It’s an interesting weekend in the Laois SFC after a number of shocks two weekends ago. Ballyfin’s defeat of Stradbally and Killeshin’s win against Arles-Kilcruise were the highlights of Round 2.
Here are three games that may have potential to upset the odds.
- Mountmellick v Clonaslee
- Stradbally v Arles-Kilcruise
- The Heath v Killeshin
Relegation semi-finals take on a life of their own and as last year proved, shocks regularly occur.
First up on Sunday is the clash of Mountmellick (4/7) and Clonaslee (7/4). Mountmellick are deservedly favourites for this but Clonaslee will revel in the conditions of a relegation battle. Clonaslee (with Annanough) have struggled so far with two poor displays against Crettyard and St Joseph’s.
Mountmellick’s form has not been much better and have disappointed against Arles-Killeen and Ballylinan. They created plenty of chances against Killeen and have Gearoid Hanrahan back again, so this has swung the bookies in their favour. Our call, best avoid!
The other relegation semi final sees last year’s champions Stradbally (8/13) play Arles-Kilcruise (13/8). Neither team expected to be in position at the start of the year. Stradbally are marginal favourites for this. We disagree. Stradbally’s display against Ballyfin was very poor. Kilcruise’s form has been a little better. They played ok against Portlaoise and were beaten by a decent side in Killeshin the last day out. We think Kilcruise may consign the little town to a relegation final.
We will have a 1.5 point stake on Arles-Kilcruise best priced at 13/8 with Boyles.
The Heath (4/6) take on Killeshin (4/6) for a place in the quarter final on Sunday evening. Killeshin have impressed so far. Unlucky against neighbours Graiguecullen, they impressed in their defeat of Arles-Kilcruise.
They are a team going places and we feel that momentum is in their favour. We believe they may just have the edge over the Heath. We will have a 1.5 point stake on Killeshin at 6/4 with Paddy Power.
Accumulator
In the other games, we believe that Arles Killeen (2/9) and O’ Dempsey’s (4/11) should win. We will avoid the St Joseph’s-Ballyfin clash. We look elsewhere to fill out our accumulator.
We will go for Salthill (2/7) in Galway and Madden (1/6) in Armagh. To bring up the value of our accumulator, we will include St Columbas in Longford at odds of 6/5.
Finally in Wexford hurling, we expect champions Oulart (2/11) to oblige. This accumulator is best priced at 5.5/1 with Boyles Sports. We will have a 1 point stake on this
