LAOIS SENIOR FOOTBALL 2016

[redsetanta]

Fair play to Laois tonight. From a position whereby they could not lose to where they really had to dig out the victory. Ok Armagh were missing the Cross boys but Laois showed great character to get the win especially with 14 men. It was poor enough all round but a very important win and I am glad for the players and management because they would have been crucified if they lost after having such a commanding lead.

Tyrone next will be a different story altogether but we're up and running and 2 points better off than this time last year.

[Catch and Kick]

Valuable two points that could be a life saver come the end of the League

[Tony]

Just back home. Very decent performance and great to get the win. Will write a proper review later.

[oneflewoverthecuckoonest]

having been critical of the team last sunday, I must congratulate them on the honesty of effort, we did ride our luck, but we were due a turn.

we had a better shape than last sunday, though it must be said that Armagh were woeful at midfield and considering we were without our top two in that position, the weakness of the orchard may have covered over some of our cracks.

the positives...o carroll, Kingston and cahillane put in a good shift in the forwards and were always dangerous...Armagh lacked one forward of the same class. although not looking 100% fit I felt that donogher added to the team with some pace and link up play.
finally we scored a penalty!....after 3 big games in a row with failures to convert from the spot(Kildare, antrim and last sunday), that was a cracker of a penalty from cahillane.
some good free taking, cahillane from an awkward angle in the first half, walsh from about 55 yards in the first half, donie from the hands, and as it turned out a fantastic 45 against the wind from o carroll near the end..........I dunno if having so many options for frees or 45s is a good or bad thing,worked out all right tonight.
fitness seemed a little better than last week.

the negatives
our backs looked in trouble when run at, on a bad day like last sunday we could leak a bad score....I think we lack a big physical presence in defence, no idea what/who is the solution.
the newcomers remain with question marks against them, young Farrell did not deserve to be sent off, though he looked naïve at this level. cotter was doing ok as a spoiler as he has done with portlaoise, the Armagh managers complaints may have led to his black card, but his style has you on a tightrope...will need cotter against the likes of cavan....not sure of seale or dillion either in defence.....campion had good and bad moments, very raw at this level.

we may be in a mini league with Armagh,Cavan and Fermanagh....5 points for survival.....away to Cav and Ferm, all to play for.

[SCFC]

Hard fought win last night alright. Rode our luck a bit but just about deserved it.
Impressed with Dillon. Carried and linked well.
Donoher put in a huge second half after understandably looking rusty in the first.
Cahillane got man of the match without scoring from play! Had a good game but surely Kingston was head and shoulders over everyone else?
O'Carroll did well at times as did Lillis.
Was Meaney injured does anyone know?

[High Fielder]

Fair play to the small but select few who made the journey. As away trips go, it's not a bad one, and you'd be there in under 2 and half hours no problem. A very spirited performance against an Armagh side who seem to have inherited all their famous old off the ball tricks. No point getting carried away because they were wasteful and quite poor, but we did what we had to do and fought hard. Referee and linesman got some awful abuse from the home support and their mentors, which was completely out of line. I thought Evan O'Carroll caused them real panic, and seems to be better out the field.

[redsetanta]

Mick Lillis certainly had an emotional evening. at one point the camera was on him when we were 7 points up and he was smiling broadly and enjoying the game. When Armagh came to within a point of us with a couple of minutes left the camera cut to him again and he was a very worried looking man. It would have been a disaster for him if we had lost that game.

[CruiseCigar]

Ah thought great effort by the lads last night. Looked like Armagh were going to do nut they kept in so to go so far ahead and then hold off the comeback all in all a good evening

[Giovanni]

Was great to see at least some of the mistakes of the last day being corrected. Was delighted to see Cahillane step up to the penalty and he definitely didn't disappoint! Super finish. Some of the long-range free-taking was also superb, particularly Evan O Carrolls 45 against the wind. Miss a couple of these and the two points go to Armagh. These are simple things to plan for and it's good to see that we got it right second time round.

The defensive system was better this time but we did give away a few handy frees which should be avoided. I thought Brody was very good - he learned his lesson from last week too - we was tempted to come a few times for a couple of hanging balls and thought better of it, which was good to see. Timmons was good as usual, Seale was much better this time and I thought Gareth Dillon in particular was very good, especially in the first half. I think the half back line suits him. We gathered up a fair amount of ball in midfield and the forward unit did look very dangerous. Although Donie ended up with a fine personal tally, it's hard not to feel sometimes he has more in him. But overall, the forwards looked very good, especially with O Carroll on the 40.

When you consider that the young lads are getting the experience and we're expecting a few to come back for the Tyrone game, things are looking up.

One other thing - Brody's short kick-outs are great but they are a little dangerous. The ref yesterday game a throw up because the ball hadn't crossed the 13m line (even though it definitely had travelled the required distance). The backroom staff need to make sure to check the referee's interpretation of this rule before every match!! That could also have been a point lost!

[blueandwhite1]

Some thoughts. Although much of the talk beforehand was about Armagh missing the Cross lads, Laois were probably missing as many influential players - O'Loughlin, Quigley, Begley, Ross, Meaney (most of the game). Given what we saw, there are plenty of players showing that they are good enough for a starting 15 place - Brody, Timmons, Dillon, Strong and Lillis in the backs, O'Carroll, Cahillane, Kingston and Donoher in the forwards. That means that when O'Loughlin and Quigley come back midfield there are essentially 2 forward spots and 2 corner back spots up for grabs, with Begley and Meaney likely to slot in somewhere. Should result in lots of competition for forward places with Paul Kingston, Lowry, Shiels, the Farrells, Campion, O'Reilly and Ross all likely to be pushing. The two toughest positions on the pitch to cover are the corner back ones. I didn't think young Seale looked that assured yet, early days for him. It was funny to hear the commentator on Setanta say repeatedly how superior Laois were in terms of size and pace compared to Armagh - quite a change from a few years ago. Still not convinced we have enough pace on the team but there is no doubt they tried to play with pace on Saturday which is a good sign. Other than the adoption of the blanket defence and quick break out, not sure Lillis knows what the style and shape of the team will be yet. Tough next game against Tyrone, should be another learning experience ahead of what must be viewed as a series of potentially winnable games - Fermanagh, Derry (home), Cavan and Meath(home).

