senior team. Kildare and Dublin are unearthing 2/3 serious underage footballers every year that are feeding into the senior team set-up and providing competition for those already there. 

Looking at the starting teams at the weekend for the connaught football and munster hurling final all the teams are pretty much aged 25 and under with a sprinkling of older players to add the necessary experience. It's frightening to think how far off the pace Laois are going to be in 2/3 years time. At moment our starting team has 3/4 players in that age bracket-O'Carroll, Buggie, P Kingston, Attrite- Of these only Attrite is a guaranteed starter. Whoever is managing Laois next year will need to identify the best 9/10 young footballers in the county and give them plenty of game time next year in division 4 and begin the rebuilding process.

Tight squeeze but will try to do both. Lets hope there is no need for extra time in the football.

Tough loss to take. Guilty of thinking the game was won with five minutes to go. Valuable lesson learned but its a massive disappointment to lose that game last night. Fatigue was certainly evident-it's not that these lads aren't fit but energy levels weren't there at the end. It's a bitter pill to take. A 4/5 point victory looked nailed on from early out and had we held on I would have been reasonably happy with performance and hopeful of upping it a gear to challenge Kilkenny next day out. It's back to the drawing board and our next realistic prospects at underage is our U15 panel.

I cannot believe the attitude of the principal in all this. They have truly embarrassed themselves, the school and the local community. I am fully supportive of schools fielding second teams as I think every child should have an opportunity to play/participate in school sports. For some children it is the only chance they will ever get to play on a team and will provide them with some happy memories going forward. However, if the school needed some 'first team' players to make up the numbers to make this second team doable then let the opposition school know what you are doing and concede the games beforehand to the other school. I know of schools who have done this in the CnamB-the children don't need to know the agreement that is in place. I really feel sorry for the other school in all this-even if the result is overturned they have missed out on potentially winning a final in O'Moore Park. I wouldn't be surprised if 'first team' children were played in the group games as well, depriving another school of a chance to play in the final. The whole situation is a mess by the sounds of things. 
   

This team would be on a par with the 2007 and 2012 teams in my opinion. There is a good spine to the team with plenty of competitive games at senior level under their belt. I don't see us fearing any other team in Leinster. In 2014 and 2015 we were competitive in Leinster at minor level with a Leinster final appearance in 2014 and semi-final appearance the year after. However, Westmeath should not be underestimated as I remember they beat a strong Wexford team in Innovate Park in the minor championship few years ago and had an impressive victory over Kilkenny in last year's U21 Championship while also pushing Dublin close that year as well which will boost their confidence levels going into this year's championship. It could be a close encounter and I would be happy with any sort of victory on the night. There is no outstanding team in Leinster this year so if lady luck was on Laois' side you never know how the championship will play out.   

It's ridiculous to criticise management for what I think is commendable job so far. We have lost 7/8 key players the last couple of years that would be of huge help to the current panel if they were still available-sadly they are not. Laois lack primary ball winners from puck-outs etc. Against good teams you will get destroyed if you are conceding that amount of possession-these are young players and with a couple more years at this level, hopefully they will be much better physically at challenging for the 50/50 ball. The injuries we were carrying as well did not help on the day- not having Cahir in defense was a definite loss.

Let's hope Laois can get a favourable draw in the back door. This team deserves another chance at claiming a scalp of note- it would do wonders for their progression and development. I was encouraged by how they continued to try and hurl right up to the very end. Hopefully the u21s can give leinster a decent crack as well- they have built up plenty of experience so far this year.     

Can you honestly say Sanny that Laois is maximising it's potential from having one club in Portlaoise? One third of population live in the town and on that basis Portlaoise G.A.A. should be realistically able to field minimum of 4 adults teams and at least 3/4 underage teams at each underage level if structures were right and tapping into the schools correctly. This is presently not happening. With a third of pick, Portlaoise should realistically be provide close to 7/8 players to every underage Laois squad.

When you have no real competition from another club to compete for players, standards drop and complacency sets in. A town the size of Portlaoise should realistically have three strong functioning clubs operating out of it. However I fear little will be done to rectify this situation in the foreseeable future. The appetite, resources or manpower to achieve change simply isn't there. With the pick available to them-Portlaoise should hoover up nearly every available juvenile title in both codes if things were being run properly. This is nowhere near happening. A second club is needed but there is huge apathy towards GAA in the town. You'd need a number of very committed individuals and plenty of resources to get it functioning properly. You also need access to and build up relationships with the primary schools. That is the key to something like that taking off-develop a strong nursery and over time things will snowball. Look at Castleknock in Dublin. Only 20 years old and now one of the strongest teams in the country. They invested hugely at underage level (still do) in the beginning and created a buzz/enjoyment for playing hurling and football. The club is now thriving and there is a real sense of community attached to club as well. It does show it's possible.   

Sometimes the best laid plans are the most obvious ones- I would much rather a game plan of getting the ball quickly into the likes of Kingston and O'Carroll than seeing our midfielders, half backs try carry the ball whole way up field, get dispossessed and leave us totally exposed to the counter-attack. Most teams are set up now to filter players back so it is essential we move ball quickly and provide Donie with as many chances to get on ball-realistically our hopes lie with him and the other forwards chipping in and contributing. A forward line containing Conway, Walsh, Kingston, O'Carroll, Finn, Donagher is as good as any in Leinster (outside of Dublin).  Midfield of O'Loughlin and Quigley should be able to compete with most midfield pairings. Our Achilles heal which is our defense never really functioned in the league-Strong while very good on the ball and going forward has never been solid defensively, We have no established centre back that instills confidence or security. Word has it that Meaney has a good chance of starting in this position. Timmons will be a huge loss to the full-back line and Booth has struggled in fast paced championship games-no doubt Longford will look to exploit us moving with speed down the central channels. I'm optimistic Laois can prevail by 4/5 points-I genuinely think this Laois team is seeking some form of redemption to atone for a horrendous league campaign. It might drive them to perform beyond what we have witnessed the last number of years in the championship.