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Critchely gave the impression that he would step away from the minors during his post match interview.

Been flagged for a while, he is moving back down to the Setanta program to give that another push. Fair play to him, he is some man for what he gives to Laois Hurling.

theirs a 2 group in leinster kilkenny,Galway, Dublin, wexford, next group laois, offaly, westmeath, carlow, antrim.  offaly westmeath would have got the same beating yesterday. i have seen laois hurl since the early 80's and them teams were miles ahead of todays side, they beat a poor offaly side well don't get me wrong its not that laois are getting better its just offaly have slipped down to the bottom now, a good offaly team would never lose to laois, 1972-2015 even doe offaly have been very bad this 5 years.  the result in todays minor game will back my point, you have to be beating kilkenny in leinsters in underage if you are to do anything in senior.

f**k off and die.

The worst I can remember in over 30 years following Laois. Sadly I dont believe we are at rock bottom yet. That is yet to come. f**king Antrim, and a horseshit Antrim team at that.

An excellent read, nice to see a mention for the friends of Laois Hurlers who are really putting in a huge effort to promote everything thats going on.

[Cyril Farrell: Don't make September's predictions by June's form]

Stick it up on the f**king wall

Cyril Farrell: Don't make September's predictions by June's form

Indeed, it could decide what the rest of the championship holds for them. If they are drawn against each other, they'll know that neither is flavour of the summer.

As for whichever gets an 'away' assignment, it will be a clear sign that they are on their own and might as well try and do a deal with the devil.

Of course, if the gods are onside, there's another scenario. Both could end up with a relatively gentle re-introduction to the championship, especially Cork, who will definitely draw Leinster opposition.

Their list of possible opponents is comprised of Westmeath, Offaly, Dublin, and, most likely, Laois and Wexford, who will probably lose to Galway and Kilkenny respectively.

From a Cork viewpoint, the worst draw from that lot would be Dublin in Parnell Park or Wexford in Wexford Park.

Dublin's scene is trickier. They could be drawn against Cork, Clare, the losers of Tipperary/Limerick or one of the five Leinster teams not in the final. Effectively, they don't have as good a chance of getting a favourable draw as Cork.

Powerful

The various draw permutations are very important because what both Cork and Dublin need most of all is a confidence-boosting win to get them back on the road.

Dublin were favourites to beat Galway last Saturday, but because it went horribly wrong, they are being written off. That doesn't stack up.

Similarly with Cork, even if they have lost twice in five weeks to Waterford.

Tipperary and Galway also lost to Waterford in the League so top counties have to start getting used to the idea of Derek McGrath's boys being a very powerful force.

I certainly wouldn't write the exit lines for Dublin or Cork yet. Dublin scored 1-18 last Saturday - which would have won the drawn games six days earlier - and got nothing from two penalties so their final tally could quite easily have been 3-18, which wins more games than it loses.

Truth is, they were caught cold against the wind in the first 10 minutes last week, but then it's not the first time that Galway blitzed opposition when the right mood took over.

Dublin need a fully fit Peter Kelly in the full-back line and Liam Rushe restored to centre-back. If that happens and they get a favourable draw in the first qualifier round, they will be back in the game. So too with Cork.

Seamus Harnedy's absence was a setback last Sunday, even if his replacement, Pa Cronin was their best forward. Presumably, both will be aboard next time out.

There were some very disappointing aspects for Cork last Sunday, not least the lack of impact made by Conor Lehane, Patrick Horgan and Aidan Walsh, but everyone knows there's a lot more to them than that.

There's more to Cork as a whole too and the same goes for Dublin.

Hurling is a bit like golf now. Any one of the top golfers are capable of taking a tournament on a given weekend and just because someone doesn't win, it doesn't mean they're slipping. Even Rory McIlroy can hit bogies!

Kilkenny have been - and still are - hurling's market leaders but there's damn all behind their closest pursuers. And, despite last weekend's results, that includes Cork and Dublin.

