We look ahead to this weeks 4 upcoming Laois Shopping Centre Senior Hurling Championship Round 2 fixtures taking place on Saturday August 5th & Sunday August 6th in Laois Hire O’Moore Park.
Tickets: Reminder that these are ticket only games with a ticket charge of €6-€12 which can be purchased online here: https://www.universe.com/users/laois-gaa
OAP and Season Passes are applicable for admission to these games.
Best of luck to all involved!
All games will take place in Laois Hire O’Moore Park, Portlaoise.
The Round 2 fixtures have a lot at stake and have a big impact on the outcomes of the group stages in both groups.
1st place finishers in Group A & Group B following the conclusion of Round 3, will qualify for an automatic semi final place, being given a bye in the quarter final stages. 2nd and 3rd place finishers in Group A & Group B will head for the quarter finals and 4th place finishers in each group will head for the relegation final.
Current Standings & Permutations:
Group A: with wins in Round 1 for both Rathdowney-Errill and Rosenallis, leaving them both in 1st and 2nd place in the Group A table and on 2 points each, with these teams now facing each other on Saturday means the winner of this Round 2 tie will put themselves in a great position to be nearly guaranteed a top spot finish in the group and as a result automatically earn themselves a semi final spot in the knockout stages, heading into the final group stages of Round 3 next. With defeats in Round 1 for both Clough Ballacolla and The Harps, the loser in the Round 2 tie between these sides on Saturday will be nearly guaranteed to end up in the relegation final.
Group B: with wins in Round 1 for both Camross and Abbeyleix St.Lazarians, leaving them both in 1st and 2nd place in the Group B table and on 2 points each, with these teams now facing each other on Sunday means the winner of this Round 2 tie will put themselves in a great position to be nearly guaranteed a top spot finish in the group and as a result automatically earn themselves a semi final spot in the knockout stages, heading into the final group stages of Round 3 next. With defeats in Round 1 for both Castletown and Borris -Kilcotton the loser in the Round 2 tie between these sides on Sunday will be nearly guaranteed to end up in the relegation final.
Saturday August 5th: Clough-Ballacolla vs The Harps at 5.30pm
Ones to watch: Clough-Ballacolla: Despite defeat in Round 1 to Rathdowney-Errill, Clough-Ballacolla displayed a strong attacking performance. With Stephen Picky Maher scoring 7 points, plus Cormac Hogan & Sean Corby netting a goal each.
The Harps: Ciaran Comerford was the best player for The Harps in their Round 1 defeat to Rosenallis scoring a total of 12 points and he will be expected to be on form again for his side this Saturday.
Previous meeting: Laois SHC Group A Round 3 August 13th 2022 in Laois Hire O’Moore Park.
Clough-Ballacolla: 3-21
The Harps: 2-14
In this high scoring meeting between the sides last time out in the championship, Clough-Ballacolla defeated The Harps by a convincing 10 points.
Scorers for Clough-Ballacolla on the day were Stephen Picky Maher (1-7), Aidan Corby (1-3), Brian Corby (1-2), Cillian Dunne & Padraig Brennan (0-3) each, Ronan Broderick, Robbie Phelan & Willie Dunphy (0-1 each) and for The Harps were: John Brophy (1-8), James Duggan (1-3), Eoghan Clancy (1-0), Richie Saunders, Rian Edwards & Eoghan Doheny (0-1 each)
Saturday August 5th: Rathdowney-Errill vs Rosenallis at 7pm.
Ones to watch: Rathdowney-Errill: Ross King put in a man of the match performance scoring 14 points in total in the Round 1 win over Clough-Ballacolla. Equally as impressive were James Ryan and Dan Bowe who both put in excellent defensive performances.
Rosenallis: David Dooley was brilliant scoring 10 points for Rosenallis in their Round 1 victory over The Harps. The 2 goals from Jimmy Hyland (1-2) and Charlie Friel (1-0) however proved vital in their side getting the win.
