We preview this weekends upcoming Laois Shopping Centre – Hurling Championship Fixtures:
Saturday October 7th in Laois Hire O’Moore Park
PIHC Semi Final: Portlaoise vs Rathdowney-Errill at 4.30pm
IHC Final: Trumera vs Colt Shanahoe at 6.15pm
Sunday October 8th in Laois Hire O’Moore Park
U17 A Hurling Championship Final: Abbeyleix vs The Harps at 1.30pm
SHC Final: Abbeyleix vs Camross at 3.30pm
Note:
The IHC Final between Trumera vs Colt Shanahoe and the SHC Final between Abbeyleix vs Camross will both be rescheduled for replays in the the event of a draw.
The PIHC Semi Final between Portlaoise vs Rathdowney Errill and the u17 A Hurling Championship Final between Abbeyleix vs The Harps are the only 2 fixtures to be decided on the day. If the sides are still level at the end of normal time, there will be two 10 minutes periods of extra time and if still level then penalties.
Tickets: Fixtures are ticket only games with a ticket charge of €7-€20 which can be purchased online here: https://www.universe.com/users/laois-gaa-82QTP6
OAP and Season Passes are applicable for admission to these games.
Live streaming: All 4 fixtures mentioned above will be available for live streaming on Clubber.ie:
Access at: https://www.clubber.ie/
Follow live match updates on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CLGLaois
For all other Club fixtures & results visit: https://laoisgaa.ie/fixtures-results/
Best of luck to all involved!
Permutations:
PIHC Semi Final: The winners of Portlaoise vs Rathdowney Errill will head to the PIHC Final where they will face Ballyfin. The winners of the PIHC final vs Ballyfin will gain promotion to the 2024 Senior Hurling Championship.
IHC Final: The winners of Trumera vs Colt Shanahoe will gain promotion to the 2024 Premier Intermediate Hurling Championship.
SHC Final Preview: Abbeyleix vs Camross at 3.30pm in Laois Hire O’Moore Park on Sunday October 8th.
Words From The Managers:
PJ Peacock (Abbeyleix Manager):
“It was 74 years of emotion built up, it was fabulous for the club. There have been so many good Abbeyleix players over the last 74 years who never got to hurl in a senior county final. I expected that group of players to be competing in a county final in a few years time. Five or six of the panel played in the Junior final last year as well as a Division 2 league final. We lost a few lads to Australia and America as well as the lads who stopped hurling. We had to fast track those lads onto the senior panel and they’ve competed all year. To even be in the county final is a phenomenal achievement by the group.”
“The town is buzzing here with it being the first time both sides have been in a county final. I’m sure Camross have done it on many occasions as well as Portlaoise but nothing like this has ever happened in Abbeyleix. A massive job has been done by Lorcan Mahony, Robbie Quinn, Anthony Coffey, Stephen Reilly and even Enda Rowland bringing through that group of players that I have now. There’s been huge work going inside the club and now the rewards are there for them, they’ll have a right crack at the U-20 championship too. The club is definitely in a good place.”
David Cuddy (Camross Manager)
“I suppose when we started off the plan in Camross every year was to be in a county final and be competing every year. We didn’t really perform in the final last year so this is a year to redeem ourselves again and hopefully go one step further. With some of the lads we have, we’re fairly dangerous inside. In the semi-final against Clough-Ballacolla, we were nine points down at half-time. We didn’t really speak about it in the dressing room, we just needed to keep things ticking over and that if we get the opportunity, just go for it. At times, we try to keep the scoreboard ticking over and get ourselves back into the game. We have the lads who get the big scores so it’s a big help.”
“Tom Cuddy has huge potential, I think everyone has seen that for a long time. It’s a bit un-Camross like to bring lads in straight away. It’s been picked on form and also he’s a good player. He deserved to be man of the match, the first goal was one of those goals but the second goal was class. If that was Mossy or any of the other county players, it would have been called one of the best goals of the season. He’s just pure calm and a great player.”
