Laois Senior Footballers 2025

[The Boy Wonder]

A grand evening for a game, great crowd, fine pitch but we were no match for Kildare.
It could have been even worse - Kildare were denied 3 goals - good defence and the crossbar.
With the wind in the 2nd half Laois should have went for 2-pointers as often as possible to cut the gap.
Having said that I'm not a fan of some of the new rules especially the 40m arc and the 2-pointers.
It has radically changed the shape of the game - so much of the play is back and forth outside the arc.
And the goalkeepers should be put back in their box so that man to man marking is possible.

Antrim are visitors next Saturday - we drew on their last visit in 2022 when Laois relegated to Division 4.

[Blueforever]

Watching Laois v Flourbags last night it was like men against boys and the criminal neglect of underage in Laois this past 20 years results like this will be commonplace Kildare and Offaly have a proper underage structure in place and they are disappearing in the distance we are in a group with Carlow Wicklow and Longford and Wexford and unless some plan is put in place for the underage players this is where we will stay cannot blame players or management for last night's disaster they are doing there best

[The Boy Wonder]

Yes, it did look like men against boys last night but there were positives to take from it.
And remember we did not have experienced heads to match the like of Kevin Feely etc.
Kildare are a level above us at the moment but we should not despair. It would have been easy for lads to drop the heads but the lads kept plugging away – evidence of good management.

We've got a good picture of where we are over the last 2 games. Where we were mobile and able to control possession against Sligo it was the opposite against Kildare. Next week we have Antrim and a more level playing field.

If I recall correctly our Under-20s have acquitted themselves well in the last few years against strong Kildare and Meath opposition. With a bit of luck last year they would have beaten Meath. We should be capable of getting enough points in our remaining games against Antrim, Clare and Fermanagh to retain Division 3 status. Given the personnel changeover that would be a step in the right direction.

[georgedoylesrightleg]

lads still bit raw, not kildare we meassure against yet. last 3 games are the ones. injureies a worry. wake on forwards.

[oneshot]

there's not alot you can do when you can't get your best player's in the county to play. the lads are doing there best.

[County Man]

It was a tough evening in Newbridge last Saturday evening in front of an attendance of 7000. Kildare were sharp and pacy and they smothered our kickouts. We had a number of wides early on so we never got any momentum going.

All is not lost though. We have a real chance to bounce back against Antrim next Saturday which would put us back in the hunt for promotion. Kildare appear to be too strong for this division having hammered Fermanagh by 15 points in the opening round in Newbridge. 2nd place is all to play for though, Fermanagh beat Offaly at the weekend.

If we can produce the display that was seen v Sligo, we should grab the two points v Antrim.

[georgedoylesrightleg]

who are dese best lads in hte ocunty dat arent playing

dont be worrying bout promotoin, we're better in d3 for now

[Laois Rising]

Our underage is doing as well as can be expected. Things have progressed and now all counties have excellent structures in place at underage level. With that being the case the bigger counties population wise will have the advantage and that is bearing true with Meath, Dublin and Kildare hoovering up the majority of underage (U20 and minor) titles. However, that isn't to say that we cannot compete and when a particularly strong group come through together, Laois can still challenge for a Leinster title at minor or U20. We have no right to be ahead of the likes of Wexford, Westmeath etc. as that is a slight on the work being done at underage level in those counties.

As for Saturday night, with the new rules, the importance of having ball winners around the middle was most evident. Kildare dominated this sector and it gave them the platform to drive onto an easy victory. Unfortunately, I do not see any quick fix as we simply do not have that type of ball-winning player to come in around the middle. Thankfully, Antrim won't have the same weapons at their disposal as Kildare and we should be able to break more 50/50 around the middle. Expect a bounce back from Laois next day out.   

