Written by Laois PR Team
The Laois Senior Hurlers seek a 3rd win in 4 games, when they travel to Navan to take on Meath on Sunday March 10th at 2pm in Pairc Tailteann for the Allianz Hurling League: Division 2A: Round 4 Fixture.
Despite defeat to Carlow in Round 3, Laois’ league campaign is currently still in great shape because of their 2 wins out of 3, the previous wins over both Down and Kildare.
The Top 3 in the Division 2A league table standings ahead of Laois’ clash with Meath is: Carlow are in 1st place on 6 points, Laois are in 2nd place on 4 points and Down are in 3rd place on 3 points. So Laois still have it all to play for going forward in these final 2 rounds.
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/24TP1003
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 Willie Maher has named the following side to face Meath:
Changes to the starting 15 from the Carlow game:
Ryan Mullaney was no. 7 against Carlow and he is now no. 5 against Meath as he replaces Gearoid Lynch.
Tom Cuddy wears the no. 7 jersey now against Meath after he was no. 8 against Carlow.
Aidan Corby now starts at no. 8 against Meath.
Tomas Keyes replaces Mark Dowling at no. 15 against Meath.
Changes to the subs bench from the Carlow game:
Eric Killeen and Padraic Lawlor come into the bench, in place of Aidan Corby and Tomas Keyes who are in the starting 15.
The Laois team lines out as follows:
1. Enda Rowland (Abbeyleix St. Lazarians)
2. Ian Shanahan (Ballinakill)
3. Liam O’Connell (Rathdowney-Errill)
4. Diarmaid Conway (Clough-Ballacolla)
5. Ryan Mullaney (Castletown)
6. Padraig Delaney (The Harps)
7. Tom Cuddy (Camross)
8. Aidan Corby (Clough-Ballacolla)
9. Paddy Purcell (Rathdowney-Errill)
10. Martin Phelan (Castletown)
11. Picky Maher (Clough-Ballacolla)
12. David Dooley (Rosenallis)
13. Jer Quinlan (Borris in Ossory-Kilcotton)
14. Aaron Dunphy (Borris in Ossory-Kilcotton)
15. Tomas Keyes (Camross)
Subs: 16. Cathal Dunne. 17. Fiachra C Fennell. 18. Cody Comerford. 19. Willie Dunphy. 20. James Duggan. 21. Stephen Bergin. 22. Lee Cleere. 23. Eric Killeen. 24. John Lennon. 25. Padraic Dunne. 26. Padraic Lawlor.
Laois Round 3 Recap: Laois vs Carlow in Laois Hire O’Moore Park on February 24th.
Final score:
Laois: 0-21
Carlow: 1-23
Laois scorers: Picky Maher 0-8 (7 frees and one 65), Paddy Purcell 0-4, David Dooley 0-2, Enda Rowland 0-2 (frees), Tom Cuddy, Martin Phelan, Jer Quinlan, Aaron Dunphy and Aidan Corby 0-1 each.
Carlow proved to be the toughest opponent in Division 2A for Laois as expected and the 2023 Joe McDonagh Cup Winners defeated Laois by 5 points in the end to maintain their 100% league record so far this 2024 season.
There was one change to Laois starting 15 in the Carlow game. Aidan Corby started in place of Mark Dowling at corner forward. Aidan Corby then scored a great point from play.
Despite defeat for Laois, there were many positives in the Laois performance. The standout players were:
Ryan Mullaney on his return to the starting 15, was excellent. He put in serious work rate at wing back and provided a substantial amount of pace going forward.
In corner back, Diarmaid Conway was also very good.
Paddy Purcell (on his 100th league and championship appearance) scored some outstanding points from play (0-4 in total) as a result of a brilliant attacking performance and was unlucky not to score a goal from play in the 1st half after a good effort.
Goalkeeper Enda Rowland made a significant amount of great saves, most notably 2 successive stops from Carlow’s John Michael Nolan and Enda Rowland scored 2 frees from an incredible distance.
Laois vs Carlow Round 3 Stats:
Paddy Purcell made his 100th league & championship appearance.
Paddy Purcell, Enda Rowland and Aaron Dunphy all made their 3rd NHL appearance with Carlow as the opposition.
Picky Maher made both his 90th league & championship appearance and he scored his 200th NHL point for Laois in the one game.
Meath: Their 2024 league journey so far:
Round 1: 4th February.
Meath: 2-20 (26)
Kildare: 3-14 (23)
Round 2: February 11th.
Carlow: 3-22
Meath: 1-16
Round 3: February 25th
Kerry: 3-14
Meath: 0-16
Meath were 2023 Christy Ring Cup Winners. Meath defeated Derry in the final by 2 points on a scoreline of 1-23 to 1-21.
As a result of this win, Meath were promoted to the 2024 Joe McDonagh Cup Campaign. Meath will face Laois again this April and Laois will travel to Navan for the 2nd time this season when the sides meet in Round 2 of the 2024 Joe McDonagh Cup. So this Sunday is the first of 2 meetings in 2024.
Despite only 1 win in 3 games for Meath. A win over Kildare in Round 1, 2 losses to Carlow and Kerry in Rounds 2 and 3, which sees them sit 5th in the league table on only 2 points.
The positives for Meath have been the strong and excellent performances from Padraig O’Hanrahan, Nicky Potterton, James Toher and Goalkeeper (plus Captain) Charlie Ennis.
Padraig O Hanrahan has a huge total league score so far of 30 points from the previous 3 rounds. (21 points from frees). Nicky Potterton should be the biggest attacking threat for Laois this Sunday after Potterton has scored a total of 3-4 and all from play in Meath’s previous 3 rounds. James Toher has scored a total of 0-7 from play. Captain and Goalkeeper Charlie Ennis was instrumental in Meath’s only win so far (the win over Kildare in Round 1) after making an outstanding save from Kildare’s Jack Sheridan, to ensure Meath got the 3 point win and got their 2 points on the league table.
Previous meeting of Laois vs Meath: Joe McDonagh Cup Round 5 on June 9th 2018 in Laois Hire O’Moore Park.
Final score:
Laois: 3-22
Meath: 0-14
For Laois, Paddy Purcell scored 1-3 from play. Willie Dunphy scored 0-2 from play and Ryan Mullaney scored 1 point from play.
For Meath, out of the players expected to feature this Sunday. James Kelly scored 0-5 from play and James Toher scored 1 point from play.
By Laois PRO Sat 9th Mar
