Joe McDonagh Cup 2025

[Joeythelips]

Delighted! Carlow will be raging but they got a soft penalty at the death a couple of years ago to knock Laois out so it comes and goes! Nolan kicked the ball out under the fence at a line ball too so that deserved a bit of extra time.
We were definitely poxed, Carlow are serious in the air and we made a few bad mistakes in possession and from short puck outs. Thought the ref was poor both ways, very harsh on steps.
Conway is a class defender, he would make almost any county team I reckon.

Yep, that was spotted by the officials and proved costly, thinking he was being clever wasting time. I thought Paddy Purcell was immense but Laois have huge room for improvement and will need it against Kildare. Again so much of their decision making with passes and line balls was dreadful and were lucky Carlow did not punish them further.

It may not have been top quality at times but it was a fierce battle and better than a 100 training sessions so we will be well set for the final in 2 weeks time against the Lillywhites. The winners of that will face Galway/ Dublin (bar an upset) and losers likely to face Tipp.

[Spiritof1915]

Got out of jail big time. Carlow must be sick.
I feel Laois were the authors of a lot of their own misfortune. Constansly Playing through the lines and getting turned over through poor 1st touch and lack of understanding. Carlow were the beneficiary of many of score. I understand its the modern way but nothing wrong with route one to ball winners on the half forward line and let them work like f**k for possession , in the scoring zone.
Also a strange one that Duggan didn't start. He definitely got the touch for the goal.
Enough negativity, great to be back in croke park for a final again. Hopefully we ll travel in big numbers again,

[The infidel in exile]

Back in Dublin waiting for the ferry to Holyhead.Absolutely delighted for the team, young Conway was exceptional all game, and the management brought up in two subs in Dunphy and Duggan who scored 1.2 when we needed it.

I respect that I'm in the minority here, but I know that Laois on their day, will turn Kildare over in head quarters. They have a massive point to prove against what I believe is, although improving are an inferior hurling team. Would love to see Aaron Dunphy start in the final.

[Blueforever]

Great to go through like that but I suspect we will have to improve to win final

[The Boy Wonder]

Brilliant to get the draw when all seemed lost.

I'm not a fan of the short passing out of defence - hopefully the wider spaces of Croke Park will enable longer balls into space for the forwards.

The setback against Kildare should have Laois on their toes in the final.

[Verbal]

Back in Dublin waiting for the ferry to Holyhead.Absolutely delighted for the team, young Conway was exceptional all game, and the management brought up in two subs in Dunphy and Duggan who scored 1.2 when we needed it.

I respect that I'm in the minority here, but I know that Laois on their day, will turn Kildare over in head quarters. They have a massive point to prove against what I believe is, although improving are an inferior hurling team. Would love to see Aaron Dunphy start in the final.

I think everyone expected that Laois will beat Kildare if playing to potential.
Aaron Dunphy was very very cumbersome today. Totally off the pace.
Hopefully today brings him on, but he's a mile off starting based on today in my opinion.

[John1]

2 minutes played over injury time and a dubious square ball call not often Laois get them calls, we will take it all day long😄
Sloppy game to be honest, alot of short passing didn't stick but Laois stayed in it and close enough to have that chance at the end fair play to them for not giving in. Conway and Mossy well ahead of the pack on performance levels

Time to redeem themselves and see have they learned from the day in Portlaoise v Kildare
All roads lead to Croker

[Voice of tReason]

Great result. Performance wasn't perfect by any means but we defended well for the most part and won a lot of our duels. Conway, in particular, was absolutely top-class and he's going to be incredibly important against Kildare in Croker.

In fairness to everyone involved, management are playing to our players' strengths. We simply don't have the personnel to play long and direct. The likes of Mossy, Corby, Conroy, Quinlan, Duggan etc need ball played to their advantage and we simply have to get the ball out to 45/65 before delivering it. Carlow caught onto it towards the end of the second half and adapted. It'll be interesting to see how management approach the Kildare game and players like Aaron Dunphy and Mark Dowling may be needed from the start if we are to play a little more direct. Both have had their injury issues but hopefully two weeks will help. Same with Jordan Walshe whose athleticism could be needed against Kildare.

Great to feel some positivity leaving Carlow. We were lucky with the late goal and the added time in added time but we've had plenty of near-misses and late heartache down through the years, indeed our last visit to Carlow a couple of years ago was a sickening finish.

Out performances seem to have peaked a few weeks back and the step-up in opposition brought by Kildare and Carlow have been a reality check...but we're where we need to be and players and management have 2 weeks to make sure we're ready for Kildare. If we can match them for pace and athleticism, we'll be hard beaten and there certainly won't be room for any complacency.

Full faith in Tommy, Niall and Andrew to have us ready for it!

[Voice of tReason]

Think it was Mullaney who got the goal by the way.
If he was in the square, and I'm not convinced he was, the referee owed him one after a couple of harsh/contentious technical fouls against him...

[Spiritof1915]

Great result. Performance wasn't perfect by any means but we defended well for the most part and won a lot of our duels. Conway, in particular, was absolutely top-class and he's going to be incredibly important against Kildare in Croker.