[Blueforever]

Well no wonder hurling and Football is at such a low ebb if the last post is anything to go by we will never solve a problem if we refuse to admit it exist looking at all the school results most of the Laois schools play in c and d competition our 2 biggest towns are a wasteland as regards Gaa can't for the life of me remember Mountmellick in a minor final Portlaoise won  minor footballfinal last year after many years and many year since the have won minor hurling as regards population Offaly have won both minor and under 20 hurling and Football within last 5 years because the got there under age structure right

[The Boy Wonder]

From LaoisToday:
"The boys are all hurting, they're hugely disappointed. It's never nice to get a thrashing, it's still a thrashing by your neighbours and your rivals killed there and we know, the team knows, they didn't do themselves justice tonight and now the job is right to find out for next week."

Justin calls a spade a spade. Hopefully we get back on track against Antrim - they will be travel down with confidence.

[Laois Rising]

Justin is certainly maximising all he can with this Laois team and at the same time putting pathways in place to develop the players who are willing to dedicate themselves to this Laois set up. Josh Hogan must have felt 9 foot tall after the Antrim game. McNulty praised his efforts and talked about how he can progress further as a footballer. Inspiring leadership and management by McNulty. When Billy berated players from the sideline when frustrated, McNulty encourages them to stick to the progresses and structures put in place and the players are responding to that. Who would have thought after the debacle of 2023 that Laois would be where they are 18 months on. We have a limited squad, lacking in real star quality which many fancied to go back down with Leitrim. We are already safe with two games to go and even have an outside chance of promotion. Would be a set of very favourable results but it is not beyond the realms of possibility.   

[Laois Rising]

Well no wonder hurling and Football is at such a low ebb if the last post is anything to go by we will never solve a problem if we refuse to admit it exist looking at all the school results most of the Laois schools play in c and d competition our 2 biggest towns are a wasteland as regards Gaa can't for the life of me remember Mountmellick in a minor final Portlaoise won  minor footballfinal last year after many years and many year since the have won minor hurling as regards population Offaly have won both minor and under 20 hurling and Football within last 5 years because the got there under age structure right

That is a different thing to what I referred to. Our u20 and minor county teams are being funded and have a good team of people (most years) involved in the running and management of these teams. It is evident that there are huge issues with regarding to maximising and improving playing numbers and standards at udnerage level. Portlaoise is glaring and has been spoken to death on this forum over the years. Plenty of clubs need the benefit of good Gaelic development officers who can help and assist clubs to further improve coaching and getting the numbers into the club and staying interested in playing the game. 

[georgedoylesrightleg]

mcentee like billy, spent hole game abusin ref offishials n anyone whod listen or luk at him. a real pig of a man. another poacher. these fellas must hate the new rules. justin is a gent. never mouths, never abuses. a real steely man but a great man to have in de camp. trusts the players. we're in good place with him. trust the kids.

[Zooming around]

Well no wonder hurling and Football is at such a low ebb if the last post is anything to go by we will never solve a problem if we refuse to admit it exist looking at all the school results most of the Laois schools play in c and d competition our 2 biggest towns are a wasteland as regards Gaa can't for the life of me remember Mountmellick in a minor final Portlaoise won  minor footballfinal last year after many years and many year since the have won minor hurling as regards population Offaly have won both minor and under 20 hurling and Football within last 5 years because the got there under age structure right

That is a different thing to what I referred to. Our u20 and minor county teams are being funded and have a good team of people (most years) involved in the running and management of these teams. It is evident that there are huge issues with regarding to maximising and improving playing numbers and standards at udnerage level. Portlaoise is glaring and has been spoken to death on this forum over the years. Plenty of clubs need the benefit of good Gaelic development officers who can help and assist clubs to further improve coaching and getting the numbers into the club and staying interested in playing the game. 

Are the U20 teams receiving extra funding?

[Sideline12]

Now that the pressure is off and we are safe in div.3 for another year hope the players put in a good performance tomorrow against a good Clare team I expect Clare to be in the munster football final so a win over them would put us in a nice position going into our final game against Fermanagh and set us up for a run in the Tailteann Cup.