There was plenty of GAA action on Saturday to talk about with Ballyfin booking a Laois SFC semi-final place following an 0-11 to 0-9 win over The Heath. while Clonaslee were 1-13 to 1-10 winners over Crettyard in the intermediate final.
There was also Junior ‘A’ quarter-finals and Junior ‘B’ and ‘C’ semi-finals down for decision. We look at some of the main talking points from a busy day.
1 – Moore is magic
The last two teams who have come up against Ballyfin have tried different ways to try limit the influence of Sean Moore – and neither were successful.
Ballyroan-Abbey put in a sweeper against him and he scored seven points while The Heath left him one-on-one with Alan Whelan and he kicked eight.
His movement is something that any young aspiring forward should study and he looks to have bulked up a bit but his most impressive aspect is his footballing brain. A really talented footballer.
The win sends Ballyfin into their second successive senior semi-final and for a club that are only senior since 2015 and had never been even in a quarter-final prior to last year, it’s some achievement. They’ll be keen to go at least one step further this year.
2 – Tactical nous gains intermediate win for Clonaslee
Clonaslee won the Laois intermediate football final thanks to a 1-13 to 1-10 win over Crettyard – and their tactical approach made a big difference.
Crettyard’s Evan O’Carroll scored 2-10, 1-6 and 2-10 in the three games prior to the IFC final yesterday. So, if Clonaslee were going to win, they were going to have to stop him.
Straight from the throw in, they put Will Young on him and Jack Owens back in front of him as a sweeper. In the second half, John Rigney assumed the role of a sweeper.
O’Carroll still ended the game with five points but Clonaslee kept him away from their goal and rarely allowed him to be one-on-one with any defender. On the two occasions that he did near the end of the game, black cards followed for the aforementioned Owens and Young.
Having breezed through the championship with an average winning margin of 14 points and having scored 3-15, 6-12 and 3-14 in their three games prior to the final, Crettyard got nowhere near the same level of freedom on this occasion.
And after going behind early on, they could never get back on level terms, with Clonaslee having an answer on each occasion they came close in the second half.
3 – Should Crettyard have had a penalty?
Crettyard were frustrated in the closing stages by the fouling on Evan O’Carroll which yielded two black cards but they could well have had a penalty when he was fouled deep in injury time.
It was borderline but referee Clifford Ward deemed that the foul was outside the square and only awarded a free and not a penalty. A goal from a penalty would have brought the game to extra time – where both teams would have been back to 15.
3 – Could Corbet do a job for Laois outfield?
The answer most definitely is yes. The man of the match finished the final of the IFC with 1-6 and his all around contribution was excellent.
He spent periods of the second half deep inside his own half where at one stage he actually turned over inter-county colleague Evan O’Carroll.
When he last played for Laois in March, Corbet was in goals but his display may give Laois manager Mike Quirke some food for thought.
4 – Can Clonaslee compete at senior level?
When Clonaslee were last senior in 2018, they were part of a bizarre amalgamation that saw them form a gaels with Annanough.
The team that was relegated two years ago only contains Jack Owens, Diarmuid Conroy, Willie Murray, Willie Young, Michael Hyland and John Rigney from what started yesterday.
As well as the aforementioned Niall Corbet, Clonaslee have added an immense amount of youth into their side in the last two years.
Sean Condon, Barry Kelly, Liam Senior, Oisin Murray, Jack Owens, DJ Callaghan, Cian Barrett, Daire Hogan, Bob Downey, Ryan Kilroe and Ciaran Fitzgerald are all under the age of 21 and the majority of them featured on Saturday. They young and upwardly mobile are far better set up to compete at the top table in 2021 than in their last appearance.
5 – History for Clonaslee
Clonaslee’s win is a record sixth Laois IFC triumph which puts them top of the roll of honour on their own.
They had previously tasted success in this grade in 1981, 1998, 2002, 2009 and 2015 and had been level with Annanough and Ballylinan with five wins each.
The other piece of history is that their captain in 1981 for their first win was Patsy Rigney, whose son John lifted the trophy yesterday.
6 – Can Crettyard come back?
When Crettyard won the intermediate title back in 2005, they had endured a frustrating spell in their first year in 2004 when they didn’t even reach the final.
They will be looking to learn from this year’s experience – but with Arles-Kilcruise relegated from senior, it’s highly likely that the two neighbours will meet in a big championship clash next season.
7 – Park-Ratheniska and Portlaoise progress to Junior ‘A’ semi-finals
There was two entertaining JFC ‘A’ games on Saturday afternoon also with perennial favourites Park-Ratheniska making the most of a good start to beat Kilcavan 3-8 to 1-11 while Portlaoise forced extra time against Barrowhouse before eventually winning 2-13 to 1-10.
The other two quarter-finals are down for decision today when St Joseph’s host Ballyroan-Abbey and The Heath are at home to Castletown.
8 – Final pairings confirmed in Junior ‘B’ and Junior ‘C’
There was semi-final action in the Junior ‘B’ and Junior ‘C’ championships.
In the Junior ‘B’ grade, three of the semi-finalists had come down from Junior ‘A’ last year and two of them – Graiguecullen and Stradbally – met in one of the semi-finals in Annanough. But Graiguecullen, who were also Junior ‘C’ champions last year, were comfortable 1-14 to 0-3 winners.
Spink, who also dropped down a grade this year, were 1-14 to 0-11 winners over Rosenallis in the other semi-final. It was Rosenallis’s third game in six days having won play-off games against Slieve Bloom on Monday and Emo on Wednesday.
In the Junior ‘C’, last year’s beaten finalists Colt were much too strong for Borris-in-Ossory while Kilcotton had a narrow win over O’Dempsey’s.
SEE ALSO – Senior and junior semi-final places up for grabs in Sunday’s Laois GAA action
The post Eight Talking Points following Saturday’s Laois GAA action appeared first on Laois Today.
source https://www.laoistoday.ie/2020/10/04/eight-talking-points-following-saturdays-laois-gaa-action/
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