Laois v Kildare
Leinster MHC Tier 2 Round 1 in O’Moore Park at 1pm
The big day has arrived for the Laois minor hurlers as they become the final county team to get their championship underway.
Glen McEvoy’s charges are in Tier 2 and begin at home to Kildare this afternoon.
There are nine team in Tier 2 and Laois’s group also contains Kerry and Carlow.
Down were supposed to make it five but they withdrew a few weeks ago.
This is McEvoy’s second year at the helm and he has 11 players who featured last year available again.
Tony Mahony (The Harps), Eoin Delaney (The Harps), Ben Holohan (Clough-Ballacolla), CJ Brennan (Clough-Ballacolla), Kyle Handcock (Clough-Ballacolla), Daniel Whelan (Castletown), Tom Og Phelan (Castletown), Davey Delaney (Portlaoise), Liam O’Keeffe (Abbeyleix), Donnchadh Carroll (Mountrath) and Matt Cunningham (Park-Ratheniska-Timahoe) all return to the fold.
He will be hoping that the experience from last year, where they were defeated by Offaly in the preliminary quarter final, will stand to them.
Laois will be away to Carlow next before concluding at home against Kerry on March 26.
Laois must finish in the top two in their group to qualify for a preliminary quarter-final.
If they finish at the top of their group, they’ll face the second-place team in Group 1, which includes Antrim, Meath, Offaly, Westmeath, and Wicklow.
Likewise, if they finish second, they’ll play the team that tops Group 1.
The Laois team has been named for this afternoon and you can check it out below:
LAOIS: Odhran Cuddy (Castletown); Liam O’Keeffe (Abbeyleix), Kyle Handcock (Clough-Ballacolla), Eoin Holland (The Harps); Frank McGovern (Borris-Kilcotton), Donnacha Carroll (Mountrath), Tony Mahony (The Harps); Dan Downey (Park-Ratheniska/Timahoe), Conor McDonagh (Ballinakill); Conor Headen (Ballypickas); Tom Og Phelan (Castletown), CJ Brennan (Clough-Ballacolla); Daniel Jones (Abbeyleix), Dan Whelan (Castletown), Eoin Delaney (The Harps)
SUBS: Joe Conroy (Rosenallis), Oisin Gilligan (Ballyfin), Luke Hynes (Camross), LJ Cuddy (Camross), Callum Jones (Borris-Kilcotton), Cillin Hoey (Portarlington), Aaron Fitzpatrick (Park-Ratheniska/Timahoe), Fergal Brennan (Clough-Ballacolla), Ben Holohan (Clough-Ballacolla)
EXTENDED PANEL: Ben Meade, Davy Delaney, Evan McWey, Jack Mahon, Liam Townsend, Matthew Cunningham, Paddy Farrell, Ryan Haslam, Scott Kelly, Tadhg Hughes
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