Written by Laois PR Team
After 3 wins from 3 in the league previously, the Laois Senior Footballers seek a 4th win in a row when they travel to Thurles to take on Tipperary on Sunday, February 25th at 2pm in FBD Semple Stadium for the Allianz Football League Division 4 Round 4 fixture.
Tickets can be purchased both online and in person using the following options below and if you cannot attend the game, live match scores and updates will be provided via Twitter.
Tickets can be purchased online here: https://am.ticketmaster.com/gaa/24SS2502
Tickets can be purchased in person via selected participating SuperValu stores: SuperValu Stradbally
Breslin’s SuperValu Rathdowney
McConville’s SuperValu Mountmellick
McLoughlin’s SuperValu Portarlington
Mulhall’s SuperValu Portlaoise
SuperValu Abbeyleix
SuperValu Parkside Portlaoise
Follow live match scores and updates on our official CLG Laois Twitter account: @CLGLaois
Manager Justin McNulty has named the following side to face Tipperary:
It is the same starting 15 from the Carlow game.
There are 2 changes on the bench: Aaron Cooney (sub goalkeeper) replaces Conor Brown (sub goalkeeper) and Padraig Kirwan comes in, in place of Rioghan Murphy.
The Laois team lines out as follows
1. Killian Roche (Killeshin)
2. Ben Dempsey (Portlaoise)
3. Seamus Lacey (Ballylinan)
4. James Kelly (St Joseph’s)
5. Eoin Buggie (Stradbally)
6. Mark Timmons (Graiguecullen)
7. Brian Byrne (Graiguecullen)
8. Conor Heffernan (Killeshin)
9. Damon Larkin (Portlaoise)
10. Kevin Swayne (Portlaoise)
11. Niall Dunne (Courtwood)
12. Shaun Fitzpatrick (Ballyroan-Abbey)
13. Mark Barry (O’Dempsey’s)
14. Evan O’Carroll (Crettyard)
15. Niall Corbet (Clonaslee-St Manman’s)
Subs: 16. Aaron Cooney, 17. Ciaran Burke, 18. Brian Daly, 19. Mikie Dempsey, 20.
Simon Fingleton, 21. Paul Kingston, 22. Padraig Kirwan, 23. Kieran Lillis, 24. Eoin Lowry 25. Sean O’Flynn, 26. Daniel O’Reilly.
Laois Round 3 Recap: Laois vs Carlow in Laois Hire O’Moore Park on February 17th
Final score:
Laois: 2-14
Carlow: 0-9
Laois Scorers: Damon Larkin 1-1, Kevin Swayne 1-0, Killian Roche (2 frees and one 45) and Mark Barry (2 frees) 0-3 each. Niall Dunne and Shaun Fitzpatrick 0-2 each. Brian Daly, Paul Kingston and Brian Byrne (0-1 each).
Carlow were a tough opponent in the 1st half and Laois went into half time, 1 point down. However, in the 2nd half, Laois came out firing and produced a top form and excellent performance to defeat Carlow by 11 points in the end.
There were many standout performers for Laois: Shaun Fitzpatrick’s electric performance was again man of the match worthy for the 2nd week running as he was crucial to keeping Laois in the game in that tough first half spell and Fitzpatrick took back possession for Laois at crucial stages to ensure they stayed in sight of Carlow. Plus his 2 outstanding points scored from play gave Laois the lead in the 2nd half. The all important comeback lead that Laois never lost for the remainder of the game.
Both wing back’s Eoin Buggie and Brian Byrne (0-1) were strong in defense and were key to reducing the Carlow attacking threat which was valuable to the Laois 2nd half comeback, midfielder Damon Larkin (1-1) scored a stunning goal from play to give Laois a controlling 2nd half lead and Niall Dunne though scoring 2 points from play was more importantly everywhere on the pitch, thanks to his great pace.
Laois vs Carlow Round 3 Stats:
On Laois’ 16th NFL clash with Carlow on February 17th , Laois have never lost to Carlow in the league.
Kevin Swayne (Portlaoise) marked his 10th NFL appearance against Carlow scoring a brilliant goal from play.
Mark Barry (O’Dempseys) scored his 75th NFL point against Carlow.
Captain Evan O’Carroll (Crettyard) is in 6th place on the Laois NFL scoring charts on 160 points.
Mark Timmons (Graiguecullen) made a new record of making 5 league appearances with Carlow as the opposition.
Tipperary: Their 2024 league season so far.
Round 1: Tipperary vs Carlow in Semple Stadium on January 27th
Final score:
Tipperary: 1-14
Carlow: 3-10
Round 2: Longford vs Tipperary in Pearse Park on February 4th.
Final score:
Longford: 0-14
Tipperary: 0-16
Round 3: London vs Tipperary in Ruislip on February 18th
Final score:
London: 1-8
Tipperary: 0-11
Tipperary are currently 4th place in the Division 4 table after a significant win over Longford, a draw against London and a defeat to Carlow.
Despite these mixed results for Tipperary, there are positives to be taken from player performances.
In the back lines, both James Morris and Jimmy Feehan have been key in Tipperary’s defense. Both players contributed greatly in the important win over Longford. James Morris provided plenty of pace going forward to quickly transition from defence to attack and assisted in vital Tipperary scores. Jimmy Feehan blocked a Longford goal effort which ended up being one of the games most crucial moments as Tipperary won by just the 2 points in the end.
In attack, Sean O’Connor and Paddy Creedon have been excellent. After the conclusion of Round 3, Sean O’Connor has a huge total score of 21 points. (0-9 vs Carlow, 0-8 vs Longford and 0-4 vs London). Paddy Creedon has scored a total of 1-3 from play. (1-1 vs Carlow and 0-2 vs Longford).
Previous meeting of Laois vs Tipperary:
Allianz Football League Division 3 on February 25th 2017 in Laois Hire O’Moore Park.
Final Score:
Laois: 1-10
Tipperary: 1-16
