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A bad weekend for hurling, from the ugly scenes on Saturday night, that needs to be punished hard by the county board, both clubs,

I know the wind had a massive affect on the games yesterday but I thought the standard was poor, especially in the first game

And again the thuggery that Camross brought to yesterday's game, they survived & Keenan will be back the next day, should have got a straight red & Delaney also survived,

Rathdowney Errill still look the class act, fitter and more game smart than any of the others left

We seem to be going back to the bad days instead of progressing with hurling in this county

Ballinakill are having a good year, & are a tough nut to craic, they have some fine club hurlers in John Walsh, James Walsh, Brian o Meara, Eamonn jackman, Seamus still bossing things from the middle, & Young Downey improving beside him,& of course Cha!
They lost to Castletown in a practice match last week & spent last Saturday in Carton House being coached by Cheddar, their going all out & will fancy their chances,
I just can't see Borris Kilcotton be as bad again & the move of Foyle back up front should make the forwards a lot more potent,
BK beat Kilcormac & drew with Clareen in the last fortnight, I think their improving at the right time if it's good enough to get over this battle, posters here don't seem to think it will be.
I'm going with Borris Kilcotton

Rathdowney Errill are improving as the year goes on and are masters at peaking at the right time, while I do feel this is a lot weaker team than have won previous titles their 'old' guard are still class acts & have the big match experience, RE have drew with Birr & beat Castlecomer in the last few weeks, their forwards putting up big scores
Camross have been brilliant this year & deserve massive credit, especially their manager, they are so well driven & well organised, if they get any lead up they will retreat & shut up shop thrive on the hooks, blocks & tackles needed then, Camross have travelled further afield to Dublin & Wexford for games, I do believe the county champions will come from this game, like said previously here I just think RE will be more motivated this time around & have more scoring forwards to get the win.

Another good sneery Camross contributer keyser, God I miss Merman & a few like him with interesting posts

Don,
I know you like nothing more than trying to stir shit on this forum among your hurling club counterparts, this topic from reading it was all about the football underage set ups following on from the Minor Football final result
But to reply to your point and put it to bed the amalgamation in Borris Kilcotton, like Rathdowney Errill, has become a non issue, it's now the norm,
Of course people criticise the Senior team & other teams when they perform poorly the same as other clubs but theirs never a mention of parting or going backwards, would we like more members, more volunteers, more money, more success, are their a few fella's that think the should be playing on the team above them, all Yes of course, the same as every club.
Would we dearly love a Senior hurling final Yes, but their not handed out easily.
Would it cement and bring more members into the club on the bandwagon, yes, but we're going ok, and like the politicians say we will be ok 'going forward'.

Borris Kilcotton, Rathdowney Errill are not part of this conversation, both have been playing underage together for a long long time and was the foundation for this amalgamation which was strongly supported in all clubs involved.
To answer your question the feeling is good & the work will continue!

No confirmation received as far as I know Merman,

I was of the belief that score difference is always first call, whether it be two, three or four teams, as per the on line table,
Team that finishes top of table goes to final,

Where would someone see/find the Laois Gaa Regulations ??

Borris Kilcotton top Division 1 and go straight to the final, on score difference,
Castletown v Rathdowney Errill Semi Final

Ballyfin are relegated from Division 1A on the head to head with Borris Kilcotton because it cant go on score difference because Clonaslee conceded games

Always goes on score difference first, then head to head

Instead of putting our foot on Offalys neck this year and putting them back years we have done more for them than anyone else in getting their hurling back in a positive position, Seniors falling badly to them and our 21's being so poor that Offaly have sailed into a Leinster final

As I've said previously real real work wanted at underage in our county

It's back to investment in coaches, schools and clubs with a plan to implement from U6 upwards, this of course requires more money to employ coaches and development officers which the likes of Dublin have for the last 20 years and we need support from Croke Park for this.

Anyway back to Sunday, for now, I feared it was one of our weakest Senior hurling teams to take the field in years,
Our middle 8 were completely dominated, Only Healy in the full back line and Foyle at Full Forward could come out with any credit from the game,

Our hurling, touch, passing were poor, I know we could simply say we're not good enough but how were we not more mentally ready and up for this game, we died after Joe Bergins goal just three in the towel,
We are hurling the sweeper system now for 3 or 4 years and we are still not comfortable with it,

I hope to god we avoid the Munster teams in the qualifier draw, I don't know where we go from here..

Merman, I'd love to hear your take on the weekend & current situation please

Very little chat, discussion or build up to our biggest game of the year, same on the Offaly forum, more interested in talking about Connacht rugby!!

I know the lads have been trainin hard with sole focus on this game, couple of training weekends n final preps last Friday night n Sunday,

Up until last week I didn't really fancy our chances, now I don't know if it's just hope or excitement building but I think we may be able to produce our best hurling of the year on Sunday and win it,
Mentally it must be great for cheddar & the panel to build & focus on one performance Sunday, whilst Offaly have had s turbulent few weeks, up and down,
I think first 20 minutes will be crucial, if we can start well and get ahead Offalys confidence will surely weaken & home crowd get tetchy, Offaly are dependent on Shane Dooley & Bergin, both of whom in guessing will be man marked by Healy & Matthew

I do think it will be close but I'm hoping we can get out of there with a couple of points to spare,

There was a 'Player Pathway' launched about two months ago for bringing players from U6 upwards, a good booklet, but it didn't get much publicity or uptake,
What Clubs will implement it?
Again all good points above, it's my opinion that each club & county should have a plan/programme designed by Croke Park/Leinster council/Lester Ryan/Peter Casey/ Paudie Butler & the likes that no matter who is appointed over underage teams this A,B,C or XYZ must be followed and then assessed,
Then the proud daddies and inexperienced mammies or daddies have an exact and correct programme to follow
And I agree wholeheartedly with the line above that we are always making f***** excuses, at club & county level, everything else seems to come first

Blue and White what great structures & programmes are in place? What's the current & future plan for Laois hurling? We were blowing and patting ourselves on the back about this great setanta programme,
What had that yielded? ? One Leinster final appearance and no more,
Westmeath are putting in some underage work but Carlow are not, for f**k sake they had 17 togged out for their senior game last week!!!

Look at the poor uptake of coaching courses in the clubs around Laois, everyone wants to do it their own way instead of everyone working off the same blueprint from u6's to senior

I do know & understand that this grade and group didn't get together As much as liked because of so many on the senior panel, but that's the same for every team at u21.

And one more point, why did Joe campion walk away from the county set up, senior & 21, a huge loss to both panels who did appear to be one of the best & committed emerging talents we had,

As I've suspected for a while all this 'brilliant underage work' we've been supposedly doing is all bullshit,
With no proper structures and programmes in place with each and every manager doing their own thing.
A deadest to Offaly in the senior Sunday week and it's a fairly bleak year and outlook for Laois hurling

What sort of starting 15 are we looking at for Offaly or Kerry??

Hurlers spent last weekend in Dundrum House training & planning, played the U21s in a practice match Saturday evening
Going to Fota Island for the weekend next weekend training, planning, maybe this is when the limerick match is taking place?
I think we're going to have to face Offaly in Tullamore in the Leinster quarter final, and whilst Offaly are not going well and are under pressure I would not be at all confident.

County players were all released for last 2 rounds, they've had zane for BK match, RE match & last nights match,
Castletown in flying form too, very competitive at the minute