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Hard to know what to make of that listening online, would have been a seriously damaging defeat after the half time scoreline. On the plus side its good that they were able to pull the win out of the fire once the tide had turned in the second half.

Anyone at it lads? was it as bad as it sounded?

Listening to it on the net, 7 point lead at half time, sounds like Armagh are not up for this at all. Still Laois can only beat whats in front of them (again). The extra game means Cunningham's influence on the squad is improving with each game. County board should be looking to tie him down for a couple of years before other counties come calling in the autumn.


Looks like i may have spoken too soon, Laois need to wake up here.

Again this will be a dog fight, not much between the two sides, I would not pay too much attention to the bookies odds, they had 1/7 for the remain side in the Brexit vote and we saw how that turned out, the market decided the price not the bookie, so the fact that people may be backing Laois to win does not make its so. 

Is it true that minor semi final is now on a Tuesday night due to euros?? Really does seem like the don't give a shit about us alright

People here just feel annoyed because of how smaller counties seem to be treated, thats all. Laois have to hold our hands up as it was our error and luckily we are still in the championship. Also with each game we have played since Cunningham has been part of the setup we have improved, the more time we have developing as a team with him on board the better.

Great new tactic, if your getting hammered in a game just  throw on about 10 subs, and get another go.

http://www.rte.ie/sport/gaa/2016/0621/797102-orchard-men-to-get-second-bite-of-cherry/

So fourth official is just there to count the subs and tell the ref after so he write an accurate report

Well lets see if the GAA will clear the issue up, don't hold your breath folks. Whatever the outcome we should have an official statement to clear up any ambiguities lie this in the future, fair enough Laois have to get some slap on the wrist as they broke the rules but in my book the 4th official is the person responsible for overseeing this, very poor all round. If its true that Laois were unsure if they could use the sub and asked to 4th official and he allowed it then he is the one responsible. Again either way the GAA need to come out and clarify the situation. Armagh have been very poor all year and would be surprised if they wanted to go again, the players looked like they were glad to have put this season to bed after the game.

Bale was poor in first two games and decent last night, Russia it has to be said were awful though. In fact overall the standard has not been great, the big guns seem to be in 3rd gear, will wait until the knockout stages to see whats what. A lot of people think Belgium will go well based on the Ireland game, but its a while since I have seen Ireland play so bad, they looked wrecked. Think will end up with a Spain v Portugal & Germany v France semi final which would be two decent games.

Laois should beat Clare in the football at least, thanks for posting highlights guys, not easy for us exiles some times to see games. Could see from the highlights that we still are making some bad decisions in attack, we are creating chances though  and the defending seems to have improved so if we can be more clinical inside the 45 it will take a good team to beat us. One thing that seems to be in good fettle is the spirit in the group, the Dublin game they could have thrown in the towel after 15 mins but did not even when losing one of their main players. Then again at the weekend, fair enough it was 2 division 3 teams, but they were in a dogfight against an ulster side but we ground it out. We most likely will not win an All Ireland but it will take a good team to beat us, and after watching Mayo lose and Tyrone draw there is nothing to really fear if they believe in themselves.

Hard to blame anyone for heading abroad for some travel and easy money, but like Tony says, why do they bother joining up with the panel at all? the GAA should make rules that players can only do a foreign transfer once every 3 years or so. At least that way they are committing to it one way or another and everyone knows where they stand. Although its an amateur organisation the money going through it needs to looking after players better, players are the worse treated considering how much they give. Why not give money to winners of competitions, league and championship, dont know what figures would be realistic but you would need a league structure so teams lower down can win their section and get a few bob. Something is wrong if the prospect of a few thousand quid in New York is more attractive than playing for your county. When you see the hundreds of thousands counties spend on teams each year its hard to think we cannot come up with a better system.

Ha ha ffs, I thought this aspect of the GAA had died away (not bending a knee to foreign sports).  They have no clue sometimes. Imagine your a shop owner or publican (or anyone who makes a few bob on match days)  in Portlaoise who make a nice few bob any day their is a decent crowd heading to O'Moore Park. You hear the first round game against the Dubs is being moved out of Croke Park, happy days you think only to find out the powers that be have moved it to Nowlan Park in Kilkenny. What the f*ck you think, but you say to yourself well the Gaa is a business so they have to maximise their profits but will surely repay us down the line for this shafting.
Then you hear the draw for the first round qualifiers, at home v Armagh. Not exactly a headline grabbing game but should bring out the guts of 15 to 20 thousand people flocking through the town...oh wait more like one thousand if your lucky, as their is a huge sporting event taking place in France which clashes with it, as the GAA don't really care about your business or spreading the wealth. They only care about their pockets and the bloody Angleus (please tell me that aint true, its like a sketch off the savage eye). You actually could not write that

What a f**king load of bullshit "Let's hope the Westmeath under 21s are enjoying their moment in the sun, because sadly it might never shine on them again."

How about well done Westmeath on beating Kilkenny, oh no wait you guys should not have bothered playing hurling from the age on 6 upwards, it will all lead to nothing anyway. Also we will all die someday so lets not waste anymore time on this forum or anything else and just finish ourselves now for f**k sake.

Its not easy to be competitive in a sport like hurling which has a high level of skill compared to say football where if you are a decent athlete you could could probably make it, but lets look at how a county like Kilkenny are so successful. They are not a county with a huge population who have an abundance of wealth. The main reason is their love of hurling and its taught in all schools throughout the county. Kids are encouraged at an early age to play the game, then when they get older there are good coaching structures in place where they can hone their skills. They can pick the elite for development squads but they also have a pool of talent going into the club championship. If you were to go to a Kilkenny Junior hurling game, the standard would be pretty high.

Schools are a big thing also, but again you need a pool of talent to start with. When Laois won minor All Irelands for the first time in the 90s schools like Ballyfin & Portlaoise had strong sides. Then onto 3rd level where they are competing against the best from other counties and so on. By the time a player reaches the chance to get on the Kilkenny county panel they are of a high standard to begin with.

All this work thats gone into a player who may not even make it is hard work, work by parents, teachers, coaches volunteers but that is whats needed...not the  ara sure we are no fu**kin good anyway and never will be attitude.

Was listening to the streamed commentary on midlands 103, but first half sounded a decent game, 2nd half was one way traffic. Laois did seem to make crucial mistakes at vital times, They should have had a goal only for what was described as an unbelievable save for the Offaly keeper, then Offaly go down the pitch and get a goal of their own a minute later. Pity they folded in the second half.

Dublin up by 9 after 10mins. They took their foot off the pedal then and the game was never in the balance. We can fool ourselves if we like but Dublin could have beaten us by 30+ if they wanted to.

They did a bit, but the competition for places is so intense, they cant afford to go through the motions. Going forward they are at times one of the best gaelic football teams I have ever seen but that full back line is the weak link, when laois counter attacked with pace and hit decent long balls into Kingston, Dublin struggled defensively. We are not fooling ourselves, but was nice to see the Laois players dig deep and show some heart and spirit. Laois were outnumbered for most of the game and a crowd which looked to be 80% Dublin supporters cheering against them, it would have been easy to throw in the towel. As plenty of people have been saying on this forum (particularly Tony), Laois have a decent team and there is potential there. They are certainly better than they showed in the league.