Laois Shopping Centre SHC Semi-final – Rathdowney-Errill v Borris-Kilcotton
In MW Hire O’Moore Park at 1.30pm
The first game of the day in O’Moore Park is the clash of champions Rathdowney-Errill and Borris-Kilcotton in what is a repeat of last year’s final.
Rathdowney-Errill look set to be without the injured Mark Kavanagh though in Ross King they have more than an able deputy on the frees. Kavanagh’s absence will be welcomed by the Borris-Kilcotton defence and if Rathdowney-Errill are favourites, they’re not as strong without Kavanagh.
After a 30-point win over Castletown and an 18-point win over Abbeyleix, Rathdowney-Errill could come into this a little undercooked and it’s a long time since their thrilling opening round draw with Clough-Ballacolla back in the opening round.
Borris-Kilcotton will seek to limit Paddy Purcell’s influence and running game while they have plenty of potential scoring power up front in PJ Scully, Neil Foyle, Aaron Dunphy and Joe Campion.
A fully tuned-in Borris-Kilcotton would make a right game of this but Rathdowney-Errill have been very consistent these past three seasons and they may just have enough to get to a county final and give themselves of defending their title for the first time.
Prediction: Rathdowney-Errill
Laois Shopping Centre SHC Semi-final – Clough-Ballacolla v Rosenallis
In MW Hire O’Moore Park at 3.30pm
The story of this championship has been Rosenallis and after knocking out Camross and then beating Borris-Kilcotton, they’ll be looking to take another scalp this afternoon.
You’d have got long odds on such a situation after they only scraped a draw in their opening round game against Ballinakill, a side that have since been relegated.
But they’re here and it would appear they have a right good chance. In John Lennon they have one of the best hurlers in Laois, and in Brian Fitzpatrick and Paddy Keating, they’ve a very lively inside forward line.
With John O’Loughlin to anchor the attack and a target for Stephen Kelly’s massive puckouts, they have a new dimension that they didn’t 12 months ago and the three Fennells, Conor Cosgrove, Marcus Redmond and John Maher won’t fear any individual dual in defence.
But Ballacolla as a club have been around this block before and they’ll disappointed at what they view as under-performing seasons in recent years.
Since 2015, though, they’ve enjoyed little luck and have had bad injuries at the wrong time. This year, for the most part, they seem to have avoided that.
Picky Maher is in top form up front and Willie Dunphy, Jordan Walshe and Mark Hennessy all take watching as will Stephen Bergin if he’s back in the mix.
Aidan Corby and Willie Hyland form an excellent midfield partnership and if Hyland isn’t clocking up the same level of scores as he did earlier in his career he’s still one of the best players in the county.
At the back, Darren Maher and Michael McEvoy provide huge experience and aggression and Lee Cleere and Diarmuid Conway are excellent operators too.
Rosenallis won’t fear Ballacolla in any way and will probably use John Maher as a sweeper and target the Ballacolla defence with their all action running game.
But Ballacolla may have too much scoring power and can reach their first final since 2015.
Prediction: Clough-Ballacolla
Laois Shopping Centre IFC Semi-final – Crettyard v Mountmellick
In Stradbally at 5pm
In a bid to get the intermediate football championship wrapped up before the intercounty season got going, Laois GAA have brought forward the semi-final by a week and the final by two weeks.
Crettyard and Mountmellick meet in the pick of the games in Stradbally this season when Crettyard will face their biggest test of the season so far.
After massive wins over Timahoe and Portlaoise in their opening two games, Mountmellick should provide sterner opposition.
A battle worth keeping an eye on is the duel between Crettyard’s free-scoring Evan O’Carroll and his county colleague Gearoid Hanrahan.
Mountmellick will surely also use Mark Dowling or Darren Fitzpatrick in a sweeper role and double up on O’Carroll who could win this game on his own if he got enough ball.
Cormac Murphy has been going well in his new role out the field as Crettyard seek to make an immediate return to the senior grade but Mountmellick have a finely balance side and a forward in Niall Mullen who could clock up a big score too if he was on form.
Crettyard have been easily the most impressive team in the championship so far while Mountmellick have blown hot and cold. But Mountmellick are probably the one side best equipped to beat Crettyard and if they can limit O’Carroll’s influence they could cause what would qualify as a mild shock.
Prediction: Mountmellick
Laois Shopping Centre IFC Semi-final – The Rock v Clonaslee
In Portarlington at 5pm
The Rock could have beaten Clonaslee in Round 2 of this championship only for a brilliant late goal from Niall Corbet.
And they meet again now only three weeks after that game. Clonaslee have been forewarned that The Rock are a much improved outfit this year from the side they beat by more than 20 points in last year’s quarter-final.
The Clonaslee side has evolved somewhat in the last couple of seasons with the likes of Liam Senior, Cian Barrett, Bob Downey, Sean Condon and Jack Owens all introduced into the side as well as Corbet coming back having been playing high-level soccer for a number of years.
Seamus Rosney has been switched from midfield to the goals while Glen McEvoy hasn’t been starting regularly.
The Rock have a good system in place of bringing men back and have a handful forwards – led by Aaron Dowling, Stephen McDonald and Sean O’Neill – that will certainly keep the Clonaslee defence occupied.
Limiting Corbet’s influence will be The Rock’s priority and if they can continue to hold tight defensively, as they have in their three games to date, and be in contention late on, they have a couple of decent subs that can come on and make a difference.
This could be The Rock’s best chance of reaching an intermediate final since they won this grade back in 1996.
Prediction: The Rock
Other games of note down for decision today include the minor hurling semi-finals where Abbeyleix meet Rathdowney-Errill in the LOETB Centre of Excellence while Rosenallis meet defending champions The Harps in Mountrath – both games at 11.30am.
Ballypickas and Park-Ratheniska/Timahoe play in the Laois IHC relegation game in Colt at 12.30pm.
Finally, the Laois junior camogie final takes place in Mountrath at 5pm when Portlaoise seek to make it a double weekend for the club when they take on O’Moore’s second team.
SEE ALSO – See all the LaoisToday hurling coverage here
The post Final places up for grabs in Sunday’s Laois GAA club championship action appeared first on Laois Today.
source https://www.laoistoday.ie/2020/09/27/final-places-up-for-grabs-in-sundays-laois-gaa-club-championship-action/
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