National Hurling League Division 2 Round 6 Preview: Laois v Meath.

Photo credit: Oonagh Maher

All is going to plan so far as Laois head into Round 6 of the Allianz Hurling League Division 2 campaign where they intended to be: top of the table after an unbeaten run so far with 4 wins from 4: wins over Mayo, Derry, Kerry and Westmeath.

Following the great 9 point away win to Westmeath in Round 5, attention now turns to a vital home clash with Meath tomorrow Sunday March 8th at 2pm in Laois Hire O’Moore Park.

Why Round 6 Matters for Laois

Round 6 offers Laois with a win, the chance to stay in cruise control of gaining promotion to Division 1B in 2027, alongside gaining a possible home Division 2 2026 Final: if Laois can finish in top spot in the group, they will get a home final vs the 2nd placed team.

All is still to play for. The game is also very important to Meath who are still in the hunt for promotion too, at the moment, in 2nd place only 1 point behind Laois in the Division 2 table.

Division 2 Table:

Team	P	+/-	Pts
1. Laois	4	49	8
2. Meath	4	14	6
3. Kerry	4	37	5
4. Westmeath	4	5	5
5. London	5	-31	3
6. Derry	5	-29	2
7. Mayo	4	-45	1

Ticket Information

Supporters can purchase tickets online here:
Buy Laois v Westmeath Tickets Online

Tickets are also available in person at selected SuperValu stores in Laois:

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 updates and scores on the official CLG Laois X (formerly Twitter) account: @CLGLaois and our official Facebook page.

Laois Team News

Laois team named to face Meath:

Key Player Stats – Laois (Courtesy of Eoin Culliton: @LeixGaelicStats on Twitter)

In Round 5 v Westmeath:

Jordan Walshe made his 15th League & Championship appearance plus his 20th overall appearance.

Ciaran McEvoy made his 15th NHL, his 25th L&C and his 30th overall apps.

30th NHL appearance for Aidan Corby.

90th L&C app for Ryan Mullaney and 30th overall app for Ian Shanahan.

Mossy Keyes was the 6th Laois player to score 15+ points in a single league game. Two have 16 and one player (PJ Scully) has 17.

Mossy also scored his fifth NHL goal ever.

It was the first time since 2009 for Laois to be level with Westmeath at HT in a league match.

The ref from the Westmeath game was the first Eamon(n) to ref a Laois NHL game in 14 years.

Most NHL wins for a Laois hurler:

41 – PJ Cuddy & Joe Dollard

37 – Maggie Walsh & Christy Jones

35 – Bill Maher & John Taylor

33 – Matthew Whelan

32 – Martin Cuddy & John Bohane

31 – Mick Mahon

28 – Pat Critchley, Tommy Fitzgerald, Joe Fitzpatrick & Willie Hyland

Laois hurlers are 142 points away from 19,000 total points (for & against) in the NHL.

They are 165 points away total match points in league & championship.

Round 5 Recap: Laois v Westmeath

Final Score:

Laois: 1.23
Westmeath: 0.17

Standout Laois Performances:

Photo credit: Oonagh Maher

Mossy Keyes was in top form with a brilliant attacking performance at left corner forward and got a total score of 1-12, 1-5 from play.

He scored a goal from play and could have scored 2. He had another great goal chance denied only by an excellent save from the Westmeath keeper Sean Jackson.

He was on free taking duty in the absence of Aaron Dunphy and done very well here too, with a total score from frees of 0-7. Keyes was a key distributor also: directly set up 3 of his teammates scores.

Podge Delaney was very strong defensively at centre back. He scored an excellent point from a free and won a mountain of long ball throughout. Before then pucking these balls long and straight back into the Laois attack: to directly set up attacking opportunities after defensive clearances.

Photo credit: Oonagh Maher

An effective positional change was the switch of Ryan Mullaney from the half back line to the half forward line. Mullaney worked really hard in the half forward line displaying both physical strength and real attacking intent: and scored a point from play.

Photo credit: Oonagh Maher

The return of Picky Maher from injury was a big boost to Laois: he came on as a substitute in the 59th minute and instantly impressed, scoring 2 points from play in the final 10 minutes of the game.