Laois Today: ‘Tough playing with no fans’ says Laois hurler Lennon after famous Rosenallis win

In the last week since the partial lockdown was lifted and GAA games got back under way, players right across the county have gotten a taste of what it is like to playing in front of no supporters.

One such man, Rosenallis hurling star John Lennon joined the LaoisToday Talking Sport Podcast to tell us about his experiences of pulling off the greatest hurling shock in many years – but doing so with no fans present.

Lennon was part of the Rosenallis hurling team that knocked Camross out of the championship at the weekend where he first experienced the feeling of playing in front of an empty MW Hire O Moore Park.

Lennon admits that it is tough playing without a crowd and questions the point of it all when you can’t celebrate unbelievable wins like the one they had over the weekend with the people from the community.

He said: “It is nice to be back playing but it is a weird year where you don’t have much time to train and put stuff in the bank before you go out and play big games that will inevitably impact next year too.

“It’s tough playing with no crowds and it would make you wonder sometimes.

“Laois GAA are doing great with the streaming, but why are you playing GAA? You’re playing for the people of where you’re from. It would be certainly nice to share it with them.”

“What you would miss most is when the crowd gets involved when there is a silly hop ball or free and the crowd would rare up and kick up a fuss and then you would get a sudden burst of life.

“We don’t have that anymore, you really have to drive it yourself, you would hope the lads on the bench do plenty of shouting and making noise.”

You can listen to this week’s Talking Sport episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Podbean or below on Soundcloud.