2015 Laois Senior Hurling

[County Man]

Some reflections on last Sundays massive victory.

We wanted it more, showed great fighting spirit particularly in the 2nd half. Didnt give Offaly a sniff.

Was worried when Offaly went 0-10 0-6 up, it seemed ominous. Turning point had to be the 8 points in a row in the space of 11 minutes- completely changed the momentum, we didnt want half time to arrive.

Moving 6 points clear was key in 2nd half to keep Offaly at arms length. Nearest they got was back to 5, 0-23 to 0-18.

That penalty decision was critical, cant believe they didnt have a look at it on Sunday Game. Speaking of which, what a disaster it is to have a "report" on the match- this isn't soccer. There were some awesome scores last Sunday, surely it wasn't too much to ask to give Laois/Offaly 10 to 15 minutes highlights? Having said that, there was some lovely chat about how far Laois have come since 2012 and what Cheddar has done so that made up a bit for the "report".

Great crowd there on Sunday and fine atmosphere.

Fantastic team performance but Willie Hyland really stood out with 7 from play.

Seeing what it meant to the players at the end was a joy to behold. What a sight, what a moment. Could actually savour the last couple of minutes as the job was complete.

Lets hope a large crowd from Laois will be there for the Galway game. Galway were very impressive last week themselves so it will be a massive challenge.

Laois hurling is on an upward curve and was great to see so many take notice.

Laois abu.

[Don Draper]

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.

[G@@]

Oh how sweet it would be to send Cyril's beloved Galway packing on Saturday night. I hope Cheddar and Co. have read this nugget.

On the other hand, it shows how nicely it's set up to keep Cork in the frame for another while. What's the bets they draw Offaly?

[redsetanta]

I absolutely agree that it would be great to beat the mighty Galway and based on our progression over the last couple of years it's not out of the question.
However PP has Galway at 1/16 to win and is giving an 8 point spread. Cyrill Farrell is not saying anything that most commentators would disagree with. I like Farrell, real hurling man and he would call it as he sees it. Doubt the Laois lads would get too upset reading it.

Although I am going to have a little flutter on that spread.

[TheGreatGame]

Agree with redsetanta, Cyril seems like a decent sort and I'd say he has more time for hurling in the so called lesser counties than some of the other pundits.  I don't think that article will stoke fire within Laois, but it does highlight Galways biggest weakness coming into this match.  Try as they might to gee themselves up for this game, Galway know in the back of their minds they are not facing a Tipp or Kilkenny here.  It's incredibly hard for a team to deliver a complete performance when they feel that 70% or 80% will get the job done.  That's not a criticism of Galway either, as it very much applied to Laois in the round robin stages where we produced some very lethargic performances.  The only county this doesn't seem to apply to is Kilkenny, and to me it makes them all the more remarkable.

Galway played some wonderful hurling at times against Dublin, but I was also shocked by the ease at which they got some of their scores.  I'd expect most decent club forwards to do damage with the space and time Mannion was afforded by Schutte who didn't look like he had it together at all.  The third goal, where three Dub defenders all went for the one high ball and Mannion jogged in around the back to tap beyond the keeper was actually comical.  I'm confident that whatever Galway do score on Saturday that they will have to work a hell of a lot harder for it than they did v Dublin.

It's been pointed out that Galway have the advantage of having two games under their belt as opposed to coming in cold the last two years.  This is an advantage for them of course, but forewarned is forearmed from a Laois point of view.  Cheddar and co. will have learned a lot from those games.  If Cyril Donnelan at 11 can be tied down then Galway pretty much have all their scoring eggs in one basket - their full forward line.  While Glynn and Smith are named at wing forward both drop very deep to help out in midfield and even defence, their primary focus is feeding the full-forward line which is grand when it works, but it remains to be seen what Galways plan B is.  We've also learned that their full back line fouls whenever they are taken on and that their full back Hanbury is inexperienced at this level. 

From our own point of view it's fairly obvious that Laois need a massive performance here to even think about matching Galway.  We handed Offaly quite a few handy scores from silly mistakes that the top teams just don't make.  We did that last year too v Galway and unfortunately it cost us a historic win.  My biggest worry is that if we go too defensive we will invite Galway on to us and Anthony Cunningham is bound to have some sort of plan up his sleeve.  I can accept the other team using short puck outs to gain immediate possession as a necessary evil when we use a sweeper, but only having one player in the full forward is going too far in my view.  Offaly didn't have the quality of players to hurt us but we can be sure that Galway will.  We were a different team v Offaly with two in the full forward line and that's how I hope we go about things on Saturday.

[redsetanta]

The GG, what is the story with the venue for the hurling? KK v Wex is also a semi final however the cats have home advantage. Is that because of a home and away deal they have with each other. Are we in Tullamore to pacify Galway who wouldn't fancy a game in O'Moore PArk? I thougt the deal was that the 'developing' counties got whatever bit of assistance that was going.
Who's down to referree it Saturday? Ithought the man in the middle did a good job last day. Got a few big calls right.

[TheGreatGame]

Yeah Kk and Wex have a home and away agreement so that game was always going to be played in Nowlan Park.  To be honest I don't have a clue why it's in Tullamore, but while we'd all love for it to be in Portlaoise it's an opportunity for Laois to show that we can play well outside of our home ground.  Not sure who's down to ref it either, I agree that Owens did a good job the last day out.  Given that it's a provincial semi-final I'm hoping it's one of the better refs.  Galway have a few niggly players (Smith, Coen, Hanbury etc.) so it's vital we maintain discipline and keep 15 on the field.

[SCFC]

Fergal Horgan from Tipp is down to ref it. Not a name I've heard before. Hope he isn't out to make a name for himself with silly yellows and subsequently silly reds.

[Buffalobull]

So the team has been named, I'd expect the two corner forwards to miss out again and probably bring Picky and Dwayne in.

[redsetanta]

Good article in the Indo from Christy O'Connor. Alot of it taken from the Healy interview which is a must hear if you haven't done so already.


http://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-games/hurling/out-of-the-darkness-and-into-the-light-31313853.html

[Don Draper]

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.

[redsetanta]

Yeh, massive kudos to Friends of Laois hurling. They had the going blue and white in the nationals schools today which they all participated in and the pics look great. The Hurling country  signs they have put up haven't gone unnoticed with other counties and the general involvement through facebook etc has been great.
As they say it's our county and we are all in this together so we have to do our part no matter how big or small.

[blueandwhite1]

Fingers very tightly crossed that we can keep the momentum going tomorrow. For me, given the quality of the opposition, I would be happy with a competitive, intense and passionate display and a close game. We need to just keep progressing and be better every day. If that is good enough to win, then great but if not, we are still emerging little by little from the doldrums. I have no doubt in the world we have the players, however it would have been great to have Ross King and Neil Foyle fighting for places in the full forward line (Anyone know how Neil is doing?).

[G@@]

Very poor first half and heads dropped after the goal. A bit better in the second half but the game was long gone then. Lets see what the draw Monday throws up.

[G@@]

Just seen Joe Cannings goal on the 9pm news... feckin square ball.