We look ahead to this weeks 8 upcoming Laois Shopping Centre Senior Football Championship Round 2 Fixtures, taking place from Thursday August 10th – Sunday August 13th. There are 4 fixtures in the Winners Round and 4 fixtures in the Qualifiers Round.
Tickets: Reminder that these are ticket only games with a ticket charge of €6-€12 which can be purchased online here: CLICK HERE
OAP and Season Passes are applicable for admission to these games.
Follow live Senior Championship match updates on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CLGLaois
For all Club fixtures: https://laoisgaa.ie/fixtures-results/
Best of luck to all involved!
Note: Ballyfin vs Clonsaslee St.Manmans (SFC Qualifer Round 2) on Thursday August 10th at 7.30pm will be held in McCann Park, Portarlington whilst
all other senior games will take place in Laois Hire O’Moore Park.
Winners Section Round 2 Permutations: The winners of the following fixtures in the upcoming Winners Section Round 2, will automatically qualify for the SFC quarter final stages. The losers of these Winners Section fixtures, will head into Round 3 where they will be drawn to play against winners from the Qualifiers Section Round 2.
Winners Section Round 2:
Arles Killeen vs Killeshin
Portarlington vs Stradbally
Emo vs O’Dempseys
Ballyroan Abbey vs St.Josephs
Qualifiers Round 2 Permutations: The winners of the following upcoming Qualifers Section Round 2 fixtures will qualify for SFC Round 3, where they will be drawn to play against losers from the Winners Section Round 2 fixtures above. The losers of these Qualifers Section Round 2 fixtures, will head into the new Senior ‘B’ Championship quarter finals where they will be drawn to play against losers from the Round 3 Fixtures. The winners of Round 3 fixtures qualify for the SFC quarter finals.
Qualifers Section Round 2:
Park Ratheniska vs Courtwood
Ballyfin vs Clonaslee St. Manman’s
Portlaoise vs Rosenallis
Graiguecullen vs The Heath
New Senior Football ‘B’ Championship Explained: Any team that fails to reach the SFC quarter finals will now go into the ‘B’ quarter finals, as opposed to heading straight for the relegation semi finals as seen in previous years. Only when teams lose in the ‘B’ quarter final fixtures first, then they will head for the relegation semi finals.
The new Senior Football ‘B’ competition, introduced for the first time in 2023 will be played alongside the Senior Championship and a ‘B’ trophy will be handed out to the winners following the conclusion of the final in the ‘B’ competition. The same format will also apply for the 2023 Intermediate Football Championship which will have an IFC ‘B’ Championship alongside its IFC Championship.
Winners Section Previews:
Friday August 11th: Arles Killeen vs Killeshin at 7.30pm in Laois Hire O Moore Park.
Ones to watch: Arles Killeen: Paul Kingston (0-6) and Colin Dunne (0-4) were the standout players who were instrumental in their sides 7 point Round 1 win over Clonsaslee St.Manmans.
Killeshin: Evan Lowry (0-6) and Ciaran Fitzgerald (1-1) excellent performances were vital in getting their side over the line in their hard fought Round 1 win over newly promoted The Heath.
Previous meeting: Laois SFC Relegation Semi Final August 19th 2022 in Laois Hire O Moore Park.
Arles Killeen: 1-10
Killeshin: 0-12
Saturday August 12th: Portarlington vs Stradbally at 7pm in Laois Hire O Moore Park.
Ones to watch: Portarlington: Colm Murphy (1-3) and Rioghan Murphy (0-4) provided the top scores which were key to Portarlington getting their title defence and 4 in a row quest off to a winning start. Paddy O Sullivan introduced as a substitute in the 2nd half, though not yet at full fitness after recovering from injury, still gave a great individual performance.
Stradbally: displayed great attacking strength in their 7 point Round 1 win over Courtwood in Round 1. Darragh Corallan (1-2), Colm Begley (0-3) and Ciaran O Neil (1-0) scores were key for the win. The introductions of substitutes Jody Dillon (0-2) and Garry Comerford (0-1) made a significant impact.
Previous meeting: Laois SFC Q/F October 16th 2021 in Laois Hire O Moore Park.
Portarlington: 0-16
Stradbally: 0-8
Sunday August 13th: Emo vs O’Dempseys at 3.30pm in Laois Hire O’Moore Park.
Ones to watch: Emo: fired 4 goals into the net in their 1st round win over Rosenallis. Darren Strong (1-3), Davy Costello (0-3), Nigel Murphy (1-1), Jack Owen’s (1-0), Padraig Kirwan (1-0) and Niall Gorman (0-1) were the notable scorers and all excellent on the day.
