Talking Sport: Recent Episodes
LaoisToday
LaoisToday weekly sports podcast featuring Steven Miller, Alan Hartnett and a host of guests from the local sporting world
A big occasion for female sport in Laois this weekend lends itself to a special episode of the LaoisToday Talking Sport Podcast.
The Portlaoise AFC U-14 girls soccer team are in the national FAI Cup final this coming Sunday.
It's an historic occasion as it's the first time a team from the club will play in a national final. Indeed it's the first time in 20 years that a team from the Midlands league has reached a national final.
Even more impressive is that it comes less than seven years after Portlaoise AFC fielded a girls team for the first time ever.
Getting to this final is no mean achievement given that hundreds of clubs at the start of the competition has now been whittled down to just two.
After beating Shelbourne in the semi-final, Portlaoise now play Greystones in the final this Sunday in the AUL Complex in Dublin.
And ahead of that game, Shane Keegan, Portlaoise's first team coach and a former manager at Wexford Youths, Galway Utd and Dundalk, sat down with Portlaoise U-14 manager Dave McCall.
The morning after the night before.
The latest LaoisToday Talking Sport Podcast looks back on last night’s wonderful occasion in O’Moore Park as a crowd of over 12,000 turned up to watch the Leinster minor hurling final.
An outstanding Offaly team were 0-21 to 0-13 winners for their first Leinster title since 2000 but Laois have as good as they got in a thunderous match.
Steven and Alan look back on the game, report that all missing children were reunited with their parents and give credit where it’s due - to all in Laois and Leinster GAA that made the night such a success.
And the season is far from over with Laois now having to play Clare and Galway with a chance to reach an All Ireland semi-final.
With the Laois minor hurlers in Leinster final action, we look forward to their big showdown with Offaly in O'Moore Park.
Alan gives us a player-by-player guide to the starting Laois team, we hear from Laois selector Damien Carter and we go on a ramble down memory lane to correct the record, chat about a cup presentation that never was and one of the most disgraceful refereering decisions of all time - way back in 1978.
We also hear from Laois senior hurling manager Seamas 'Cheddar' Plunkett in the aftermath of the loss to Galway at the weekend and how Laois find themselves in yet another relegation battle.
Plus we quickly look back on a hugely dramatic evening of club football league action and heap praise on those who came up with a brilliant new format.
It was another extremely busy week on the GAA front and another hectic one is in store.
The story of last week were the Laois minor hurlers who reached their first Leinster final in almost a decade.
Their victory over Kilkenny was the county's first since the 1960s and sparked wild scenes of celebration.
It was not as happy a story for the Laois Ladies who endured extra time heartbreak against Wexford.
The Laois camogie team also lost their semi final and they both face a wait until the All-Ireland series.
The clubs leagues are also hotting up while the Laois senior hurlers face a tough encounter with Galway.
Steven Miller and Alan Hartnett are here to run through all the talking points and look ahead to the weekend.
After another tough weekend for the Laois hurlers and a 27-point loss to Wexford, we ponder whether the Leinster round robin championship offers any benefit to Laois?
Would they be better off in the Joe McDonagh Cup?
But we also look back on a brilliant win for the Laois minor hurlers against Wexford the previous day - and they now take on Kilkenny this weekend.
Plus we chat Laois camogie, the county minor football team, Laois ladies advance in the Leinster championship and how the Laois men's senior team are shaping up for the Tailteann Cup - and how that competition might look.
Plus we talk Cumann na mBunscol, Laois Masters, Feile finals and club league action.
What a weekend, but not in a good way.
The Laois senior footballers and hurlers were both in Leinster championship action over the past couple of days but the weekend results make for grim reading for Laois supporters.
On Saturday, the hurlers were beaten by Kilkenny on a score line of 2-34 to 1-14 while on Sundays the footballers endured another new low as they crashed out of the Leinster championship to Wicklow.
At one stage in the second half they were 16 points down before a late comeback meant there were only six in it at the end, 5-15 to 4-12.
But this was another dreadfully poor result coming on the back of relegation to Division 4 just a couple of weeks ago.
On our latest Talking Sport Podcast, we chat about both those games as well as discussing Laois’s narrow win over Offaly in the Leinster ladies intermediate football championship.
Plus we discuss briefly the recent club league action following a busy schedule of games on Friday night.
We are in the throngs of inter-county activity at the moment with a host of Laois teams in action.
