We look ahead to this weeks 8 upcoming Laois Shopping Centre Senior Football Championship Round 1 Fixtures, taking place from Wednesday July 26th – Saturday July 29th.
Tickets: Reminder that these are ticket only games with a ticket charge of €5-€10 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!
Note: Ballyroan-Abbey vs Park-Ratheniska on Friday July 28th at 7.30pm will be held in Stradbally GAA and Arles-Killeen vs Clonaslee St. Manman’s on Saturday July 29th at 6pm will be held in Park-Ratheniska GAA.
All other senior games will take place in Laois Hire O’Moore Park.
Wednesday July 29th:
O’Dempseys vs Graiguecullen at 7.45pm in Laois Hire O’Moore Park.
Previous meetings:
Laois SFC Round 2 Winners Section. 11th August 2019 in Laois Hire O’Moore Park.
O’Dempseys: 0-13
Graiguecullen: 0-10
O’Dempseys got a hard fought win over Graiguecullen in this meeting that sent them through to the SFC 2019 quarter-final stages as a result. O’Dempseys had to overcome a 4-point deficit in the 1st half. O’Dempseys Mark Barry and Matthew ‘Hatch’ Finlay’s scores of 3-points each proved vital in their sides win while Graiguecullen’s Jamie Parr (0-3) and Ross Alcock’s (0-2) scores kept their side in the game for long periods. O’Dempseys Matthew ‘Hatch’ Finlay was the top scorer of last years 2022 Laois SFC campaign with a total tally of 1-32, which helped his side to become finalists and runners-up.
Thursday July 27th:
Portlaoise vs St.Josephs at 7.45pm in Laois Hire O’Moore Park.
Previous meetings:
Laois SFC Round 3. October 3rd 2021 in Laois Hire O’Moore Park.
Portlaoise: 1-12
St.Josephs: 2-7
The meeting that resulted in a 2-point for Portlaoise, that seen them advance to 2021’s quarter-final stages as a result. St.Josephs were 3-points up at half time and then 2-points up at various stages in the 2nd half. However, Portlaoise’s Paul Cahillane (0-5) and Damon Larkin’s (1-2) excellent performances created the strong 2nd half comeback required for the Portlaoise win. St.Josephs standout players on the day were Brian Daly (1-1) and Michael Keogh (1-1)
Friday July 29th:
Portarlington vs Ballyfin at 7.30pm in Laois Hire O’Moore Park.
Portarlington’s title defence and quest for four in a row begins on Friday night when they take on Ballyfin and the last time these 2 sides met in the senior championship, also a Round 1 Fixture, provided a thrilling contest.
Previous meeting:
Laois SFC Round 1. September 4th 2021 in Laois Hire O’Moore Park.
Portarlington: 1-12
Ballyfin: 0-12
Ballyfin were relentless and took the lead on 3 seperate occasions in the 1st half. Ballyfin’s James Finn then came really close to scoring a goal in the 2nd half but failed to convert before Portarlington took this opportunity to fight on and take the win which was lead by the brilliant performances of Portlarlingtons Jake Foster (0-6) and Adam Ryan (1-2). However, Ballyfin’s Sean Moore’s great display of scoring 9 points for his side is what made the challenge difficult throughout for Portarlington right up until the final 10 minutes of the game. Ballyfin’s Sean Moore was also the 2nd placed top scorer in Laois SFC 2022 with a total of 3-18.
Friday July 29th:
Ballyroan-Abbey vs Park-Ratheniska at 7.30pm in Stradbally GAA.
Last years 2022 Laois SFC Campaign saw the return of Park-Ratheniska to the Senior Championship for the 1st time in 25 years. It was in the Round 2 fixture vs Killeshin, where Park-Ratheniska recorded their first senior championship win in 25 years, defeating Killeshin by 5-points. Park-Ratheniska proved their capability of competing at senior championship level again by both avoiding relegation and producing a great effort and performance against eventual finalists and runners-up O’Dempseys in Round 3. Park-Ratheniska were in firing form scoring 3 goals with Kieran Delaney, Simon Fingleton and Mark G Delaney providing 1 goal each.