Previous meetings:
In the most previous meeting between these 2 sides back in Round 2 of Group B in this year’s championship on August 6th last, Camross defeated Abbeyleix by 4 points on a scoreline of:
Camross: 2-19
Abbeyleix: 1-18
6 years ago on the same date of August 6th 2017 however, Abbeyleix defeated Camross in Round 2 of the SHC also and notably it was Abbeyleix’s first championship win over Camross since 1945. The scoreline on the day was:
Abbeyleix: 2-15
Camross: 1-17
Abbeyleix 2023 SHC Results:
Group B Round 1:
Abbeyleix: 3-13
Borris-Kilcotton: 2-13
Group B Round 2:
Abbeyleix: 1-18
Camross: 2-19
Group B Round 3
Abbeyleix: 2-20
Castletown: 2-10
SHC Quarter Final:
Abbeyleix: 3-26
Rosenallis: 0-16
SHC Semi Final (AET)
Abbeyleix: 3-20
Rathdowney-Errill: 3-18
Camross 2023 SHC Results:
Group B Round 1
Camross: 3-22
Castletown: 1-14
Group B Round 2:
Camross: 2-19
Abbeyleix: 1-18
Group B Round 3:
Camross: 2-19
Borris-Kilcotton: 2-23
SHC Semi Final:
Camross won 2-1 on penalties
Full Time Score (AET)
Camross: 4-14
Clough-Ballacolla: 2-20
Ones to watch:
Abbeyleix: Throughout the 2023 SHC campaign, Eoghan Fennelly has been superb in attack scoring a total of 1-33. Aaron Brennan had his best season yet with 1-18. In defense, Ross Coffey has been brilliant and consistently proved difficult to break through.
Camross: Tomas Keyes could not stop scoring this championship season and was a constant threat to opposition defenders having scored a tremendous total from play of 4-17 (29 pts) Dan Delaney also had a similar impact with an overall total score of 1-21 (24 pts). In defense, young Tom Cuddy has been phenomenal and one to watch for the future.
U17 A Hurling Championship Final Preview: Abbeyleix vs The Harps at 1.30pm in Laois Hire O’Moore Park on Sunday October 8th.
Previous meeting:
U17 A Hurling Championship Round 2 July 18th 2023
Abbeyleix: 3-18
The Harps: 3-17
The most previous meeting between the sides earlier this Championship campaign, produced an exhilarating encounter and similar is expected when these two clash again on Sunday for the title.
Ones to watch:
The Harps: Throughout the MHC campaign this year, notable performances include Justin Duggan’s 4 goals from play in the Round 5 win over Clough Ballacolla and Eoin Delaney’s 2-6 from play in the Round 4 win over Castletown. Eoghan Murphy has also been in fantastic form in midfield and consistently solid throughout the campaign.
Abbeyleix: Throughout the MHC campaign this year, notable performances include Cormac Byrne’s 1-14 total score in the win over Mountrath in Round 5. Both Ben O’Mara and Eli Quinn have also continuously scored some outstanding points from long range.
IHC Final Preview: Trumera vs Colt Shanahoe at 6.15pm in Laois Hire O’Moore Park on Saturday October 7th.
Previous meeting:
IHC Group B Round 3 August 19th 2023
Trumera: 2-15
Colt Shanahoe: 1-15
Ones to watch:
Trumera: In the 4 point semi final win over Mountmellick, both Joey Coogan (2-0) and Niall Sinnott (0-5) were an unstoppable force in attack and pose a threat to Colt Shanahoe’s defence on Saturday. Alongside the reliable Dylan Lalor (3-7) & Paddy Hosey (2-10) also, who are both on fire in front of goal and both in top form having scored an incredible amount from play this championship campaign.
Colt Shanahoe: Nathan Dunne has been his sides standout player so far with a total of 38 points, of which 11 of these points alone came in the semi final win over Clonad where Colt Shanahoe won by a convincing 10 points in the end. Mossy O’Connor (1-2) was also outstanding that day and a notable big boost for Colt Shanahoe was the return of James Keyes from America. In the back line, Brian Guilfoyle has been very solid in defence and is a positive for his side facing the possible upcoming attacking threat from Trumera on Saturday.
PIHC Semi Final Preview: Portlaoise vs Rathdowney-Errill at 4.30pm in Laois Hire O’Moore Park on Saturday October 7th.
Previous meeting:
PIHC Group B Round 1 July 21st 2023
Portlaoise: 1-20
Rathdowney-Errill: 0-11
Ones to watch:
Rathdowney-Errill: In the 3 point quarter final replay win over Clonaslee St.Manman’s, Paddy Hassett was exceptionally accurate with 9 points from frees, which were the crucial scores that got his side the win. Hassett is also the current leading 2023 PIHC overall top scorer with a total of 3-31 (40 pts)
Portlaoise: In 2nd place in the 2023 PIHC overall top scorers charts is Aaron Bergin with 2-27 (33 pts). Cathal Duggan (1-1) was also excellent in the thrilling 2 point win over Ballinakill in Round 3, a win that sent Portlaoise to the upcoming semi final.
By Laois PRO Fri 6th Oct