On this week's Podcast, the first half of the show is all about hurling.
The Laois senior hurlers were beaten by Dublin on Saturday and we look back at that plus ahead to Kilkenny.
The Laois U-20 hurlers were eliminated by Wexford while the minors lost to Offaly but are back in action this weekend against Westmeath.
The Laois senior footballers begin their Leinster campaign this Sunday away to Wicklow.
The U-20s were eliminated by Kildare last week while the minors face Louth in their final group match on Wednesday.
Steven Miller and Alan Hartnett are here once again to review all of the games and look ahead to the ones at the weekend.
Ahead of this weekend's Leinster football championship match between Laois and Wicklow in Aughrim, we caught up with former Laois and Stradbally player Darragh McEvoy, who has been deeply involved in the game in Wicklow having moved to work and live there almost 20 years ago.
While McEvoy has a great insight on Wicklow football (he's currently a selector/coach with the Wicklow minor footballers), he also has a personal story with many layers too.
An outstanding underage footballer, he played championship for Laois when he was 20 - but missed out on 2003 and most of the glory years under Mick O'Dwyer.
And in this podcast he talks about his experience of those years, winning a championship with Stradbally in 2005 and making the switch to St Pat's of Wicklow in 2008 where he's based in the county as a Garda.
But he also chats about a serious health scare when he had a tumour removed from his lung at only 26 years of age, and recalls in heart-breaking detail how he and his wife suffered stillbirth in 2017.
In a wide-ranging chat he discusses his memories growing up playing with Stradbally, his famed family connections and what it was like returning to the club briefly in 2016 to help them win another famous county final success.
You can listen to the episode below in full on Soundcloud or on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
The volume of our Podcasts has decreased to one per week at present but we have another jam-packed show here.
It is a huge week of county action with senior hurlers, U-20 hurlers, U-20 footballers, minor hurlers and Laois ladies all in action.
The Leinster hurling championship begins this weekend with Laois away to Dublin.
Shane Stapleton from Our Game joins Steven to give the view from the capital ahead of the game.
Alan and Steven then look ahead to all of the other county games that are taking place this week.
They also discuss the club leagues which are now well in full swing.
The volume of our Podcasts has decreased to one per week at present but we have another jam-packed show here.
While the senior inter-county teams are on something of a mid-season break, there is plenty to talk about at underage level.
The Laois minor footballers took on Dublin at the weekend and Steven was present to watch them lose.
Steven stayed for the double header where the Laois U-20 hurlers had much better luck against Antrim.
They now face Kildare this weekend while the Laois minor hurlers begin their adventure against the same opponents.
Club matches are also in full swing with Steven and Alan out at games in the top Divisions of hurling and football.
For the second time in six seasons, the Laois footballers will play in Division 4 of the National League in 2023.
A seven-point loss at home to Longford on Sunday condemned Laois to the drop.
For Longford man Billy O'Loughlin it was a bitter-sweet return to O'Moore Park. The Arles-Killeen club man and former Laois U-20 manager oversaw a comprehensive win as Longford avoided relegation at Laois's expense.
We look at where it went wrong for Laois, how it's a symptom of a wider malaise in Laois football and what can be done in the short term to boost Laois coming into the championship.
We also talk about the start of the club football leagues, the reaction to Alan's rankings and chat about a big win for Laois camogie.
It’s a big weekend for the Laois footballers as they host Longford in the final round of the National League with the loser likely to be relegated to Division 4.
To make it even more interesting is the fact that Billy O’Loughlin, from Arles-Killeen and a man steeped in Laois football, is the Longford manager.
We look ahead to that game and as to how the Laois team might take shape.
We also have an apology to make to a Laois school after a disgraceful recent oversight.
And our club football rankings are back. It was an easy choice as to who was Number 1 but everything else was difficult. Who are the biggest fallers and climbers? Who’s looking to be as high as they are, who has the most room for improvement and who’s lucky to be on the list at all?
It was an extremely busy but largely disappointing weekend on the GAA front for Laois teams.
Only Conor Gorman's minors managed victory of the six Laois teams in action across the country.
They defeated Westmeath in the Leinster championship while the senior footballers lost in the league to Limerick and the senior hurlers lost to Dublin.
The Laois Ladies were beaten in their Division 2 semi final by Armagh while the Laois camogie team face a relegation play off in Division 2 of the league after defeat to Kerry.
