The Laois Celtic Challenge team are set to face Mayo in the Division 3 final on Sunday, June 2 at 1pm in Abbotstown, Dublin.
Reaching this final is a culmination of hard work since Christmas as they now get the opportunity to bring an All Ireland title home to Laois.
The year began against Meath who Laois were drawn with in the group along with Kildare and Armagh.
Despite playing well, Laois were beaten by a very good Meath side in Dunganny by 1-15 to 2-7.
However the management team didn’t let spirits subside and the group continued to train hard.
They bounced back against Kildare U-16s, improving on their last performance, returning home victorious with a scoreline of 3-8 to 1-21.
This win salvaged their season as they finished second and qualified for the knockout stages.
Standing in their way of a semi-final was a strong Kildare minor second team.
However the young Laois team proved too strong for their bordering county as they won 3-18 to 3-6.
This resulted in a match up against old foes Meath for a place in the final.
Laois started poorly and found themselves down by 0-5 to 0-10 at halftime.
However, they made up for lost time in the second half, showing excellent fighting spirit as they clawed the game back and won 2-12 to 0-14.
Laois are managed by Clonaslee-St Manman’s Brian Flanagan and have confirmed a 32-player panel ahead of the final.
A total of 17 clubs are represented and Borris-Kilcotton lead the way with four players.
Abbeyleix, Castletown, The Harps and Portlaoise provide three each while Mountrath, Ballypickas, Clough-Ballacolla and Rathdowney-Errill have two each.
Colt-Shanahoe, Mountmellick, Park-Ratheniska/Timahoe, Portarlington, Rosenallis, Ballinakill, Clonad and Clonaslee-St Manman’s make up the rest of the squad.
LAOIS CELTIC CHALLENGE PANEL 2024
Frank McGovern (Borris-Killcotton)
Evan McSappden (Borris-Killcotton)
Conor Kirby (Borris-Killcotton)
Daire Fogarty (Borris-Killcotton)
Daniel Jones (Abbeyleix)
Sean O’Donnell (Abbeyleix)
Cathal Noone (Abbeyleix)
Conor Ryan (Castletown)
Ciaran Lyons (Castletown)
Oran McKelvey (Castletown)
Eoin Holland (The Harps)
Jack Kennedy (The Harps)
Liam Townsend (The Harps)
Davy Delaney (Portlaoise)
Cormac Keegan (Portlaoise)
Eoin Doheny (Portlaoise)
Ben Meade (Mountrath)
Cormac Page (Mountrath)
Conor Headen (Ballypickas)
Christian Concannon (Ballypickas)
Sean Hayes (Clough-Ballacolla)
CJ Brennan (Clough-Ballacolla)
Cillian Stenson (Rathdowney-Errill)
Sean McDermott (Rathdowney-Errill)
Paddy Farrell (Colt-Shanahoe)
Dylan Payne (Mountmellick)
Cillian Dunne (Park-Ratheniska/Timahoe)
Ciaran Connell (Portarlington)
Scott Kelly (Rosenallis)
Conor McDonagh (Ballinakill)
Aaron Tynan (Clonad)
Shane McCann (Clonaslee-St Mammans)
MANAGEMENT:
Brian Flanagan (Clonaslee-St Mammans)
Ross Young (The Harps)
Noel Concannon (Ballypickas)
John Payne (Mountmellick)
Pat Kirby (Borris-Kilcotton)
Niall Ryan (Abbeyleix)
Patrick Wright (Rathdowney-Errill)