O’Dempseys: Mark Barry (1-5) and Eoin Finlay (0-3) were excellent in their sides Round 1 win over Graiguecullen. Dan Punch must be mentioned also for his unbelievable point from play from a difficult angle.
Previous meeting: Laois SFC Round 1 September 3rd 2021 in Laois Hire O’Moore Park.
O’Dempseys: 2-18
Emo: 0-14
Sunday August 13th: Ballyroan Abbey vs St.Josephs at 5pm in Laois Hire O Moore Park.
Ones to watch: Ballyroan: proved they are rightfully one of the favourites for this years SFC title after their stunning performance in the Round 1 win. An outstanding individual performance by Ballyroans Brian Whelan (0-9) helped his side overcome a 4 point deficit and go on to win the game by 4 points. Whelan scored stunning points and equally as brilliant for Ballyroan was Shaun Fitzpatrick (1-2)
St.Josephs: are on a high heading into Round 2 versus Ballyroan after overcoming Portlaoise in Round 1, defeating them for the 1st time in the championship in 20 years. Key players on the day were Brian Daly (0-2) who significantly got the score that gave his side the lead in the 60 minute. Also excellent were Eoghan O Flaherty (0-4), Mick Keogh (0-2) and Josh O Brien (0-2).
Previous meeting:
Laois SFC Winners Section August 6th 2022 in Laois Hire O Moore Park.
St.Josephs: 2-10
Ballyroan: 2-8
Qualifers Section Previews:
Thursday August 10th: Park Ratheniska vs Courtwood at 7.30pm in Laois Hire O Moore Park.
Ones to watch: Park Ratheniska: James Connolly (0-5) and Simon Fingleton (1-1) were in top form in their Round 1 defeat to Ballyroan. Park Ratheniska deservedly stayed right in the contest and were competitive until the final 10 minutes of the game. John Sugrues side proved they are a strong outfit, tough to overcome and not to be underestimated going forward in this years championship.
Courtwood: Niall Donoher had a great game in Round 1 against Stradbally, Alan Kinsella was also in firing form scoring 1-1 and Niall Dunne (0-2) too showed attacking strength to help their side put up a good fight against Stradbally where the two sides could not be seperated until there was just 10 minutes to go in the game. Goalkeeper Matthew Byron also made some magnificent saves.
Previous meeting:
Laois SFC Round 1 July 24th 2022 in Laois Hire O Moore Park.
Courtwood: 2-11
Park Ratheniska: 0-10
Thursday August 10th: Ballyfin vs Clonaslee St. Manmans at 7.30pm in McCann Park, Portarlington.
Ones to watch: Ballyfin: Sean Moore was the key player in their Round 1 defeat to champions Portarlington where they gave an impressive display despite being defeated by 4 points, James Finn also impressed scoring a stunning point from play from long distance.
Clonaslee: Cathal Lee (0-2) was the sides best player both on and off the ball in their Round 1 defeat to Arles Killeen and will be a positive going forward for Clonaslee in the championship.
Saturday August 12th: Portlaoise vs Rosenallis at 5.30pm in Laois Hire O Moore Park.
Ones to watch: Portlaoise: Kieran Lillis (0-3) against St. Joseph’s proved he still is one of Portlaoise’s most dangerous attacking threats playing from midfield. Benny Carroll also displayed great movement and pace around the pitch while Conor Ragget in defence impressed on his senior debut. Portlaoise could welcome back some of their more experienced players who were on the injured list for the St.Josephs game.
Rosenallis: Despite heavy defeat in Round 1 to Emo and facing a tough task against Portlaoise next, the positives to be focused on for Rosenallis are the good performances from Brian Fitzpatrick who found the net against Emo, Charlie Friel (0-1) and Jimmy Hyland (0-1). Fiachra C Fennell made some fine runs and the introductions of substitutes Jimmy Hyland and Colm Poole in the 2nd half, added some great pace and passes in play to the Rosenallis performance.
Sunday August 13th: Graiguecullen vs The Heath at 1.45pm in Laois Hire O Moore Park.
Ones to watch: Graiguecullen: Ben Dorgan created a great goal chance but only a brilliant save by O’Dempseys goalkeeper Podge Bannon denying him scoring in their Round 1 defeat to O’Dempseys. Also excellent on that day were: Lee Walker (0-5) Jack Byrne (0-1) and defender Kieran Lawler smashed a fantastic goal rattling the net.
The Heath: as a newly promoted senior side, gave a very spirited and performance against Killeshin in Round 1 and showed excellent attacking prowress in a game that was an entertaining and end to end contest. Evin Keane (0-6) Robbie Dowling and Conor Booth (1-0 each) helped prove their sides senior status.
Previous meeting:
Laois SFC Round 1 September 4th 2021 in Laois Hire O Moore Park
Graiguecullen: 1-14
The Heath: 1-10