Meanwhile, there was heartbreak for the Laois minor camogie team who lost the All-Ireland decider to Offaly.
Steven Miller and Alan Hartnett are here to look back at all of those games.
While this week's show concludes with an interview with one half of Heywood CS' All-Ireland winning management team - Seamus Kerr.
The Laois footballers got a much-needed win in Wicklow on Sunday when they proved too strong for the home side in Division 3 of the National League.
Billy Sheehan's side move onto five points though still aren't clear of relegation but do remain in the promotion hunt.
Steven was in Aughrim for that game and looks back on some of the game's big talking points and his choice of man of the match.
Alan chats about Heywood's All Ireland Colleges football success and the Laois minor camogie team booking their place in the All Ireland 'B' final.
Plus we discuss the GPA's expenses protest, the latest Kelly Cup action and a dramatic Leinster Schools Cup rugby game with a huge Laois involvement last week.
In our latest Talking Sport Podcast, we talk about the Laois footballers upcoming trip to Aughrim to play Wicklow in Division 3 of the National League.
We also chat about the Laois minor football panel and Heywood's bid for All Ireland colleges glory.
On the hurling side of things we discuss the Laois camogie team and their belated start to a difficult season as well as a couple of recent managerial appointments.
Plus with the club scene set to begin in the coming weeks, Steven ranks Laois's hurling clubs from 1-25.
With the Laois GAA club season beginning to get up and running again, we sat down with some of the men that make it all possible: the referees.
Seamus Mulhare from The Heath, Graiguecullen's Brendan Hickey and Padraig Dunne from Colt-Shanahoe are among Laois's top referees, with all having taken charge of senior county finals played in 2021.
And in a special episode of our Talking Sport Podcast, we chat to them about their decision to become a referee, the challenges they have faced and what it is that they really enjoy.
The discuss various rules, the good moments and bad and what they'd like to see changed.
It's a bumper episode this week as we're joined by Damien Carter to look back on the Laois hurlers' thrilling win over Antrim in O'Moore Park on Sunday.
The win ensures that Laois will play in the top division of the National League for the 10th season in a row in 2023.
We hear from Laois manager Seamas 'Cheddar' Plunkett and pick our man of the match, the game's big talking points and whether there is a disciplinary issue in Laois hurling.
We also wonder how Laois should approach the last league game against Dublin seeing as the counties will also meet in the opening round of the Leinster championship on April 16.
Plus we hear from Shane Keegan about his Hurling Coaching Workshop that he's hosting in Portlaoise next weekend where Eamon O'Shea, Derek McGrath and Christy O'Connor among those to be presenting.
The Laois footballers' loss to Fermanagh is in the second part of the show. Alan was in Enniskillen. What were Laois like? Is promotion gone? Is relegation a possibility? And what changes can we expect for next week's trip to Aughrim to play Wicklow.
As well as that we pay tribute to the great Jack Nolan, who has announced his retirement from commentating after a 32-year career.
We are heading for the first weekend in March and yet another busy one lies in front of us.
Steven Miller and Alan Hartnett are back to take you through all the main sporting news ahead of the games.
The Laois footballers continue their Division 3 adventure away to Fermanagh in Enniskillen at 3.30pm on Saturday.
The Laois hurlers are live on TV on Sunday for their do or die encounter with Antrim at 3.45pm.
The Laois U-20 footballers are also in action this weekend as they will face Dublin in a winners takes all clash that will determine who faces Kerry in the John Kerins Cup final.
While the Laois Ladies, already qualified for a Division 2 semi final, face Kerry in Tralee.
Alan also gives a low down on all the schools action that has taken place this week with some very good results.
While Steven has a report for the Laois U-20 hurlers win over Kildare that puts them in a league final against either Offaly or Westmeath.
We also find out just how long it takes to get to Killadooley when you're 11!
The National League action for the Laois hurlers and footballers resumed over the weekend but there wasn't a huge amount to shout about.
The footballers promotion hopes suffered a blow when they were held to a draw at home to Antrim, the visitors equalising deep in injury time.
We look back at that game and what means in the battle for promotion from Division 3.
The Laois hurlers, meanwhile, made the short trip to Nowlan Park to take on Kilkenny and after the heavy loss to Waterford the last day out, showed some signs of improvement here before albeit going down to a 2-28 to 0-17 loss.
