Football: Senior Div.4 League Final Preview and Minor & U20 Leinster Championships Round 1 Recap.

Football: Senior Div.4 League Final Preview and Minor & U20 Leinster Championships Round 1 Recap.

Written by Laois PR Team.

We preview our Senior Footballers: Division 4 League Final Fixture in Croke Park vs Leitrim and also provide a Recap on both of our Minor and U20 Footballers in Leinster Championship Round 1 action.

Senior Preview: Allianz Football League: Division 4 Final of Laois vs Leitrim on Saturday March 30th at 5pm in Croke Park.

After Laois’ fantastic 25 point win over Waterford in Round 7, the Laois Senior Footballers finished 1st place on the Div.4 table. Laois both gained promotion to Division 3 for the 2025 season and a place in Saturday’s Div.4 Final where they will face Leitrim. Leitrim finished 2nd place on the table with their great 6 point win over Tipperary in Round 7. Leitrim also gained promotion to Division 3 for the 2025 season.

The winner of Laois vs Leitrim in the upcoming final, will be awarded the extra incentive of lifting the Div.4 trophy in Croke Park and be crowned Division 4 NFL Champions for 2024.

Tickets can be purchased both online and in person using the following options below

Tickets can be purchased online here:

Saturday March 30th at 5pm: Allianz Football League Div 3 & Div 4 Finals on:  https://www.ticketmaster.ie/gaa-allianz-league-tickets/artist/1571915

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 Senior match scores and updates on our official CLG Laois Twitter account: @CLGLaois

TV: The match will be live on television on TG4.

Radio: The match will be broadcast live on Midlands Radio 103.

Manager Justin McNulty has named the following side to face Leitrim:

One change to the starting 15 from the Waterford game sees Conor Heffernan starting in midfield in place of Kieran Lillis who is now on the bench.

One change to the subs from the Waterford game sees James Kelly return to the bench replacing Dylan Kavanagh.

The Laois team lines out as follows:

Starting 15

1. Killian Roche (Killeshin)
2. Ben Dempsey (Portlaoise)
3. Seamus Lacey (Ballylinan)
4. Jack Lacey (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. Eoin Lowry (Killeshin)
12. Shaun Fitzpatrick (Ballyroan-Abbey)
13. Mark Barry (O’Dempsey’s)
14. Evan O’Carroll (Crettyard)
15. Paul Kingston (Arles Killeen)

Subs: 16. Aaron Cooney, 17. Niall Corbett, 18. Brian Daly, 19. Mikie Dempsey, 20. Niall Dunne.
21. Simon Fingleton, 22. James Kelly. 23. Kieran Lillis. 24. Rioghan Murphy 25. Sean O’Flynn. 26. Daniel O’Reilly

Laois Round 7 Recap: Waterford vs Laois in SETU Arena Waterford on March 24th

Final score:
Laois: 5-19
Waterford: 0-9

Laois scorers: Mark Barry 2-3. Paul Kingston 1-3. Evan O Carroll 1-3. Rioghan Murphy 1-1. Eoin Lowry 0-2. Killian Roche 0-2. Brian Daly 0-2. Niall Dunne 0-1. Conor Heffernan 0-1. Shaun Fitzpatrick 0-1.

Standout players: for Laois. Corner back Jack Lacey was excellent in defence whilst making his NFL debut. Wing back Brian Byrne also excellent, won a great amount of posession for Laois and in attack Rioghan Murphy was electric scoring 1-1 from play. Mark Barry also was nominated for gaa.ie’s Player Of The Week as a result of his brilliant performance vs Waterford.

Laois vs Waterford Round 3 Stats:

The 18pt HT lead was the biggest ever HT league Laois have had in the NFL. It passes the 17pt mark we had vs Wicklow in 1978.

The 5-19 score was Laois’ best ever in the league. It passes the 4-16 we scored against in Wicklow in 1978.

Laois footballers have not conceded a goal in the league for three games in a row. It’s the first time in five years that we have done this and the 19th time in our history.

Laois’ all-time score difference in the NFL is now -185pts.

It has not -185 or better since February 1955, when it was -173 before a 13pt loss to Wicklow.

The last time it was above zero was in December 1935.

