A sneaky close match-up this, certainly closer than suggested by the respective odds that have Laois down as comfortable favourites.
The main justification for same appears to be little more than a combination of recent reputation and Laois’s run through the qualifiers last summer. Given that the two sides finished third and fourth in Division Two, that sort of sweeping consensus seems pretty dismissive of Aidan O’Rourke’s side.
Especially when you take the magnifying glass to that qualifier run last year for Laois. On the face of it, hop-step-and-jumping from the first round to the All-Ireland quarter-final was a serious achievement for a team that had lost first day out against Longford. But consider that their opposition from round to round was Carlow, a recently-relegated Monaghan, Leitrim and finally a Meath team coming off a six-day turnaround. Suddenly it doesn’t look like such an epic voyage.
Since then, Laois have lost one of the best defenders in Leinster in Cahir Healy. Whether or not his defection to the hurlers has been counter-balanced by the return of Donie Kingston, only the summer will tell us. The addition of Kingston does add serious ballast to the Laois attack and his ball-winning ability makes for a potent half-forward line alongside Ross Munnelly and Colm Begley. With Justin McNulty certain to drop at least one forward back into defence, it will be down to this trio to supply much of the energy and nous needed to link defence and attack.
Lame duck
Louth are a far stickier proposal under Aidan O'Rourke. This time last year they were in disarray, with Peter Fitzpatrick a lame duck manager and no real coherence in the panel. O'Rourke has streamlined the whole operation and they comfortably outstripped expectations in the league where most people assumed they were relegation fodder.
They have a formidable spine in Paddy Keenan, Brian White and Shane Lennon and an ability to bring scoring power off the bench if needed in the shape of Darren Clarke and Jim McEneaney.
Hard to imagine this being terribly fluid to watch, it must be said. We can assume that given McNulty and O’Rourke’s shared history, they will have looked agog at the room their native county left in front its full-back line last Sunday. These defences today will be packed, scores will need to be eked out and if the weather is wet, this could be pretty low-scoring.
Louth look like a team on the up. In a tight game, they might just have the momentum.