On a more positive note, the Hewood CS senior football team booked their place in the All Ireland 'C' final while the Laois U-20 footballers had a good win away to Meath in their pre-season John Kerins Cup match.
Plus we chat briefly about the Kelly Cup action, including the bizarre 1-3 to 0-1 win for Clonaslee-St Manman's over Ballylinan.
The various storms over the past week have played havoc with sporting fixtures across the country but it’s still an incredibly busy period for all sports.
Our Talking Sport Podcast is back to chat about this weekend’s action which is once again a busy one for a number of Laois teams.
The senior footballers are in O’Moore Park on Saturday night where they host Antrim as we look ahead to that game and also chat about what the Fermanagh postponement will mean.
The Laois hurlers are coming off the back of a massive loss to Waterford and must now go to Nowlan Park to play Kilkenny.
The Laois ladies football team have a weekend off after securing a Division 2 semi-final place with a win over Tipperary last Sunday while we also discuss a Leinster schools football success for Heywood.
Club transfers, managerial appointments, the glamour of the Kelly Cup and the upcoming championship draws are also on our agenda.
Plus, the Portarlington rugby team had reason to celebrate last weekend, there were two young Laois girls playing soccer for Ireland and a Mountmellick man will represent the Irish senior basketball team.
After missing a couple of episodes last week, the LaoisToday Talking Sport Podcast is back with a bang today.
Alan belatedly getting Covid threw the LaoisToday team off track last week but he's back to full fitness and planning a mammoth road trip to Enniskillen to watch the Laois footballers on Saturday.
We chat about the Laois hurlers heavy defeat to Waterford, an impressive start to the season for the Laois ladies footballers and how the Laois camogie team are in a spot of bother once again.
We also discuss the recent club manager appointments, transfer news and Steven's latest gripe - joint captains.
Plus we hear from former Laois footballer Leo Turley and Bryan Breen on how the Laois Gaels Supporters Club is progressing in its second year.
The LaoisToday Talking Sport Podcast is brought to you in association with Booth Concrete.
It was another very busy weekend on the sporting front with plenty of action involving Laois teams.
The weekend saw Tipperary and Westmeath both come to O'Moore Park where they defeated the hurlers and footballers respectively.
Steven Miller is joined by Alan Hartnett to review the two games in the National League.
The show will also hear from football manager Billy Sheehan and hurling boss Seamas 'Cheddar' Plunkett.
The lads will also look back at the start of the minor camogie season where Laois had a big win in Derry.
While there was also plenty of action to talk about on the schools front.
Heywood and Dunamase College enjoyed big wins while it was defeat for Mountrath CS and Clonaslee College.
For the first time in almost two years, O'Moore Park will welcome supporters to watch the Laois county teams in action.
And it's a huge weekend in Portlaoise as Tipperary visit on Saturday evening for the opening round of the National Hurling League while the Westmeath footballers take on Laois in Round 2 of the Football League on Sunday.
Ahead of those two games, Steven Miller and Alan Hartnett look forward to the action.
Shane Brophy from the Nenagh Guardian joins us to give us the Tipp perspective while Gerry Buckley from the Westmeath Examiner brings us up to speed on Westmeath.
The LaoisToday Talking Sport Podcast is brought to you in association with Booth Concrete.
The Laois footballers got their Division 3 league campaign off to a winning start on Sunday thanks to a 3-9 to 1-10 win over Louth.
Alan Hartnett was in Ardee and joins Steven to look back on the match.
We also hear from manager Billy Sheehan who says there is still huge room for improvement despite the win.
The lads also chat about the return of Mark Timmons, injuries to Paul and Donie Kingston and the appointment of Trevor Collins and Evan O'Carroll as joint captains.
Plus they discuss Portarlington's latest rugby win as they move closer to Leinster League Division 3 success.
And Steven puts detail on his club championship proposal - one that would see only 12 clubs play senior but the introduction of divisional teams.
The LaoisToday Talking Sport Podcast is brought to you in association with Booth Concrete.
The National Football League gets underway this weekend and the Laois footballers are on the road to face Louth.
Sunday at 2pm in Ardee will see the side begin their Division 3 campaign.
Ahead of the game, Steven Miller is joined by Alan Hartnett to look ahead to the match.
Alan is also joined by Dan Bannon of the LouthAndProud Podcast who gives us the low down on the Wee County.
