Joe McDonagh Cup Round 2 – Laois v Meath
In Trim at 3pm
Team News
Laois senior hurling manager Willie Maher has made four changes to the team that defeated Offaly last week.
As expected, both Tom Cuddy and Jer Quinlan are ruled out as they played with the Laois U-20s last night.
Fiachra C-Fennell and Willie Dunphy come into the team instead of them with Podge Lawlor and Gearoid Lynch named on the bench.
While the other two changes are in attack where Stephen Maher and Mark Dowling slot in for John Lennon and Martin Phelan.
The other change to the team is positional where David Dooley moves to midfield and Paddy Purcell to wing forward.
LAOIS: Enda Rowland (Abbeyleix), Ian Shanahan (Ballinakill), Ryan Mullaney (Castletown), Diarmaid Conway (Clough-Ballacolla); Liam O’Connell (Rathdowney-Errill), Podge Delaney (The Harps), Fiachra C-Fennell (Rosenallis); Aidan Corby (Clough-Ballacolla), David Dooley (Rosenallis); Paddy Purcell (Rathdowney-Errill); Aaron Dunphy (Borris-Kilcotton), Stephen Maher (Clough-Ballacolla); Willie Dunphy (Clough-Ballacolla), Mark Dowling (Camross), Tomas Keyes (Camross).
Subs: Cathal Dunne (Clough-Ballacolla), Padraic Dunne (The Harps), Gearoid Lynch (Ballinakill), Lee Cleere (Clough-Ballacolla), Donnchadh Hartnett (Rosenallis), Ross King (Rathdowney-Errill), Martin Phelan (Castletown), Eric Killeen (Rathdowney-Errill), James Duggan (The Harps), John Lennon (Rosenallis), Podge Lawlor (Ballinakill)
MEATH: Charlie Ennis; Jarlath Ennis, Seán Geraghty, Daire Shine; Kris Gorman, James Toher, James Kelly; David Murtagh, Niall McLarnon; Tom Shine, Seán Martin, Simon Ennis; Padraig O’Hanrahan, Éamon Óg Ó Donnchadha, Nicky Potterton
What has Meath’s form been like?
Meath opened their Joe McDonagh campaign with a 3-24 to 0-25 loss to Down in Ballycran.
They have struggled for form after being promoted from Division 2B last year.
They were hammered by Laois in Division 2A and lost their manager Saoirse Bulfin along the way.
However, they will be hoping to put their poor league form behind them as they will be eager to get off the mark against Laois.
Head to Head
Meath and Laois’s last meeting came in Round 4 of the league where Laois came out 4-26 to 1-12 victors.
You have to go back to 2018 for their last championship meeting where Laois defeated Meath to preserve their Joe McDonagh Cup status at the time.
What Meath players should we look out for?
Padraig O’Hanrahan is always a threat with his free taking. He shot 0-17 against Down (15 frees and one 65′) and may be dangerous if Laois don’t keep their discipline.
Nicky Potterton should also be looked after. He scored 2-1 when Meath picked up their only win this year against Kildare.
What are the odds?
Laois are the hottest of favourites at 1/33, Meath are 11/1 and the draw is 25/1.
Who Is Reffing it?
Peter Owens is officiating the game. He has refereed the Down SHC finals in 2020, 2021 and 2022.
He joined the Ulster refereeing panel in 2021 and had been selected for the National Hurling Panel for 2023.
Tickets and Coverage
The match is available to watch on Clubber and we’ll be providing full coverage on our live blog.
Tickets can be purchased both online and in person via selected SuperValu stores.
Online tickets: https://am.ticketmaster.com/gaa/24SL2704
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