[OTF]

When you consider that 12 of those who took part on Saturday night weren't on the panel last year ( open to correction ) this was a very good performance.
Ok there were plenty of mistakes but every  team made mistakes over the weekend.
It was my first time seeing most of the these  young lads and I have to say I was impressed particularly with their pace and workrate, give these lads plenty of games and it's better they'll be getting. Suddenly staying in the group does not seem as important anymore.

To be fair to Mick Lillis I think he knows exact how he's going to play this,  defend in numbers,break out in numbers at pace with long kick passing thrown in.
If players get tired or don't track their opponents they are off.
It's early days yet and I'm not one to be getting carried away but it looks like the best injection of good young players for about 8 or 9 years.

We expect big performances from Donie and young O Carroll at this point and  as others have already mentioned I to was impressed with Dillon.

[ILikeStrawberryJam]

Rode our look but got over the line.
Armagh are a very average team and it would have been a disaster to lose to them having gone 7 up
Think the win will give the team more needed confidence
Fought and defended well for most of the game and in Kingston and O'Carroll we have 2 leaders that can
get scores when space is tight.
Getting our midfielders back will make a big difference ..
Well capable of staying in the division as long as the same fight is carried into each game
Dillon was very good going forward, Lillis was good, Donogher was good. Donie mixed it but his accurate passing
into Cahillane is a real plus. We should be able to put up a decent score in any game with our attackers ..

[Unlaoised]

Great win by Laois well done to each and everyone of the Players...

I love when we get written off and come back with a result like that happens time and time again in the league over the last 30 years just a pity not so much in Championship.

My ratings :
Brody 9-Kick outs were superb and he made a great save on 58 minutes with that one just underneath the cross bar against the wind it was a lot harder than it looked.

Seale 7-Delighted he got a second chance did okay bit shakey late on but can hold his head up will only get better!

Timmons 8-Solid as usual did very well has matured into a fine full back reminds me of Eamon Delaney seemed to get better in the latter years

Kehoe 8-One of Laois's best backs against Galway and didn't let Laois down today.

Strong 8-Wasn't at the races for the Galway game and looked off the pace made up for it tonight and defended very well which he often gets stick over.Was strong(excuse the pun)in the tackle and showed leadership with cool passes from the backs.

Cotter 7-Can be happy with his early nights work adds great size to the team and will get better as he goes along.Got the better of McKenna in a lot of 50 50s early and was unlucky to see Black but his tackling must be worked on.

Dillion 8-Shows what hard work and dedication can do this boy has worked his socks off to get on the club team in recent years now he is doing the same for the county.Showed courage on the ball coming out of defense maybe needs to be a little more confident and go direct like O'Leary used too.Must defend a little bit better tho.

Lillis-8 steady in the middle great footballing brain really stood up and showed what he can offer to the Blue and white great to have him and so many of the Town lads back.

Meaney-Not on long enough to rate hope his injury isn't bad.

J.Farrell 7-Did well to cover in midfield after Kevin went off and certainly looked more assured that he did in the Galway game he can only get better.

Kingston-8 Two from play one being a cracker and 3 good frees ..Showed well for the ball and his passing was excellent I'd keep him around the 50 but with such a strong wind i was suprised he wasn't used a bit closer to goal in the first half.

Donoher 8-can beat intercounty experience he bought us so many free's when the team was under pressure was cool on the ball and made the right decisions showed a great level of fitness for a man back form injury.

Cahillane -9 might not have scored from play but was a danger all night took a great Peno and two well struck frees..Well done Paul.

O'Carroll 9-What a talent this boy is so strong in the solo run can kick off either side...Never stop going for the ball and showing for it.Great young talent two from play and a monster 45 against the breeze.

Walsh 7-great free in the first half and he got on a lot of ball ...As he showed against Galway the man they call Physco is up for it this year...Will improve with games.


SUBS
Campion 8- in after 15 minutes and kicked a great score he battled well and will be pushing for a place for sure..Seems to have filled out now and was able to ship the heavy tackles which came his way. Tired late on.

A.Farrell 7-Didn't really stand out but done nothing wrong either kept it simple when he needed to might have to work on upper body size to be able to come out of tackles with the ball.

D'O Connor -7 Was busy in the 18 minutes he was on has experience and doesn't lack guts still an option for a corner back slot in my opinion but maybe management think different.

O'Reilly 7- Again like Farrell needs a bit of work size wise but looks very pacey really put great pressure on the Armagh players harrying them at every chance.Great prospect!

R'O Connor -Be unfair to rate him either way got 10 minutes did nothing wrong and we know how skillful he can be on the ball was always going to be hard for him to have an influence against the wind but the game time will do him no harm.

All in all I'm happy going into the Tyrone game we needed to have at least two points on the board and we do yes the Galway game was a blow but the late come back and this performance will give the management and players a right boost...

[Junior Ex Laoistalk]

Agree with everything you say there Unlaoised, great report..

[SCFC]

I thought Strong was very poor and should have been taken off a lot earlier than he was.
Damien O'Connor kicked two bad wides when he came in - he was lucky they didn't come back to haunt us.
Agree on O'Reilly. He was tidy in possession.