They have a very good recent record against Laois and Micky Harte's men will be hoping to keep that going.
After that, Steven and Alan chat about all the other GAA news including new managerial appointments and O'Moore Park's makeover.
This Thursday evening, ladies football great Sue Ramsbottom from Timahoe will become the first Laois person to feature on Laochra Gael, the iconic TG4 documentary series that profiles the top GAA personalities from around the country.
The one-hour programme will air on TG4 at 9.30pm on Thursday and chronicles Sue's career, from her early days playing with the Timahoe school, the Stradbally parish boys team and The Heath ladies senior side.
The documentary features incredible footage, including an interview when she was only 13 after helping The Heath win a senior All Ireland club title in 1987.
It also includes interviews with her brother James and long-time team mate Connie Conway.
And it journeys her career with Laois throughout the 1980s and 1990s - when Sue lost All Ireland finals in 1988, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993 and 1996 before famously enjoying success in 2001.
Ahead of the TV show, we caught up with Sue on this week's Talking Sport Podcast where Sue chatted about why she agreed to go on the programme, what it was like looking back and some of the great people she encountered along the way.
The LaoisToday Talking Sport Podcast is brought to you in association with Booth Concrete.
Laois’s O’Byrne Cup adventure came to an end in Carlow on Saturday when they were beaten 1-13 to 0-11 by Dublin in Dr Cullen Park.
Steven Miller and Alan Hartnett look back on what was an entertaining game as well as the campaign in general.
With Laois to begin their Division 3 league campaign away to Louth next Sunday, where do Laois stand after and eventful couple of weeks?
Plus we chat about the Portlaoise Panthers loss in the All Ireland women’s U-20 basketball cup final, a talented young local athlete and the important wins for Portarlington and Portlaoise rugby clubs.
As well as that, we talk about football championship reform at club and county level, a new underage grade, the Laois ladies football panel and disappointment for a Laois man in the All Ireland club semi-final.
And we rejoice at Covid now being over!
The LaoisToday Talking Sport Podcast is brought to you in association with Booth Concrete.
The Laois footballers played their fourth game in 12 days on Wednesday night on Carlow when they booked their place in the O'Byrne Cup final thanks to a dramatic penalty shootout win over Kildare.
Alan Hartnett had a bird's eye view of the sudden death shootout with his phone somehow miraculously surviving on 1% to bring the action live to our audience on Facebook.
On our latest LaoisToday Talking Sport Podcast, he chats about that - and of course the game itself.
Laois now go forward to play Dublin's final, back in Dr Cullen Park again.
As well as that, we chat about the brilliant Portlaoise Panthers U-20 women's basketball team who are in All Ireland final action this Sunday as well as some of the news from the local soccer and rugby scene.
The Laois hurlers made the trip to the John Lockes GAA ground in Callan on Sunday to take on Kilkenny in the Walsh Cup and despite leading for long stages the home side finished strong to win 1-27 to 0-24.
Still, Seamas 'Cheddar' Plunkett and his management team will have taken plenty from their two Walsh Cup outings ahead of their opening round of the Division 1 National League against Tipperary in three weeks time.
Alan Hartnett was in Callan where he looks back on some of the key moments, the return of some leading Laois players and how things are shaping up in general.
He was also in Crettyard on Saturday as the Laois footballers picked up their second win in four days in the O'Byrne Cup to book a semi-final place against Kildare on Wednesday night.
He goes through the Laois line up, who has impressed so far and what way Laois might line out against Glenn Ryan's Kildare side on Wednesday.
As well as that, we're joined by former Laois player Colm Parkinson to chat about his decision to go out on his own with 'Smaller Fish', his new GAA podcast.
The LaoisToday Talking Sport Podcast is brought to you in association with Booth Concrete.
The Laois footballers ended a seven-game losing streak in Stradbally on Wednesday night with an encouraging win over Meath in the O'Byrne Cup.
Steven and Alan are back with the latest Talking Sport Podcast and are in buoyant form following Laois's win.
Does it mean all is now well in the world? Are Laois 'back'? Can we win the All Ireland?!
We hear from Laois manager Billy Sheehan, chat about who went well and chat about the positives and negatives of playing games in the club grounds.
We also look ahead to the Laois hurlers game against Kilkenny on Sunday.
The LaoisToday Talking Sport Podcast is brought to you in association with Booth Concrete.
