Written By Laois PR Team
After 5 wins from 6 previously in the league, the Laois Senior Footballers seek a 6th win in 7 league games when they travel to Waterford to take on Waterford in SETU Arena, Carriganore, Waterford at 1pm on Sunday March 24th for the Allianz Football League Division 4 Round 7 Fixture.
Permutations and what’s next: This game vs Waterford on Sunday is the final group game in Division 4.
If Laois win or draw against Waterford, they will be promoted to Division 3 for the 2025 season and also secure a 2024 Division 4 league final place in Croke Park on the weekend of March 30th-31st.
Both the 1st and 2nd placed teams on the Division 4 table at the end of Round 7, will both secure promotion to Division 3 before they face off for the Division 4 trophy in the league final.
Laois will take the top spot on the table with a win or draw against Waterford.
The Division 4 table standings are currently:
1. Laois: on 10 points.
2. Wexford: on 8 points.
3. Longford: on 8 points.
4. Leitrim: on 8 points.
5. Carlow: on 6 points.
6. Tipperary: on 4 points.
7. London: on 3 points.
8. Waterford: on 1 point.
Tickets can be purchased online 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/24FF2403
Follow live match scores and updates on our official CLG Laois Twitter account: @CLGLaois
Radio: The match will be broadcast live on Midlands Radio 103.
Manager Justin McNulty has named the following side to face Waterford:
Changes to the starting 15 from the Leitrim game: Jack Lacey starts in place of Sean O’Flynn who is now on the bench.
Changes to the subs bench from the Leitrim game: Niall Dunne returns to the bench replacing Cormac Murphy. Sean O’Flynn replaces James Kelly.
The Laois team lines out as follows:
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. Dylan Kavanagh. 23. Kieran Lillis. 24. Rioghan Murphy 25. Sean O’Flynn. 26. Daniel O’Reilly
Laois Round 6 Recap: Laois vs Leitrim in Laois Hire O’Moore Park on March 16th
Final score:
Laois: 1-13
Leitrim: 0-17
Laois scorers: Mark Barry 0-6 (3 frees), Paul Kingston 1-3, Evan O’Carroll 0-3 (2 frees), Conor Heffernan 0-1.
Despite the 1 point defeat to Leitrim in what was only Laois’ first defeat in the league this year, all was definitley not lost and Laois still have it all to play for now against Waterford. With promotion and a league final place now still up for grabs. There were many positives for Laois in their performance against Leitrim despite the narrow defeat and Laois were unlucky to not get a draw result against a strong Leitrim side. The entire Laois full forward line combined and had an excellent game. Mark Barry (6 points), Paul Kingston (1-3) and Evan O’Carroll (3 points) were full of energy throughout and produced some super scores. Midfielder Conor Heffernan also scored a point from play. Goalkeeper Killian Roche’s top form in this league campaign continued as he made some outstanding saves to deny great Leitrim goal efforts.
Waterford: their 2024 league results:
Round 1: Sunday January 28th
Waterford: 1-5
Leitrim: 2-17
Round 2: February 3rd:
Carlow: 1-17
Waterford: 0-9
Round 3: February 17th
Waterford: 0-13
Longford: 0-16
Round 4: February 24th
Wexford: 0-21
Waterford: 1-7
Round 5: March 3rd
Tipperary: 0-16
Waterford: 1-13
Round 6: March 16th
London: 1-13
Waterford: 0-11
Despite being 8th place on the league table. Waterford have had good performances so far. Notably, in Round 3 Waterford produced a spirited and resilient performance and were a very tough opponent for Longford. In Round 5, Waterford got a draw result and were excellent in that exciting league clash versus fellow Munster side, Tipperary.
Waterford’s standout players have been: Goalkeeper Paudie Hunt produced some stunning saves throughout the campaign. Both centre back Dermot Ryan and midfielder Jason Curry have been very good.
Previous meeting: Laois vs Waterford:
Division 4 Round 5 March 4th 2023 Laois Hire O’Moore Park
Final score:
Laois: 2-13
Waterford: 1-5.
Standout players for Laois that day: Eoin Lowry with a total score of 2-6 points (2-4 from play, 2 points from marks) Mark Barry with a total of 5 points (3 frees, 2 from play).
Standout players for Waterford that day: Jason Curry who scored 1-2 (1 penalty goal and 2 points from play) and Dermot Ryan who scored 3 points from play.
By Laois PRO Sat 23rd Mar
