Laois Senior Hurling Championship

[Laois Rising]

It has been a terrible championship. Hopefully it springs to life in the semi-finals. Camross v Abbeyleix final is my prediction but thankfully we should get two competitive games to enjoy. 

[From the Terrace]

Senior football going to 12 makes sense. Senior hurling going to 10 is ridiculous, should be going to 6 or staying the same imo.

[John1]

Making no inroads in either. Day of Dual Club at high level gone
Emphasis on fitness levels gone extreme nearly & quality is just not there to follow.

Would a reduction of senior football teams, as is being talked about, maybe help some of the dual clubs re-focus a bit on hurling?

God im not sure, Ballyfin & Rosenallis just look burnt out, no kick or life in them, clonaslee have a bit more youth & freshness coming through but quality not as much at the moment . Could take Ballyfin a while to rebuild again, some fellas the wrong end of age scales holding on to keep numbers there too. Rosenallis & Clonaslee seem to have panels where half prefer football & half prefer the hurling , perhaps why they never make solid progress.

I cant see Abbeyleix beating R/E this time but maybe i am wrong & hope i am wrong because it would be a great boost to get back to another final for their clubs progression with the youth they have. Camross steadily improving but Ballacola will have their homework done too although they had a long lay-off , they will also be hungry to amend last years collapse. time will tell.

[Laois man]

What's the views on the senior senior B and intermediate sfinals this weekend? Also junior A final Fri night and 2 minor sfinals on Sunday?

[Spiritof1915]

Senior : Rathdowney-Errill
         Clough ballacolla (if Picky play)


Premier intermediate: bk
                      Ballinakill

Intermediate  : Abbeyleix
                Slieve Bloom

Junior A : 50/50 game but bk to shade it.

Minor : The Harps
        Castletown

You heard it first here men.

[Flamingo]

Rathdowney-Errill are through to their first SHC final since 2019!



Abbeyleix got a consolation goal right at the death as a 65 made its way through a smattering of bodies, but it was only in consolation as the final whistle immediately blew.

[SCFC]

Senior : Rathdowney-Errill
         Clough ballacolla (if Picky play)


Premier intermediate: bk
                      Ballinakill

Intermediate  : Abbeyleix
                Slieve Bloom

Junior A : 50/50 game but bk to shade it.

Minor : The Harps
        Castletown

You heard it first here men.

Good calling there - just missed Mountmellick!

[redsetanta]

Rathdowney/Errill v Clogh Ballcolla should be a great final.

Will Rathdowney get over the line? Bookies have CB at 8/11 with RE evens.

[Laois man]

Well folks county final time Sunday week should be a good final alot of people fancy Cbolla but I feel Rdowney/Errill could take it. Harps hot favourites for the minor. Mmellick have a great chance to win the intermediate.

[Spiritof1915]

Well folks county final time Sunday week should be a good final alot of people fancy Cbolla but I feel Rdowney/Errill could take it. Harps hot favourites for the minor. Mmellick have a great chance to win the intermediate.

Should be a cracking final. Cb slight favourites due to recent years successes. In saying that RE will definitely not fear their neighbours.  A high scoring finale expected
As regards the minor, The Harps will be favourites but castletown will be gunning for a first minor title in a long number of years.
By my reckoning harps have contested 5 out of last 6 minor finals. Surely they will be in a senior final in the next 3 years.

[Laois man]

Harps did the same in the mid 80s and early 90s won a nice few minors but never won a senior for some reason.

[Laois Rising]

Good minor teams necessarily do not translate to senior. The Harps are doing great work. What The Harps are doing well is getting everyone involved at a young age, maintaining the interested in hurling as they move up the ranks and as a result have a decent size pool of players to pick from who are very well coached. Therefore, The Harps are fielding teams with 15 good to very good players without any passengers onboard. A number of other hurling clubs are fielding minor teams without the same strength and depth at their disposal. What is making the real difference for The Harps are their players ranked 7-15 in ability. While this is great at minor and u20 level, the reality is that these players will not step up to improve the senior teams- the Harps should have some very good second and third teams in the future though. Ultimately, what you want are a couple of star players coming through because these are the players who will step up to senior and make the difference. If you look back on the last couple of Laois minor teams were the players from the Harps the standout players or not? Possibly, one or two but nothing to suggest that it is inevitable that the Harps are going to win a Laois championship in the next few years.   

[ottoman]

Good minor teams necessarily do not translate to senior. The Harps are doing great work. What The Harps are doing well is getting everyone involved at a young age, maintaining the interested in hurling as they move up the ranks and as a result have a decent size pool of players to pick from who are very well coached. Therefore, The Harps are fielding teams with 15 good to very good players without any passengers onboard. A number of other hurling clubs are fielding minor teams without the same strength and depth at their disposal. What is making the real difference for The Harps are their players ranked 7-15 in ability. While this is great at minor and u20 level, the reality is that these players will not step up to improve the senior teams- the Harps should have some very good second and third teams in the future though. Ultimately, what you want are a couple of star players coming through because these are the players who will step up to senior and make the difference. If you look back on the last couple of Laois minor teams were the players from the Harps the standout players or not? Possibly, one or two but nothing to suggest that it is inevitable that the Harps are going to win a Laois championship in the next few years.   

That's the nuts of it really. You need those stand out underage players to help you cut it at the top table at senior level. If you look at Rathdowney and Clough Ballacolla for example for this years final. I don't think any of Picky, Ross King, Paddy Purcill, Lee Cleere, Willy Dunphy etc have any minors medals between them. But they were all stand out top underage players and you knew they would greatly improve their senior teams when they got there.

[TheGiantSquid]

Hard to look beyond a CB win this weekend? Their backs on paper should have a big handle on the RE front 6.

[Flamingo]

Hard to look beyond a CB win this weekend? Their backs on paper should have a big handle on the RE front 6.

Would have to agree, hopefully will be a cracker of a game to watch think tg4 supposed to be showing it on tv aswell