And so the 2022 season is up and running - though defeat was the order of the day for both the Laois hurlers and footballers over the weekend.
The footballers were beaten 6-10 to 0-13 by Wexford in Shelmaliers on Saturday while the hurlers entertained Wexford in Rathdowney on Sunday where they went down by 1-27 to 1-16.
Steven and Alan look back on both game and try not get too excited either way by pre-season results in January.
Still it was a far-from-ideal start for Billy Sheehan's management reign and they have little time to lick their wounds before playing Meath on Wednesday night in Stradbally.
Alan also tries to explain the development work done in Rathdowney in the last couple of years while the lads also chat about Sue Ramsbottom's upcoming appearance on Laochra Gael, a off-broadway hurling success for a Friend of LaoisToday, a new Laois camogie manager and success for the Portlaoise Panthers U-20 ladies basketball team.
As always the Talking Sport Podcast is brought to you in association with Booth Concrete.
Not even a global pandemic could bring an end to the GAA's pre-season O'Byrne and Walsh Cup competitions.
And so the Laois hurlers begin their competitive campaigns this weekend - with the footballers away to Wexford on Saturday and the hurlers taking on Wexford in Rathdowney on Sunday.
Steven and Alan are back with the first LaoisToday Talking Sport Podcast of the year as they run the rule over the new-look football panel and what we can expect in the first year under new manager Billy Sheehan.
Cheddar Plunkett is back for a second season (of his second term) with the hurlers and there has been changes to his panel too.
Needless to say the lads also talk about Covid, soccer and GAA facilities and structures!
As always the Talking Sport Podcast is brought to you in association with Booth Concrete.
With the Clough-Ballacolla hurlers heading for Croke Park this weekend we have a bumper episode to look ahead to their Leinster club final against Ballyhale Shamrocks.
Steven takes a trip down to Aghaboe and lands himself in Hanlon Kitchens.
Here, he finds the sharpshooting duo of Willie Dunphy and Stephen 'Picky' Maher who speak about their incredible 2021 journey so far.
Steven may or may not have also bought himself a new kicthen while down there.
We then here from corner back Eoin Doyle who has gone on something of a roller-coaster of emotions this year.
From winning the delayed 2020 final to be suspended for the 2021 decider - Doyle's year has upturned again following wins over Kilmacud and Rapparees.
Steven Miller and Alan Hartnett also give the insight on what way Ballyhale Shamrocks are going ahead of the weekend.
With the Portarlington footballers heading for Croke Park this weekend we have a bumper episode to look ahead to their Leinster club semi-final against Kilmacud Crokes.
We hear from long-serving player David Murphy about his career with club and county, how he soldiered through the barren years with Port and how he's enjoying this incredible spell in his career.
We also chat to Tony Bambrick senior, who is part of the Portarlington stats team and has been involved with the club in some capacity for over 40 years.
We chat about Kilmacud Crokes and assess Port's chances of reaching a first ever Leinster club final.
The LaoisToday Talking Sport Podcast is brought to you in association with Booth Concrete.
The good times just keep on coming for Clough-Ballacolla.
They recorded a brilliant win over Dublin champions Kilmacud Crokes on Saturday night to book their place in the Leinster club final next Sunday against Kilkenny giants Ballyhale Shamrocks.
We hear from full-back Darren Maher, go through the game in detail, clarify the whole 'Clock'/Cluck' issue and discuss how the love for the Laois hurling champions is flooding in from around the county.
As well as that we look back on the Laois U-20 'B' hurling final where Raheen Parish Gaels got the better of Portlaoise on Sunday.
The Clough-Ballacolla hurlers are back in action this weekend when they welcome Kilmacud Crokes to O'Moore Park for the Leinster club championship semi-final.
A final place against Ballyhale Shamrocks or St Ryanagh's of Offaly in Croke Park in January is the prize for the winners and Steven and Alan assess Clough-Ballacolla's chances against the Dublin champions and wonder can they cause an upset?
The lads also look ahead to the U-20 'B' hurling final between Portlaoise and Raheen Parish Gaels.
As well as that, they look back on the Laois GAA convention and hear from former GAA president Nickey Brennan who has been overseeing a strategic review of Gaelic games in the county.
He chats about the Coaching and Games challenges, why he believes there should be a second juvenile club in Portlaoise, the haphazard approach to club amalgamations and embracing the 'New Irish' into the GAA.
