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I would agree. Lads could have went for pints after the offaly game and left it at that. You could see in the second half that lads were out on their feet. It was to their credit that we only lost by 12 but a fully prepared team with everything going to plan would have made things interesting.

Any potentially good senior players in the making from either u-20s or minor panels?

From looking at the u20s

John Brennan looks like a senior prospect. I thought Darragh Slevin was decent against Carlow and has a bit of pace. Jake Darcy also decent.  Cathal Lee from clonaslee is another one worth looking at in the next few years at senior. I like the two midfielders , they are raw but have great potential.  Its hard to judge the forwards over the past two games due to weather conditions. To be honest none of them really showed that they are of senior inter county standard but maybe on a dry day we might see one or two of them emerge.

Any one know how our u20s and minors are going in hurling and football?

Also how are our development squads getting on ? I know its early but we need strong development squads to bring quality players onto our senior teams in the coming years.

Agree with previous comments about team not being properly coached :

A few things: If I was coaching against Dublin I'd do the following

A) Break game down into ten minute slots and set target for each slot;

eg first ten mins - take no risks and try and quieten the crowd

next ten mins - be more adventurous but concede no goals

final ten minutes - keep things quiet and frustrate the Dubs;

five mins before half time - get the first score in this section and try and keep focus to half time. no silly three/ four  point bursts.


Onto today's game:

- Two of the goals in first half came from Laois mistakes which was very frustrating. Its hard enough playing Dublin without gifting them two goals.

_ How we set up in defense was naive to say the least- while I couldn't fault the work rate of players , to leave a 2 v 2 in the full back line was stupid to say the least.

After the goals the game was a non event.

Things to work on for the next day:

- restarts , its criminal that balls are going over the sideline

- Unforced errors - cut these out and we have a chance in games

- defensive unit- how we set up , needs to be looked at.  I know its a balance between defending and having people upfront if we force a turnover

- Need to get more out of Mark Barry in games . Needs to show more for ball or look for ball when sent in. Seemed to coast his way through game today.


Its not all doom and gloom:

Today wasn't going to be a day that will define our year and there are some positives to take out

1) work rate was decent , considering the opposition.

2) Dylan Kavanagh and Seamus Lacey did well in second half. Kavanagh has pace which is something that we need.

3) Paddy O'Sullivan, Kevin Swayne, Damon Larkin are drove at Dublin and took the fight to them.


Heading into the TC we should be aiming for at least two wins in the group stages.

Who left the panel ?

Didn't make the match but was very disappointed not to win that game . Looking at the kk team sheet it was a team of unknowns. We had at least ten championship starters . What are kk going to be like in league when they'll be much stronger. That was a match that we should have targeted for the win.  Great to see John Lennon back hurling. He has suffered enough over the past two years with injuries . The second half fade out would also worry me a bit. A lot of work to do before the tipp game.

I think it's the best management set up that we could have hoped for . If lads can't play for Chris , beano or billy then we may forget it . While not brushing over the apparent problems in Laois gaa I do still think we have the makings of a competitive senior team . We have beaten , Kildare (twice) , Meath , Westmeath (twice) in u20 football in recent years . No reason with a bit of coaching that we can't compete with these teams .

Great post Portlaoise kid!

Could you take down that link ? Anyone with a love of Laois hurling would not be posting this up . He is 100% correct in what he says about county board but posting the interview up only guarantees that he won't be there next year !!

 I think we have to be realistic - At the start of the year we are ranked last of all the Liam McCarthy teams so we have to put things into context. No need to be over negative. A decent performance and keep score within ten is a realistic target. That's not negative just realistic.  What's the story with John Lennon ? Is he badly injured?

My team for Saturday would be :

Rowland, Ciaran McEvoy, Matthew/Sean Downey, Donnacha, Jack Kelly , Ryan and Podge Delaney Paddy and Fennell in Midfield. Aaron Dunphy Pickey and james Ryan. Ross, Willie Dunphy and John Lennon (If fit he is sweeper).

options from bench to include : lee Cleere , eric kileen, stephen bergin, diarmuid conway, James keys

On another note; Any sign of Mossy Bruce? He hasn't posted in a While!!

Nowlan park should be some advantage to us. Sport at this levels is very fine margins . At half time on Saturday Dublin were looking at a bad beating . Now they were unlucky not to win . With regards to Saturday . I'm looking for a decent performance. Thankfully the match isn't in thurles as the wide open spaces would have hurt us. The game plan should be simple , keep it tight at back and take long range points from midfield/half forward line . Hopefully we take heart from an encouraging display against them in the league.

Lads a bit of perspective needs to be had in relation to our minor team . Yes we were badly beaten by Kildare but that doesn't mean they are bad footballers! What is letting us down is our strength and conditioning , Kildare and dublin are ahead of the game at underage level in Leinster. We need to up our game in s&c. Example three years ago Kildare beat us in s Leinster final and this yEar we should have beat their under 20 team . I rem in 1997 we only beat Kk with a last min goal. If they had of lost would we have had a different view of that team ??

I think it should be given a try, nothing to lose everything to gain! Interesting to note only 7 teams have reached a Semi final since 2000 so it's not like clubs have a chance of winning! With the senior b the champions have a decent chance in leinster which would give them a chance of achieving! A Laois club in Croke park in an intermediate final who soon change attitudes towards a new format! It's a win win for clubs in my opinion!

Couple of things I'd like to say, where are the coaches that were in the setanta programme when the likes of cha Dwyer and pj scully were there , same with joe campions group. Have we dropped our coaching standards?!

I disagree with u down the road, they're many examples of urban clubs doing very well without the need to almagamate.  The two newbridge clubs in Kildare, any dublin club. IF the club is well run and it has a good set up, the kids will always be attracted to it. That goes in any code.