Leitrim: sealed their 2nd place table finish and promotion to Div.3 for 2025 alongside their league final spot versus Laois as a result of their excellent 6point win over Tipp in Round 7.
Leitrim also are the only team to defeat Laois this league campaign which makes the upcoming final clash an exciting encounter.

Standout players: Ryan O’Rourke (0-6). Darragh Rooney (0-7). Tom Prior (0-2) and Riordan O Rourke were all brilliant in the win over Tipperary in Round 7 and contributed greatly to the vital win that sealed Leitrim promotion .

Previous meeting of Laois vs Leitrim: Div.4 Round 6 on March 16th in Laois Hire O’Moore Park

Final score:
Laois: 1-13
Leitrim: 0-17

Laois scores: Mark Barry 0-6. Paul Kingston 1-3. Evan O Carroll 0-3. Conor Heffernan 0-1.

Leitrim scores: Ryan O Rourke 0-6. Tom Prior 0-2. Darragh Rooney 0-5. Nevin O’Donnell 0-1. Donal Casey 0-1. Mark Plunkett 0-1. Barry McNulty 0-1.

Standout players for Laois that day: Killian Roche, Evan O’Carroll and Paul Kingston played very well despite defeat.

Standout players for Leitrim that day: Nevin O’Donnell, Ryan O Rourke plus Darren Rooney were outstanding in Leitrim’s 1 point win.

Minor

Minor: Leinster Football Championship Group 1 Round 1.

Laois vs Dublin in LOETB COE on Wednesday March 27th

Result:
Laois: 1-11
Dublin: 5-13.

Laois scores: Ultan Dunne 0-5. Josh Finn 1-0. Darren Brennan 0-2. Eannae Byrne 0-2. Conor O Callaghan 0-1. Callum McElroy 0-1.

Despite defeat to a very strong Dublin side, our Laois Minor Footballers produced a very proud and resilient performance in which they never gave up on the game when they trailed to Dublin and they produced a good fight throughout. Laois came out in the 2nd half and played extremely well, significantly reducing the Dublin threat as they did so. Standout players and biggest positives to take away from the minor footballers perfomance: O’Dempseys Ultan Dunne was outstanding up against a strong Dublin back line and he scored some fantastic points (0-5) Portlaoise’s Josh Finn also rattled the back of the net with a great goal from play and Arles Killeen’s Eannae Byrne also got some lovely scores.

Up next for Minors: all is definitley not lost for Laois regarding qualification from their group as they have 2 more group games to look forward to and get wins out of.

Round 2: home in Laois Hire O’Moore Park at 7.30pm on Wednesday April 3rd to face neighbor’s Offaly.

Round 3: away to Longford on Saturday April 13th at 2pm with venue tbc.

Knockout stage permutations:

If Laois finish 1st: through to semi finals

Finish 2nd: through to quarter finals

Finish 3rd: through to preliminary quarter-final vs team who finishes at 1st place in Group 3.

U20

U20: Leinster Football Championship Group 2 Round 1:
Laois vs Carlow on Tuesday March 26th in LOETB COE.

Result:
Laois: 3-8
Carlow: 0-10

Laois scorers: Jamie O Brien 2-4. Killian Byrne 1-0. Jack Byrne 0-2. Jonah Kelly 0-1. Cillian Maher 0-1.

Well done to our U20 footballers who got their Leinster Championship campaign off to a winning start with their great win over Carlow in Round 1 last Tuesday night. The standout players for Laois were: St.Joseph’s forward Jamie O Brien was unstoppable going forward with a total score of 2-4. Portlaoise goalkeeper Conor Brown was in top form, saving both a penalty and then saved 2 more very good Carlow goal opportunities from play. Ballyroan Abbey midfielder and Laois GAA’s U20 Footballer Of The Year Award Winner for the year 2022, Killian was very lively in the middle of the field and also scored an excellent goal from play.

Up next for U20: Round 2 away to Wexford on Tuesday April 2nd in St.Patricks Park, Enniscorthy at 7.30pm.

Round 3 away to Wicklow on Tuesday April 9th at 7.30pm with a venue TBC.

Knockout stage permutations:

If Laois finish 1st in their group: Play a quarter final vs runner up in Group 3.

Finish 2nd: Play a quarter final vs runner up in Group 1.

Finish 3rd: Play in a Tier 2 competition with other counties from other provinces who also finished 3rd in their groups.