The Laois senior hurlers will be on our TV screens this weekend after the GAA confirmed its schedule.
Willie Maher’s charges are up against Davy Fitzgerald’s Waterford on Saturday in Round 2 of Division 1 of the National Hurling League.
The game throws in at 5pm in O’Moore Park and the TG4 cameras will be there – with coverage beginning at 4.30pm.
After a positive Walsh Cup campaign, Laois returned to earth with a bang last Saturday away to Tipperary.
It was always going to be difficult going down to Semple Stadium but 20-point margin will still hurt.
A very sluggish start from Laois coupled with Tipperary flying out of the blocks led to a 1-8 to 0-1 deficit for Laois after 17 minutes.
Tipperary were relentless early on and they were intent on putting Laois away early.
In addition to their scores they also racked up five wides within the opening 10 minutes, most of which were scoreable chances – leading to audible groans from the Premier faithful.
Patrick “Bonnar” Maher was on fire early on as he assisted two points and a goal within the opening five minutes and Conor Stakelum picked off some tidy points from out the field.
Many might have expected Laois to down tools in the second half after such a disappointing first 35 minutes, but the opposite was the case as they came out swinging and battled their way back into it.
The introduction of Paddy Purcell at half time injected a new lease of life into the Laois backline as he made some trademark runs down the field to put some pressure on the Tipperary defence, whilst also sticking over a point from midfield.
Tomas Keyes added three points to his total and four subs got on the scoresheet in Purcell, James Duggan, Ross King and Liam Senior.
But Tipperary finished with 1-2 from Jake Morris to leave a sour taste in the mouth of the Laois players and supporters.
Waterford come into the game off the back of last week’s thrilling draw against Dublin.
Waterford saw second-half red cards for both Jack Fagan and Stephen Bennett, yet it was Dublin who needed a late equaliser, Donal Burke’s free levelling matters in the 76th minute after a foul by Shane McNulty – 3-16 to 2-19.
SEE ALSO – Tough start to Division 1 for Laois hurlers as Tipperary prove too strong
