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I wanted to give Billy Sheehan some pass as he has a number of players who didn't commit or were injured throughout league. However, as a good Longford GAA friend of mine told me during the game as I brought this defence out at half time, Billy O'L is working without the following mainstay players in Longford who were not available to him:

Gary Rogers (centre-back), Donal McElligot (wing/corner back), John Keegan (midfield), Rian Brady (centre forward),Daniel Mimnagh (corner forward), Liam Connerton (full forward).

Pretty much the spine of the Longford team for the last few years and best club players within county. It's probably the same for most smaller counties the levels of non-commitment. It's about getting the best tune out of the players you have. Billy certainly isn't doing that at the moment. In the modern game when kick outs and kick out strategies are of huge importance to the winning and losing of the game we were shambolic in this department against Limerick, Fermanagh and again yesterday. I know Chris and Billy want to play a traditional kicking game but they need to address this deficiency before start of Leinster championship and Tailteann Cup. 

Now that the new GPOs are coming on board there is certainly more opportunity to promote Laois GAA. Obviously, not enough time this year to do it but perhaps next year. On the Sunday of the final home league game (when weather/pitches are hopefully decent) run a fun U13 blitz for the clubs in the county in the centre of excellence that morning starting at 9am and finishing at 1pm. Then hand out participation certs/medals and some snacks to children. Bring each of the participating teams and mentors into O'Moore Park for the league match (hopefully division 2 game where a win promotes us to division 1-we can dream!!). I would also provide each participating juvenile with free adult ticket for the game. In that way you are giving the children a fun day out, connecting them with the county team and ensuring a very positive, feel good atmosphere around the ground with a decent support to boot. 

What has happened that Crettyard are no longer in with Na Fianna Og. Thought things were going well there with good success at minor and U20 last year.

Our three main forwards from the Laois U20 teams that made it to consecutive Leinster finals were Ronan Coffey, Mark Barry and Diarmuid Whelan. You would like to think that those three would be starting to establish themselves on the senior team now that they are hitting 22/23 years of age. Unfortunately, so far only Barry has had any real involvement with the senior set up. Throw in Jake Foster, Colm Murphy and Jack Owens if he could add consistency to his game- all players of huge potential-we are definitely not getting the most out of the young attacking talent that is there within the county. Look at Mayo and how Horan has brought in plenty of youth the last couple of years. Those players through game time, training and sustained S&C and are now in a position where they have developed and can physically compete against the top players and sides.

Billy has pretty much stuck with the same starting team since the O'Byrne Cup semi-final. I do think he should shake things up a little and make 4-5 changes the next day and keep things competitive within the squad. The fact he made no change until the 60th minute and with that made only 3 changes (one of them was to bring in Ross) would send a message to the rest of the squad outside of the 15 that he doesn't have huge faith in their abilities. Antrim had four or five subs in well before Laois made their first change. If he continues to operate the way he is doing, expect more lads to walk away and lads within the squad to lose interest and motivation.

Unfortunately other counties will have taken note of Laois' frailties when players with power and pace run at them. The red sea didn't open up as quick for Moses as the Laois defence did on Sunday for the Waterford players. A rethink of our defensive strategy is required. As the ground hardens up, you'd be fearful of even more damage being inflicted.

Watching Naas go all the way in the intermediate championship and Kilmoley of Kerry make the final, it wouldn't be beyond the realms of possibility for a club like Abbeyleix (if they were to win Laois this year) to give the Leinster intermediate championship a right rattle. They have a good age profile and with some experienced campaigners to boot, 2022 should be a year that they really target getting everything right and everyone on board. Clough Ballacolla showed what Laois clubs are capable of on the Leinster stage with a bit of confidence, determination and drive.

Laois showed promise and definite progression from last season. However, still plenty to work on- shooting was poor at times, lost too many of the physical battles for possession and some of the starting 15 didn't hit the standards you would normally expect of them. I would say that defensively, Cheddar will be somewhat happy-Tipperary are a side who score plenty of goals and that didn't happen at the weekend. Also when we were down to 14 players, Tipperary were unable to open the floodgates-Laois continued to battle and matched up well right to the final whistle. You can see though why Cheddar opened the door for Cha to return last season. His ability to win 50/50 battles and strike from distance was badly missed on Saturday. There are about 10 players realistically vying for 6 starting berths in the forward line. I would imagine Cheddar will rotate over the next couple of games and each player will have the opportunity to stake a claim for starting position come the start of the championship. Outside of Maher, those who started in the forwards on Saturday will know they need to put in a much improved performance the next day out.

Westmeath are a couple of years further down the road than this Laois team. After their debacle when Kingston scored a hat trick of goals to defeat them in championship football a few years ago, they brought Cooney in as manager and has he has done an excellent job rebuilding Westmeath. Our midfield has been a problem area for a long time now. It is a real pity Sean Byrne isn't available this year. He is the sort of player that we badly need around the middle third to partner James Finn.

It is a weak Division 3 this year. Laois rode their luck in the first half-whereas Wexford capitalised on their goal chances a few weeks back, Louth will be kicking themselves that they could not even convert one of theirs. It kept us nicely in the game at half time and with the wind in our favour in the second half you expected us to kick on and win it from there-which we did.

