All you need to know as the Laois senior hurlers and minor footballers begin their championship campaigns

Two Laois county teams begin their 2021 championships today.

The Laois minor footballers are up first against Wexford in O’Moore Park and then the hurlers will take on the same opponents in Kilkenny.

Below, we will give you all the information you need for both games:

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Laois v Wexford
Leinster Minor Football Championship Round 1 

When, where, what time?

The game throws in at 2pm in O’Moore Park in Portlaoise. Only 200 spectators are permitted but tickets are not on sale as they have been allocated to each team.

Team news

This is a very new look minor team with just two players featuring from the team that lost the Leinster semi final to Meath last year. 

Captain Darragh Slevin started that game in Navan while Portlaoise’s Kieran O’Donnell came off the bench as a sub.

Centre back Jack Byrne made an appearance in one of the early rounds last year but the remaining 12 players and all of the nine named on the bench will be in line for their debuts.

The last time this particular group of players played together was in August 2019 in the Adam Mangan U-15 final against Kerry. 

11 of the players who played that day – Darragh Slevin, Fergus Langton, Ciaran Culleton, Ryan Quinlan, Seán Brennan, Cormac Murphy, Jack Byrne, Conor Fitzpatrick, Kieran O’Donnell, Cathal Lee and Aaron Dorgan – are in contention to do so again today.

LAOIS: Conor Brown (Portlaoise); Ryan Quinlan (Spink), Killian Byrne (Ballyroan-Abbey), Ciaran Culleton (Ballyfin); Darragh Slevin (Portarlington), Jack Byrne (Graiguecullen), Aaron Dorgan (Graiguecullen); Sean Brennan (St Joseph’s), Aodhan Lowry (Arles-Kilcruise); Davy Costello (Emo), Kieran O’Donnell (Portlaoise), Cormac Murphy (St Joseph’s); Darren Mullhall (Ballyroan-Abbey), Cathal Lee (Clonaslee), Jesse Mc Evoy (Ballylinan)

Subs: Oisin Ramsbttom (Timahoe), Joshua Deveraux (Barrowhouse), Conor Harte (Graiguecullen), Conor Fitzpatrick (Timahoe), John O’Shea (Graiguecullen), Daniel McGrath (Killeshin), Patrick Whelan (Ballyroan-Abbey), Cale Brennan (St Joseph’s), Fergus Langton (Barrowhouse)

Here is a very interesting interview with Wexford manager Alan Molloy. 

WEXFORD: Eoin Blanchfield; Ruairi Martin, Conor Kelly, Dylan Cooke-Leonard; James Doyle, Cathal Murphy, Andrew Smith; Sean Hughes, Eoghan Whelan; Cian Hughes, Darby Purcell, Michael McGonigle; Ben Rossiter, Kyle Rankin, Daniel Bolger

How does the competition work this year?

The minor championship has been restructured this year in order to allow for the completion of the 2020 competition.

Meath and Offaly are both in this so the loser of that game will receive a bye into the quarter finals.

There, they will be joined by Dublin (who also received a bye) and the four winners of the Round 1 games – Laois v Wexford, Carlow v Wicklow, Kildare v Longford and Louth v Westmeath.

The winner of the 2020 Leinster final will receive a bye into the semi finals where they will be joined by the three quarter final winners.

There is no backdoor this year – so Laois will have to win on Saturday in order to progress.

Who’s the referee?

The man in the middle for this game is Stephen Fagan from Wicklow. By our reckoning, this will be his first time officiating a Laois team.

Where can I follow the action?

We will be providing minute-by-minute updates on our Live Blog and the game will be available to watch on Laois TV.

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Laois v Wexford
Leinster Senior Hurling Championship Quarter Final 

When, where, what time?

The game throws in at 6pm in Kilkenny’s home venue – Nowlan Park. Only 200 spectators are permitted but tickets are not on sale as they have been allocated to each team.

Team news

Neither Davy Fitzgerald or Seamas Cheddar Plunkett have named their starting teams yet.

How does the championship work?

Unlike the football, there is a backdoor system in senior hurling once again this year.

If Laois win this game, they will progress to face Kilkenny in the Leinster semi final next weekend.

If they lose, they go into a Preliminary All-Ireland Qualifier against the losers of the Dublin/Antrim game in two weeks’ time.

This match also doubles as a relegation game as whoever is defeated will be demoted to Joe McDonagh for 2022.

The winner of that game will then go into Round 1 of Qualifiers against one of the losing Munster sides.

How have Wexford got on this year?

Wexford’s league form was decent. They drew with Antrim and lost to Kilkenny but won all their other games to finish second in Group B.

That included a massive 4-17 to 0-10 win over Laois in Round 1.

What’s Laois’s record like against them?

Not wonderful. In 35 games in all competitions over the years, Laois have only won five of them. You have to go back to 1999 for Laois’s last win over Wexford – a 2-10 to 0-9 league win in Rathdowney.

Since then the sides have met 14 times with Wexford winning 13 of them and the other ending a draw.

In the championship, the 1985 win over Wexford in the last time we tasted success.

What are the odds?

Wexford are the hottest of 1/16 favourites with Laois 9/1 and the draw at 20/1. The handicap is ten points.

Where can I follow the action?

We will be providing minute-by-minute updates on our Live Blog and the game will be available to watch on GAA GO.

SEE ALSO – ‘Disgusting’ incidents of dog fouling on graves in Laois cemetery highlighted

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source https://www.laoistoday.ie/2021/06/26/all-you-need-to-know-as-the-laois-senior-hurlers-and-minor-footballers-begin-their-championship-campaigns/