The Laois footballers gave us a great summer of entertainment and it seemed to go from one match and one talking point to the next.
The Leinster semi-final win over Carlow meant Laois reached the provincial decider for the first time in 11 years but it came at a cost with inspirational captain Stephen Attride suffering an horrific head injury in the dying minutes.
In the dying moments of Laois’s semi final win over Carlow yesterday, captain Stephen Attride sustained a shocking injury.
The Killeshin man put, in the words of Midlands 103’s Jack Nolan, his head ‘in where you wouldn’t put a shovel’.
He collided with Ciaran Moran’s shin and was left unconscious for several minutes on the Croke Park pitch.
Attride was knocked out and was instantly treated by the Laois medical team before being taken from the field on a stretcher.
The game was held up for a number of minutes before Laois eventually held on to win 0-12 to 0-8 to book their place in the Leinster final for the first time since 2007.
Attride was taken to the nearby Mater Hospital where he was kept overnight – and where x-rays confirmed the injury.
However, the captain has taken to Instagram this afternoon and vowed that he will be back.
He said: “Bad concussion, two fractures on my skull and 25 stitches above my eye…
“BUT I’m happy, Laois are through to the Leinster final. #I’llbeback #gaa #pump #Laois.”
Attride, a teacher in Knockbeg College, has had awful injury luck since he was appointed Laois captain at the start of the 2017 season – but this is arguably the hardest blow of all and will see him miss Laois’s first Leinster final in 11 years.
He has been a first-choice player over the last number of years and has featured in a variety of roles. He started the opening round of the championship against Wexford at wing-back but reverted to the corner for the Westmeath game.
But for now, all of our thoughts are with Stephen as he begins his recovery journey!
SEE ALSO – The Twitter reaction as Laois reach first Leinster final in 11 years
