Ireland’s premier boys soccer competition gets underway in University of Limerick this afternoon.
30 teams have been divided into eight groups with Laois representation in Group 1 and 8.
Carlow and Kilkenny are located in Group 1 while the Midlands League are in Group 8.
The Midlands League have named four Laois players in their squad this year.
David Timmons and Sean Conka from Portlaoise AFC have been selected alongside Mountmellick United duo Eoghan Nelson and David O’Reilly.
There is a further Laois connection as John Nelson is part of the management team.
They are in one of the three team groups and begin against Tipperary South at 6pm.
They conclude their group campaign against Limerick District at 6pm on Tuesday.
Kilkenny are in Group 1 and contain four Laois players in their squad.
Joey, Sean and Conor Dempsey are from the Lions AFC, Durrow while Conor Hickey is from Clover United who are based in Rathdowney.
Carlow are also in Group 1 and have a sizeable Laois contingent courtesy of St Pat’s of Graiguecullen.
Maksym and Thomas have represented St Pat’s at U-14 level all season, eventually finishing runners-up in the league and putting in great performances all year.
Thomas was unfortunate to pick up an ankle injury during the season, missing 8 weeks of action which was a big blow to the team.
Emily plays for the St Pat’s U-15 boys and U-16 girls teams for St Pat’s, winning the double with the boys and finishing third in the league with the girls.
She is eligible to play here as girls can play a year below their age grade in boys competitions.
Carlow begin their campaign at 4pm against Limerick Desmond while Kilkenny face WWEC.
The fixtures swap at 10am on Tuesday morning before Kilkenny and Carlow meet in the final group game at 4pm.
The final position in the group will determine which phase of the competition the team will progress to on Wednesday.
Top spot results in a Cup quarter final, second is the Bowl, third is the Shield and fourth is the Trophy.
For those who lose the Cup quarter finals, they will go into Plate semi finals.
In the female equivalent, the Midlands and Carlow went all the way to the Gaynor Cup final last week.
15 Laois players were represented and it was Carlow that won in the end following a penalty shoot out.
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