The Portarlington footballers deservedly get top billing in our latest Talking Sport Podcast after their thrilling win over St Loman's of Westmeath in Portlaoise on Sunday.
We hear from manager Martin Murphy in the aftermath of that game as they now look forward to a Leinster semi-final in Croke Park against Dublin champions Kilmacud Crokes on Saturday week, December 18.
We try to make sense of what was a brilliant game, go over the various talking points and pick our Man of the Match.
We also chat about the rest of the weekend Leinster club championship action where there was disappointment for Park-Ratheniska, Trumera, O'Moores and Ballyfin while we also discuss the two U-20 'A' football semi-finals.
As well as that we discuss Steven's favourite topic of Kerry football once again, coaching success for former Laois hurler Tommy Fitzgerald in Galway and we pay tribute to Colm Parkinson as his involvement with the brilliant GAA Hour Podcast comes to an end.
The LaoisToday Talking Sport Podcast is brought to you in association with Booth Concrete.
We're into December but the action continues thick and fast in the world of GAA.
The biggest news of the week is that for the second time in 2021, the LaoisToday Talking Sport Podcast is seeking a new football analyst.
We lost Chris Conway to the Laois senior footballers and replaced him with Billy O'Loughlin - but he has now been named the new Longford football boss.
We are now accepting applications for the vacancy - and with our track record of promoting people on to county positions, we expect to be inundated.
The action continues on the field this weekend with five Laois teams set to be in action.
Portarlington begin their Leinster senior adventure on Sunday against St Loman's and ahead of that game, we speak to captain Keith Bracken.
Park-Ratheniska, Trumera, Ballyfin Ladies and O'Moore's are also in action this weekend.
We preview all of those games too while also touching on other bits of GAA news.
We might be heading for December but the GAA season shows no sign of letting up.
On the latest LaoisToday Talking Sport Podcast, we look back on all the weekend action.
Clough-Ballacolla were the big story with a win over Wexford champions Raparees while there was also U-20 hurling glory for Abbeyleix and U-20 'B' football success for Na Fianna Og.
We also chat about Ballinakill's exit from the intermediate championship, the draws for next year's Leinster inter-county championships, the Laois GAA awards and a new county board chairman.
The LaoisToday Talking Sport Podcast is brought to you in association with Booth Concrete.
This week's Talking Sport Podcast is a real Pick and Mix of the local GAA scene - plus we go off topic to chat about the price of cattle.
With six Laois teams in Leinster club championship this coming weekend, we look ahead to all of those games - as well as reviewing last week's action.
We hear from Clough-Ballacolla player Stephen Bergin and Ballinakill manager Damien Walsh ahead of their games while we also preview the U-20 'A' hurling final between Abbeyleix and The Harps and the U-20 'B' football decider between Na Fianna Og and The Heath.
As well as that we discuss the thorny subject of competition gradings and the challenge of fixing games at the minor and U-20 levels.
The latest edition of the LaoisToday Talking Sport Podcast features an indepth interview with outgoing Laois GAA chairman Peter O'Neill.
O'Neill is stepping down as Laois GAA chairman despite having the option of staying on for another year if he wished.
He discusses the reasons why he's opting to step aside now and why he's not interested in remaining on the county executive in another role.
Looking back on his four-year term he chats about what the role entails, some of the challenges, how he views Laois now, his achievements and his regrets.
He also looks back on the Eddie Brennan controversy as well as laying out how Laois voted on Proposal B of the inter-county football restructure at the recent GAA Special Congress.
The LaoisToday Talking Sport Podcast is brought to you in association with Booth Concrete.
We are back with the latest episode of the Talking Sport Podcast with LaoisToday.
After the football county finals concluded last weekend, we all thought the action may slow down - but far from it.
This weekend will see five Laois teams in provincial action - four of them on Saturday.
Barrowhouse are in Leinster Junior football action against Grange of Carlow at 1pm on Saturday while Ballinakill are in Intermediate action at the same time away against Cullion of Westmeath.
Park-Ratheniska are in Dr Cullen Park to take on Naomh Eoin while Ballyfin Ladies begin their Leinster Junior campaign at home to St Anne's.
On Sunday, Ladies champions St Conleth's host Tinahealy of Wicklow in the Leinster Senior Championship.
Steven Miller and Alan Hartnett look ahead to all of those games before we have this week's special interview.