Previous meeting: Laois SHC Group B Round 1 July 15th 2022 in Laois Hire O Moore Park
Rathdowney-Errill: 2-25
Rosenallis: 3-13
In this high scoring meeting between the sides last time out in the championship, Rathdowney-Errill defeated Rosenallis by a convincing 10 point win. Despite defeat for Rosenallis on the day, both Brian Fitzpatrick and Fiachra C. Fennell were outstanding. Scorers on the day for Rosenallis were: Brian Fitzpatrick (2-4), John O Loughlin (0-3), Darragh Calally (0-2), Donnchadh Hartnett, Paddy Keating, Diarmud Dooley and Fiachra C. Fennell (0-1 each). Scorers for Rathdowney-Errill were: Dylan Carroll (1-5), Brandon McGinley (0-5), Shane Madden (1-1), James Ryan (0-4), Eric Killeen (0-3), Paddy Purcell, Eoin Bourke and Shane Dollard (0-2) plus Jimmy Corrigan and Thep Fitzpatrick (0-1) each.
Sunday August 6th: Castletown vs Borris-Kilcotton at 1.30pm.
Ones to watch: Castletown: Despite defeat to a strong Camross side in Round 1, key players for Castletown who put in a positive performance were Ciaran McKelvey (0-6), Martin Phelan (1-0) and Dylan Conroy (0-2)
Borris-Kilcotton: In the exciting encounter against Abbeyleix in Round 1 where Borris-Kilcotton were defeated by just 3 points in the end, Neil Foyle was the standout player (1-2) while Aaron Dunphy & Ger Quinlan (0-4) plus Pj Scully (1-0) were also excellent.
Previous meeting: ACHL Div. 1 Round 2 April 23rd 2023 in Castletown GAA.
Borris-Kilcotton: 3-25
Castletown: 0-11
In the league clash between the sides 4 months ago, Borris-Kilcotton defeated Castletown by 23 points. However, the stakes are higher this time round and should be a tighter affair in the championship meeting this Sunday which could determine which side face entry into the quarter finals (the winners on Sunday) and which side could face entry into the relegation final (the losers on Sunday). Key scorers for Castletown in the league meeting were Aaron Gaughan (0-4) and Shane Phelan (0-3). For Borris-Kilcotton were Pj Scully (0-10), Neil Foyle (2-2), Colm Stapleton (0-5) and Noel Delaney (1-1).
Sunday August 6th: Camross vs Abbeyleix St. Lazarians at 3pm.
Ones to watch: Camross: Tomas Mossy Keyes was outstanding for Camross scoring 2-5 and all from play in their brilliant win Round 1 win over Castletown, also two other key players who displayed strong attacking performances were Dan Delaney who scored 9 points in total and Mark Dowling who scored 1-3.
Abbeyleix St.Lazarians: back in the Laois SHC this 2023 season after being crowned the Premier Intermiediate champions in 2022, Abbeyleix proved with their exciting 3 point win over Borris-Kilcotton in Round 1 that they are not shy of goal scoring and can make an impact at senior level and hope that they can prove themselves even further with a good showing on Sunday when they face Div.1 league champions and one of the strongest teams/favourites for the championship this year in Camross.
In the 5 goal thriller win over Borris-Kilcotton in Round 1, after completing a great comeback from initally being 6 points down in the game at one stage, key players for Abbeyleix who helped their side achieve this great win and who were excellent were Aaron Brennan (0-8), Ciaran Byrne (1-1), Colin Byrne & Fionan Mahony (1-0 each) plus goalkeeper Enda Rowland (0-3)
Previous meeting: Laois SHC Round 3 September 23rd 2021 in Laois Hire O Moore Park
Camross: 2-23
Abbeyleix: 1-16
The last time these sides met in a championship clash was almost 2 years ago where Camross defeated Abbeyleix by 10 points. For Camross on the day, Zane Keenan (1-12), Mark Dowling (1-3) and Ciaran Collier (0-3) were relentless in attack and despite defeat for Abbeyleix, players Enda Rowland (1-5) and Aaron Brennan (0-7) also put in great performances.
For Championship updates on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CLGLaois
For further Championship fixtures: https://laoisgaa.ie/fixtures-results/
By Laois PRO Thu 3rd Aug