The Westmeath game isn't make or break but it will give us a true reflection of where we are at. After seeing the hammerings Dublin and Meath took at the weekend it has made me re-evaluate our O'Byrne Cup performances a little. While we did well in those games, it is clear that Dublin and Meath were a long way off where you would normally expect them to be. There should be an edge to the weekend's game as the prize for the winner is a firm footing in the promotion placings. It would be nice to see Laois winning home league games again- our record in O'Moore Park the last couple of years has been truly abysmal.   

Kildare motoring at the moment but then they need to be as they try survive in division 1 of league this year. It's a real bonus game to test some players again before the start of the league. Winning games breathes confidence into a step up. A week ago, posters on this forum were already writing their epitaphs to the Billy Sheehan reign. Two games later and there is a sense of optimism that he is building something meaningful that players have bought into. The bookies have taken note with Laois now second favourites for promotion from Division Three (granted away games to Louth and Fermanagh not easy). When you look at the other sides in the division (Cavan being relegated to division 4 a real bonus) we still should be there or there abouts by end of competition. Louth and Longford have had poor O'Byrne Cup campaigns while Fermanagh easily beaten at home by Derry at weekend. 

Also, Ross Munnelly's performances in the O'Byrne games have not been acknowledged. I know some posters would prefer if he walked away but he has been excellent so far and as long as he is performing to the level required then we are lucky to have him. He is there on merit, it is up to the younger forwards coming through to step up to the mark and displace him. 

After last night's game I'm going to say what everyone else is thinking- Laois for Sam!!!

In all seriousness though it was a good response from the Wexford game. Granted, it was Meath's first game and once they clicked more into gear in the second half they looked a much better side. I like the set up that Billy is going with-he is not trying to put square pegs in round holes. Simple game plan that reflects the strengths of the footballers at our disposal. It was important that Laois recorded a victory in at least one of the O'Byrne Cup agames s I think the last time we recorded a victory was the Longford game in the Leinster championship a few years back. Gives the players confidence and something to build upon moving forward into the league. Getting James Finn back involved is also a major boast. Excellent footballing brain and good to move the ball quickly into the forward line. He probably didn't get utilised as he as could have when in with Laois previously.     

In order to play and compete in the modern game, James Horan made the point a few years ago the players need two full seasons of intercounty standard S&C behind them before they are physically capable of meeting the demands of intercounty football. Granted, he's talking about getting players to a position where they can compete with Dublin, Kerry and Tyrone. However, it does show that we will have to be patient with a lot of the newer faces to the panel. This year will be too soon to judge some of these players who have been asked to make a serious jump from being club footballers to playing intercounty football. The reality is they are going to take some hard knocks and learn some hard lessons as they hopefully develop over the next 12-24 months.

One game in early January and the knives already out. Can we give Billy a little time and lets judge things after 3 or 4 league games. Of the 20 or so new faces, our best hopes is that 4 or 5 of these younger players can step up to the mark of intercounty football, the likes of Paul Kingston, Evan Carroll, Trevor Collins etc peak as intercounty footballers and some of the old guard-Donie Kingston, Kieran Lillis and John O'Loughlin provide the necessary leadership needed. If he can achieve that, we should be competitive in division 3 (without necessarily winning promotion).

There used to be a lot more soccer teams. A lot of them have disappeared. Ballybrittas, Emo, Killenard all had teams. There also used to be two or three clubs in Port.

For the same reason many rural GAA clubs are now struggling- population decline in many parts of Laois, especially rural communities. Bringing it back to GAA- look at the number of amalgamations at underage level in Laois GAA. Twenty years ago rural clubs like the two Arles', Crettyard, the Rock etc. all capable of fielding underage team at all the grades going up. Now you see amalgamations of 3/4 clubs to get a team together. Numbers are not what they were. Employment and jobs big factor- when Celtic Tiger here most young lads (like myself at the time) could make a good living  living from their home place. That's not been the case since 2008 and clubs lose lads to moving to Dublin, London or further afield for employment. They then not setting up roots at home-knock on effect is that their kids are then lost to the club as well.

I thought the population of the county was steadily rising, no? I think it's more the "Playstation generation" - youngsters who have no interest in sport and would prefer a tech/social media lifestyle. I would hear anecdotally of rural primary school classes  where the pupils would have no involvement in sport except what they are compelled to do.

The change in the GAA club season also affected soccer participation numbers. Back 20+ years ago when I played, the GAA season was a lot earlier in the year. It wouldn't be unusual to be out of your championship in June or July. Championship are only getting going now in late July and it's a lot more difficult to get a junior soccer team up and running for early to mid August when the CCFL starts.

Population in urban areas has grown rapidly in Laois hence hike in the county's population numbers. In rural areas I don't think that same growth is evident. Definitely an issue in Portlaoise is the large number of kids not involved in sports. Sad to see- clubs need to get into the primary schools and actively promote their sports and create that interest and hopefully entice them to take up soccer, GAA, basketball etc.