In fairness to everyone involved, management are playing to our players' strengths. We simply don't have the personnel to play long and direct. The likes of Mossy, Corby, Conroy, Quinlan, Duggan etc need ball played to their advantage and we simply have to get the ball out to 45/65 before delivering it. Carlow caught onto it towards the end of the second half and adapted. It'll be interesting to see how management approach the Kildare game and players like Aaron Dunphy and Mark Dowling may be needed from the start if we are to play a little more direct. Both have had their injury issues but hopefully two weeks will help. Same with Jordan Walshe whose athleticism could be needed against Kildare.

Great to feel some positivity leaving Carlow. We were lucky with the late goal and the added time in added time but we've had plenty of near-misses and late heartache down through the years, indeed our last visit to Carlow a couple of years ago was a sickening finish.

Out performances seem to have peaked a few weeks back and the step-up in opposition brought by Kildare and Carlow have been a reality check...but we're where we need to be and players and management have 2 weeks to make sure we're ready for Kildare. If we can match them for pace and athleticism, we'll be hard beaten and there certainly won't be room for any complacency.

Full faith in Tommy, Niall and Andrew to have us ready for it!

We have very good primary ball winners in paddy P, cha, jer quinlan is excellent in the air, Aaron dunphy, eanna lyons, even David Dooley.

It's imperative in any suceesful team to be able to mix up the puckouts. In my opinion, there's no substitute for hitting a ball long into the scoring zone and fight like hell. Its a simple game.
It just seemed today that we were one dimensional and turn overs came easy.
If we are to compete back in the leinster championship this will have to change.

Fair play to kildare they ve made great strides as a hurling county. Refreshing to see, but they need to be put back in their box on the 7th June. Let's bring the wife, the kids, the mistress and anyone else who will fit in the car to shout on the lads.

Last year we outnumbered offaly by 3 to 1. The hill was blue and white. Let's go again.

[G@@]

Relieved to get to the JMD final. We've made hard work of getting there and to be quite honest, I don't like our current style of play - I don't think it suits us.
Our first touch in the last two games has been very poor overall and we are no aerial ball winners either. At this stage of the tournament we ought to have these glaring deficiencies ironed out. The only aspect of our game that is working is when we can offload the sliothar into a player with space and time to convert a score. We're easily succumbing to pressure in most 50-50s and turning over ball to the opposition.
Today, under the stand in Carlow, we passed off a ball into midfield and there was a free Laois player on the wing - who was begging for the pass. The result was a turnover in midfield and a Carlow point then resulted when we should have taken the obvious option and scored a point instead, a two point swing in the crucial closing part of the game instead of scoring, we went another point behind.
I seriously hope management scrutinise every minute of that game today and learn, learn hard from it. Kildare are a step above Carlow and today it seemed we took very little from the lesson Kildare dished out last week. We have two weeks to prepare for the final - so do Kildare. We need to have our homework done for June 8th.
There are players on that Laois panel that have given great service to Laois over the years and the last two games (incl. Today) I think they have lacked a little bit of leadership. I hope they can resurrect it for the final.
Looking ahead to the final, I think the wider expanses of Croke Park will suit us better than Kildare. If we can play to our strengths, i.e. using the space intelligently we can drive on for the win. 

[Brandon]

Great that we're through to the Joe mcdonagh final. I thought today the decision making was poor and the keeper should learn from today as he gave away 2/3 balls that ended up on the Carlow men's hand great save though at one stage in the match. I'm not quite sure what happend against Kildare I think the lads thought it be a walkover but I do think we will beat them in Croker we have a lot of experience lads who played in Croker a few times with Laois down the years. I hope to see dunphy starting at least or on the 65s he doesn't miss much. We need to start off quick against Kildare and get 1/2 goals early in the match. I think the width will kill Kildare. Another note well done to Keyes scoring 14 points. We need our forwards to score more. Be interesting what the bookies give Laois against Kildare.

[The infidel in exile]

Back home and got some sleep, watched it again on Clubber an hour ago.

I know some of you feel different, but after watching the game again, We were the better team over the 70. But we were wasteful at times, the boys making a couple of poor passing decisions at vital times.

But I totally stand over my previous statement that we, when at our most fluid are far better hurlers than Kildare. Our bench is far stronger than theirs.

At Croke park where the pitch is a lot wider, Kildare's height will mean absolutely nothing, as Laois will undoubtedly use the wings to draw the Kildare's backs all over the place.

Young Dooley was brilliant in the second half and Conway and Cleere are a revelation.

The statement regarding Aaron Dunphy was harsh, as he cam on with 14 minutes left and pointed a phenomenal free under pressure with 4 minutes left. Aaron Dunphy and young Duggan must start in the final. I don't believe that Croke park is a place for tenacious forwards but backs. Croke park allows the better hurlers to excell.
Imagine a half forward line of Corby, Purcell and Dunphy, that's 10 points from play, with Duggan, Mossy and Conroy picking up first ball on the wings and running at a defence.

That's simply my humble opinion but I actually fancy Laois to return the favor on Kildare and win convincingly. I'm expecting feedback but as another good Laois man wrote this week regarding the right to an opinion. Iv followed the County since 1979. Kildare have never beaten Laois in a Leinster championship until this year and I have every faith that the boys will fight to the death for the jersey in a couple of weeks and I will be there

[The infidel in exile]

Sorry I left out young Quinlan, I believe that he will play instead of Benny, harsh but young Quinlan is better

[The Boy Wonder]

I reckon that the bookmakers will have Laois as favourites for the final - maybe 4/6 with Kildare 6/4.

If Laois play to their potential most of us would be confident of victory but expecting a stiff challenge from Kildare.