Tailteann Cup Round 2 – Laois v Offaly
In O’Moore Park at 7pm
What’s the team news?
The Laois senior football team to face Offaly in the Tailteann Cup on Saturday shows one change from the side beaten by Cavan last weekend.
Emo’s Sean Greene, who was a first-half sub on that occasion, is named to start at corner-back with Ballylinan’s Seamus Lacey losing.
Greene, who had started every game this season prior to the Cavan fixture, lost out to Lacey last week.
Otherwise the Laois team remains the same – with Killian Roche, Cathal Doyle and James Finn, who came in for the Cavan game, all starting once again.
LAOIS: Killian Roche (Killeshin); Sean Greene (Emo), Trevor Collins (Graiguecullen), Robbie Pigott (Portarlington); Paddy O’Sullivan (Portarlington), Mark Timmons (Graiguecullen), Padraig Kirwan (Emo); Kieran Lillis (Portlaoise), Damon Larkin (Portlaoise); Cathal Doyle (Ballyroan-Abbey), Paul Kingston (Arles-Killeen), James Finn (Ballyfin), Mark Barry (O’Dempsey’s), Evan O’Carroll (Crettyard), Eoin Lowry (Killeshin).
Subs: Scott Osborne (Portarlington), Seamus Lacey (Ballylinan), Alex Mohan (Portarlington), Ciaran Burke (Crettyard), Sean O’Flynn (Courtwood), Kevin Swayne (Portlaoise), Dylan Kavanagh (The Heath), Darragh Carolan (Stradbally), Niall Corbet (Clonaslee-St Manman’s), Brian Daly (St Joseph’s), Colm Murphy (Portarlington)
Offaly, managed by former Portarlington boss Martin Murphy, have made one change from team that defeated London last week.
Conor McNamee comes into midfield in place of Aaron Leavy.
OFFALY: Ian Duffy; Lee Pearson, Declan Hogan, David Dempsey; Jack O’Brien, Peter Cunningham, Ciaran Donnelly; Conor McNamee, Jack McEvoy; Anton Sullivan, Ruairi McNamee, Joe Maher; Cian Farrell, Nigel Dunne, Dylan Hyland
Subs: Corey White, Cian Donoghue, Jamie Evans, Aaron Leavy, Morgan Tynan, Cormac Delaney, Edward Cullen, Nigel Bracken, Shane Tierney, Ruairi O’Neill, Luke Egan
What happens after today?
Win, lose or draw – Laois will still have one more games to play in this group.
Laois will conclude their group campaign at a neutral venue against London on June 3/4.
In order to progress, Laois must finish first or second in the group to be absolutely guaranteed.
The top team in each group goes straight through to the Tailteann Cup quarter-finals, while the second-placed teams go into the preliminary quarter-finals.
The three third-placed teams with the best records also go into the preliminary quarter-finals, while the third placed team with the worst record and all fourth placed teams will be eliminated from the championship.
That final spot will go to New York who will enter at that stage of the competition.
What are the odds?
Offaly are 1/2; Laois are 2/1 and the draw is 15/2. On the handicap betting, Laois (+2) are even 11/10.
Who’s reffing it?
Liam Devanney of Mayo is the referee for this one. He has officiated Laois games regularly enough over the years.
What’s the story with tickets?
Tickets must be pre-purchased, either online or in SuperValu or Centra stores.
It is €15 for adults; €10 for students or OAPs and €5 for juveniles.
Can I watch it anywhere?
It’s not live on TV nor is the game on GAA GO either. So if you can’t make it, you will have to make do with the LaoisToday.ie Live Blog.
