All-Ireland Preliminary Quarter Final – Laois v Wexford
In O’Moore Park at 5pm
Team News
Laois senior hurling manager Willie Maher has made three changes to his starting 15 from the side who lost to Offaly last week.
Donnchadh Hartnett, Gearoid Lynch and Eric Killeen all come into the first 15.
Hartnett starts in place of the injured Liam O’Connell while Lynch and Killeen replace Fiachra C-Fennell and James Duggan respectively.
Willie Dunphy and Lee Cleere are not on the bench as both have left the panel since the weekend.
Noah Quinlan, Stephen Bergin and Cody Comerford join the replacements as a result.
LAOIS: Enda Rowland (Abbeyleix); Ian Shanahan (Ballinakill), Ryan Mullaney (Castletown), Donnchadh Hartnett (Rosenallis); Tom Cuddy (Camross), Podge Delaney (The Harps), Diarmaid Conway (Clough-Ballacolla); Aidan Corby (Clough-Ballacolla), Eric Killeen (Rathdowney-Errill); Gearoid Lynch (Ballinakill), Paddy Purcell (Rathdowney-Errill), David Dooley (Rosenallis); Jer Quinlan (Borris-Kilcotton), Aaron Dunphy (Borris-Kilcotton), Tomas Keyes (Camross)
Subs: Cathal Dunne (Clough-Ballacolla), Padraic Dunne (The Harps), Cody Comerford (The Harps), Fiachra C-Fennell (Rosenallis), Ross King (Rathdowney-Errill), Martin Phelan (Castletown), Stephen Bergin (Clough-Ballacolla), James Duggan (The Harps), John Lennon (Rosenallis), Gearoid Lynch (Ballinakill), Noah Quinlan (Borris-Kilcotton)
Wexford have made one change to the team that was beaten by Kilkenny in their last game.
Liam Ryan is out with a hamstring injury and is replaced by Simon Donohoe in the only change.
WEXFORD: Mark Fanning; Shane Reck, Conor Foley, Eoin Ryan; Simon Donohoe, Damien Reck, Matthew O’Hanlon; Conor Hearne, Richie Lawlor; Liam Óg McGovern, Lee Chin (capt.), Cathal Dunbar; Cian Byrne, Conor McDonald, Rory O’Connor.
Subs: Aaron Duggan, Kevin Foley, Tomás Kinsella, Séamus Casey, Charlie McGuckin, Niall Murphy, Darragh Carley, Joe O’Connor, Conor Devitt, Paudie Casey, Corey Byrne-Dunbar.
What has Wexford’s form been like?
Wexford played in the Leinster hurling championship and ended up finishing third.
They drew with Dublin in Round 1 before losing to Antrim in Round 2 to put themselves on the back foot.
A win over Galway in Round 3 would prove crucial as they swatted away Carlow in Round 4.
They lost to Kilkenny in Round 5 but finished ahead of Galway on the head to head rule to claim third.
Head to Head
It is almost 40 years since Laois defeated Wexford in a championship game.
That was in the 1985 Leinster semi final and Laois have lost 11 times in a row since.
The most recent meeting was a Round 3 clash in O’Moore Park in 2022 where Wexford won 6-21 to 0-12.
What Wexford players should we look out for?
Captain Lee Chin has been in outstanding form scoring a huge 3-54 total in just this years Championship round robin series alone.
Also very impressive for Wexford throughout their Championship campaign this year was full back Eoin Ryan, corner forward duo Cian Byrne and Rory O’Connor.
Cathal Dunbar was very good in the game against Kilkenny in particular.
What are the odds?
Laois are rank outsiders at 9/1, Wexford are 1/20 and the draw is 25/1.
Who Is reffing it?
Shane Hynes of Galway will be the man in the middle later today.
He was in charge of the All-Ireland Minor final between Tipperary and Offaly in 2022.
Tickets and Coverage
The match is not on TV nor is it being streamed anywhere – but 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
SEE ALSO – Check out all our 2024 Local Election coverage here