Remember 2010? Cork beat Tipperary by 10 points in the Munster quarter-final, yet Tipp won the All-Ireland.

2012: Kilkenny won the All-Ireland after losing the Leinster final to Galway by 10 points.

2013: Cork beat Clare by eight points in the Munster semi-final, but it was the Banner who won the All-Ireland.

The moral of those stories is that in a second-chance system, May/June results should not be over overvalued.

Best wait until a team's back is really against the wall when defeat really means the end of the line.

But it makes no difference to Antrim to play in Tullamore or Portlaoise. It's ridiculous how there can't be a senior double header. Did we even ask the question?!

My preference is for durex extra stretch raspberry flavor please.

3 teams out this weekend, all in differing counties. How we couldn't nail at least 2 of these as double headers is astonishing. We've been fucked over once again my dear countymen. Will they even supply lube?

They beat Tipp away not so long ago I believe.

As we all knew chance missed last week. A hammering would arrive in Leinster, that it happened against as a limited a side as that is unacceptable. Questions to be asked of management, tactics and attitude.

Anyone have access to the Sunday Times website to get this article in full? Or could they even post it up if they have a hard copy?

http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/ireland/Sport/article1563072.ece?CMP=OTH-gnws-standard-2015_05_30

Yes, but deep down, in places they dont like to talk about at parties, they didn't for a second truly believe it would be them.

Personally, I find it hard to be optimistic about the hurlers. I've seen too many let-downs against Offaly, and they haven't beaten them in championship since 1972, or something, so many of us - myself included - haven't seen it.

Telling the future by looking at the past assumes that conditions remain constant. This is like driving a car by looking in the rear view mirror.

Laois by 2.

I hope so. One win over a top 10 team could change the mindset forever. Another defeat I don't even want to think about.

Ironically the past 3 years could ideally have been working up to this point. Dooley must be double teamed, and the sweeper is something we have been playing for some time. Many argued we had to move on from it to develop and while it's a valid point it seems now as if hurling has come around to our way of playing once more. The sweeper will be vital on Sunday and our players should be familiar with it. After that it's up to the forwards.

Laois by 2.

Nailed it, even if I was a little conservative with the 2 point margin.

We can all see that not everything is perfect with the line up but lets be honest here, we really don't have many options. We don't have a lot on the bench. If Paul Begley was fit he could go corner back or centre back but he isn't. McMahon wouldn't be up to speed yet, he mightn't be all Summer. Hanrahan has looked dodgy in a few games.
In the forwards what do we have on the bench? Shiel or Kingston to come on for whichever one of them that starts. Merideth was nowhere near fitness, Sheehan? Finn? We just don't have the strenght in depth at all. We're doing very well with what we have considering. If we get any injuries we're in big trouble. Timmons for example, what would we do then?

You've nailed it right there. Which makes it all the more disappointing to pass up the opportunity to hand that shower their holes when it was there. It might be gone, it might not be, but it was there last Saturday, of that there's no doubt.

Satisfaction. Thats what Sunday was. Pure and utter satisafaction. Satisfied that these players got to take the step their hard work deserved. Satisfied that Cheddar got his vindication. Satisfied that I saw a Laois hurling match delayed due to crowd congestion. Satisfied to hear the crowd roar and the players respond. Satisfied that I got to see the joy in the players faces after the game.

This is a step, believe that this is only a step. Cheddar believes. The players believe. I believe.

Lots have been singled out over the past 48 hours, and I echo them all, but will someone give Butch Stapleton a pat on the back when they see him, I f**king love that man. And can I also mention Conor Dunne, a man who has done a job many many times for us, but somehow for a myriad of reasons can be the one to lose out in team selections such as Sunday, yet never a word. Conor, you're a f**king man. Thank you. Thanks to all the lads.

To quote a great man, now, we drive on.

Left behind us, no doubt about it.