Final score on the day was
O’Dempseys: 3-16
Park-Ratheniska: 3-7
However, in 2023’s upcoming Round 1 fixture, Park-Ratheniska face a tough test against a strong Ballyroan-Abbey side. In the 2022 Laois SFC campaign, Ballyroan-Abbey’s Padraig McMahon scored a total of 4-7, resulting in him being the 2022 Laois SFC top scorer from play and helping Ballyroan-Abbey to advance to the quarter finals where they put in a fantastic performance and losing out in the end by only 1-point to champions Portarlington.
Saturday July 29th:
Emo vs Rosenallis at 4.30pm in Laois Hire O’Moore Park
Previous meeting:
Laois SFC Round 3 October 2nd 2021 in Laois Hire O’Moore Park
Emo: 3-5
Rosenallis: 0-9
Emo defeated Rosenallis by 5 points the last time these sides met in the championship. Key scorers on that day for Emo were Padraig Kirwan (1-1) Paddy Hosey (1-2) and Jack Owen’s (1-0) whilst for Rosenallis were Eoin Dunne (0-5) and Charlie Friel (0-2)
Saturday July 29th:
Arles Killeen vs Clonaslee St. Manman’s at 6pm in Ratheniska GAA
Previous meeting:
Laois SFC relegation semi final August 26th 2018 in Laois Hire O’Moore Park
Arles Killeen: 2-15
Clonsaslee: 1-8
Arles Killeen were convincing winners the last time these sides clashed in a relegation semi final 5 years ago, defeating Clonaslee St.Manman’s by 10 points. Key scorers on the day for Arles Killeen whom ran riot on the Clonsaslee defence were Donie Kingston (1-3) Donie Brennan (1-5) & Paul Kingston (0-2) whilst Clonaslee despite defeat, showed positives in their performance through the great scores by Conor Gorman (2-0) Glen McEvoy and Killian Horgan (0-2 each). Arles Killeens Paul Kingston also scored a total of 2-20 in last years Laois SFC 2022 campaign.
Saturday July 29th
Stradbally vs Courtwood at 6pm in Laois Hire O’Moore Park
Courtwood has an excellent Championship run last year reaching the semi final stages. Hoping to achieve similar and better this year, they come into this years Championship on the back of their Div.2 title win in 2023’s league.
Stradbally are looking to improve on their Championship form in recent years and hope to reach the knock out stages again for the first time in 5 years, when they last advanced to the quarter finals in 2018. Stradbally had a positive 2023 league campaign in Div.1. They maintained their Div.1 status for 2024 and key players for both sides this championship campaign will be Stradballys Cillian Maher, Jody Dillon & Gary Comerford. Plus Courtwoods Sean O’Flynn, Alan Kinsella & Niall Donoher (who was in top form for their Div.2 title league winning campaign recently)
Saturday July 29th
The Heath vs Killeshin at 7.30pm in Laois Hire O’Moore Park
The Heath face Killeshin in their 1st year back in the Senior Championship since 2021. The championship meeting between the sides in 2017 was very competitive and an excellent watch for both fans and neutrals. Only a last gap Evan Lowry point which proved match winning for Killeshin was as all that could seperate the 2. Key scorers for The Heath on the day were Andrew Booth (1-1) Eoin Delaney (0-3) and Chris Bergin (0-2) whilst on form for Killeshin were David Aston (0-5) Stephen Atride (1-0) Cathal Brennan (0-3) and Evan Lowry (0-2)
Full time score on the day
The Heath: 1-11
Killeshin: 1-12
For further Championship fixtures: https://laoisgaa.ie/fixtures-results/
For Championship updates on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CLGLaois
By Laois PRO Tue 25th Jul
