Leinster Senior Football Championship 2019

[Don Draper]

Great team.

Laois by 5

[Tony]

Consolation here is that we have a strong bench. Donie made a substantial difference when he came on against westmeath but he's still not 100%fit to start. Presumably Begley will also be available from the bench but he's not ready to start. Timmons is a big loss but a broken hand usually takes 3-5 weeks to heal, so we might see him for the next match or one after that. Missing our main full back, centre back and centre forward is a big question mark for the squad but let's see how we respond. They certainly did enough against westmeath. I'll go to croker in hope rather than expectation, but I trust all these lads will all give 100%, so I'm more than delighted to support them, win or lose. Laois abu

[Unlaoised]

Consolation here is that we have a strong bench. Donie made a substantial difference when he came on against westmeath but he's still not 100%fit to start. Presumably Begley will also be available from the bench but he's not ready to start. Timmons is a big loss but a broken hand usually takes 3-5 weeks to heal, so we might see him for the next match or one after that. Missing our main full back, centre back and centre forward is a big question mark for the squad but let's see how we respond. They certainly did enough against westmeath. I'll go to croker in hope rather than expectation, but I trust all these lads will all give 100%, so I'm more than delighted to support them, win or lose. Laois abu

Good post ...id be worried a little about the half forward line but they proved me wrong in Tullamore ...
O connor and Dicey will run all day and give you 110 a and Boyle likes croker ...(I'm talking myself around here )

Meath have changed their tactics a few times this year ...

I think they will go at us early and if we come through that I fancy us to sneak through we will need probably 1-15 ish or more to win so we have to be clinical .

Our bench will defo help if we are there or there abouts with 15 or 20 to go .

Laois never fear Meath in Croker

Prediction

A win by 1-14 to 16 points

[High Fielder]

We probably don't deserve to be 5 points down but Meath are just that bit sharper. We miss the organisation that Begley brings and are still at sixes and sevens when run at. We're getting better at holding on to the ball, but finding an end product can be a long drawn out process. They just look that bit cuter than us

[High Fielder]

Disappointing. Our deficiencies laid bare once again. I feel so sorry for those lads who are used as square pegs in round holes, because it's days like these that find you out. The best corner back in Laois last year was Saunders of Portlaoise. I know he's not involved with the 20s, but any selection after him in that position is a lesser option. It's not really anyone's fault, but this is a lot of our problem.

[town1980]

Timmons is 33/34 begly the same Ross quigley so there is a big big void to come in that dressing room ,,, there was a difference in class as Meath were in a div 2 final, we barley got to our div 3 final taking nothing away from the lads but Dublin would run riot the way we play,, John still the best man for the job but maybe a Conway with him as a tweak in tactics is maybe needed,,hard luck regardless every man tried hard to the end

[The PRO]

Disappointing. Our deficiencies laid bare once again. I feel so sorry for those lads who are used as square pegs in round holes, because it's days like these that find you out. The best corner back in Laois last year was Saunders of Portlaoise. I know he's not involved with the 20s, but any selection after him in that position is a lesser option. It's not really anyone's fault, but this is a lot of our problem.

You can't make a lad play. He turned down the invite.

[The PRO]

We now play one of these 8.
Leitrim, Down, Derry, Antrim, Longford, Westmeath, Offaly, Monaghan.

[High Fielder]

If you read what I said, you'll see that I said it's nobody's fault. I don't blame him at all. It's just a fact of life.

[SpeculativeEffort]

Today is a taste of the next 3-4 years as Timmons, Begley, Johno, Lillis, Munnelly, Quigley, Donie and others inevitably step away. They are the remnants of the last really competitive team we've had. They have given it their all but next few years will be tough.

[High Fielder]

I think the key to what happens after this is Sugrue. There are good young players in the county, and the sooner he has contact with them the better. I don't see it as an end of an era, because we've known many days like this recently. Meath deserved to win today because they were sharper, but they weren't 11 points better than us and I don't think I'm being delusional by saying that. We have serious structural flaws under pressure but so do Meath, and there's no denying we opened them up. They would be foolish to walk away from this thinking they have it sussed, because we actually outplayed them for long periods. But importantly, they had a method and a steeliness that we lack. All is not lost by a long chalk, and we should try and look at the positives. Young Murphy at last looked like he belonged out there and that's what it's all about. There was plenty to take away from today

[The Boy Wonder]

I was puzzled when Evan O'Carroll was taken off - was he injured ?
We were very shot-shy, especially in the first 15 minutes when we practically owned the ball.
I reckon we at least broke even and probably better than that in the possession stakes overall.
However the scoreboard is what matters and Meath gave us a lesson in finishing.

[Tony]

Happy enough with the performance today overall. I know that might sound strange after an 11 point loss. But there were a lot of positives and there's no way we were 11 points the worse team. We dominated many periods of the game, and also dominated possession for large spells. In my opinion, we were the better team in certain areas. We just didn't dominate in the scoring department. We're badly needing one or two more consistent scorers up front. Where are our scores coming from? The opportunities are there but we need conversion - for me, the forward line needs far more.

I thought Evan was hard done by to be substituted today. He was causing trouble for Meath but missed some scorable chances. I thought one of the other forwards should have made way. Donie, Evan and Murphy need to start the next day. For me, the next best in the forward line is Cahilane and maybe Scully and Danny O'Reilly up there, too. Our attack was pretty toothless today, and it cost us the match. Not for lack of trying of course, everybody tried their heart out. It's just an ability thing. I thought otherwise, Brody, Booth, Attride, JOL, and Murphy did well. We badly missed Begley in my opinion. All of these things matter a lot and can be the winning and losing of a match. I don't think this year is over. I see us rebounding from this, learning and maybe getting another couple matches out of it. We made Meath (a division 1 side now) look very ordinary for large periods of the game. Just up top were missing that cutting edge for me; we must start our best scorers the next day and keep them on. A learning experience and a lot of homework to do, but progress has been made and all is not lost.

[recyclebin]

I think we need Evan and Donie on the pitch at the same time. None of our other forwards seem to have the same level of confidence to shoot when the score is on. We also need to look at ways of breaking down a crowded defence. Too many times lads turned around and passed it back. They need to have confidence to break a tackle or two or have runners to open up the defence. We are far too open in defence and a bit naive for two of the goals. The 11 point win wasn't fair on Laois. If we had of taken a couple of goals chances we could have beaten them. Meath are a division 1 team now and I don't think we are a million miles off them. Tactics are our weakest point.

[town1980]

I do think tactics are a major issue in our play we are so naive in this aspect which is the most important part like I said I think John needs better people around him Chris Conway for me would be great ,,I don't think his selectors offer him the info he needs because he has the respect of all the county he needs a strong num 2