Alan is joined by Park-Ratheniska trio Jimmy Langton, Richie Hitchcock and James Connolly who look back on what has been an incredible 2021.
The trio look back on how the club went from Junior to Senior in the space of 13 weeks - and outline their hopes for the future.
After the interviews, Steven and Alan are back to look ahead to the Laois camogie finals where LaoisToday will once again proudly sponsor the Player of the Match awards.
The LaoisToday Talking Sport Podcast is brought to you in association with Booth Concrete.
Portarlington are Laois SFC champions for the second time in three months thanks to a comprehensive win over Portlaoise,
And following their massive 4-9 to 0-6 win, Steven Miller, Alan Hartnett and Billy O'Loughlin look back on their win, ponder whether they can get a run in Leinster and question what now for Portlaoise.
We also hear from winning manager Martin Murphy and man of the match Paddy O'Sullivan.
Plus we look back on Ballyroan-Abbey's dramatic win over Barrowhouse in the Junior final as well as the ladies intermediate and junior finals.
On a memorable day for Ballyroan football, they also claimed the ladies intermediate title to go senior for the first time in their history while after losing four finals on the trot, Ballyfin got their hands on the junior title.
We also talk cynicism, celebrations and why the terrace is never open in O'Moore Park.
The LaoisToday Talking Sport Podcast is brought to you in association with Booth Concrete.
In the latest edition of the LaoisToday Talking Sport Podcast, Steven Miller, Alan Hartnett and Billy O'Loughlin look ahead to this weekend's Laois SFC and JFC finals.
Champions Portarlington are seeking to win a second senior final in three months but standing in their way is Laois's most successful club Portlaoise.
We hear from both senior managers - Kevin Fitzpatrick in Portlaoise and Martin Murphy in Portarlington.
It's a split vote when it comes to prediction time on the senior final as it is on the junior decider as Barrowhouse seek to return to the intermediate grade and Ballyroan-Abbey's young side look to add another final success to the minor glories in recent years.
The LaoisToday Talking Sport Podcast is brought to you in association with Booth Concrete.
In this special Talking Sport episode, we're joined by Anna Geary, the former All Ireland camogie-winning captain who is now an RTE presenter, coach on Ireland's Fittest Family and pundit on the Sunday Game.
She chats widely about being involved on Ireland's Fittest Family, including this week's dramatic eliminator, as well as what it's like behind the scenes.
She also discusses some of the issues around girls in sport and the lessons she's learned over the years.
Plus she takes our quickfire round - Davy or Donncha, soccer or rugby - and chats about her recent experience driving the new Renault Arkana as a brand ambassador for Joe Mallon Motors in Naas.
What a great day of hurling in O'Moore Park.
The Laois senior hurling final was an epic for the ages as Clough-Ballacolla saw off Borris-Kilcotton in a thrilling clash to win the Bob O'Keeffe Cup for the second time in under three months.
Steven Miller and Alan Hartnett look back on what was a serious battle as well as hearing from Clough-Ballacolla captain Stephen 'Picky' Maher.
They also chat about the Premier Intermediate final where Ballinakill made the most of a good start to beat Ballyfin and return to the senior grade at the first time of asking. We also chat briefly to Ballinakill's Cha Dwyer after the game.
On top of that Alan looks back on the weekend camogie semi-finals and wins for Camross and St Brigid's as reigning champions O'Moores were knocked out.
The LaoisToday Talking Sport Podcast is brought to you in association with Booth Concrete.
In this special edition of the Talking Sport Podcast we're joined by three members of the St Conleth's ladies football team that made history last weekend by winning the Laois senior final for the first time ever.
Aoife Kirrane, Niamh Cullen and Aimee Kelly were all among the first players to line out for an underage St Conleth's team in the early 2000s and they've gone through good days and bad ever since.
Members of the team that reached the All Ireland intermediate club final in 2010, they experienced semi-final losses in each of the past four seasons.
But after reaching their first final this year, they beat kingpins Sarsfields in the final with a really impressive performance.
They chat about the celebrations since that win, the support they received from the community, some of their memories playing with the club over the years and how they now want to compete strongly in Leinster.
The LaoisToday Talking Sport Podcast is brought to you in association with Booth Concrete.
In this episode we look ahead to the Premier Intermediate hurling championship final between Ballinakill and Ballyfin.
Damien Carter joins Steven Miller to look ahead to the game and as a member of the Ballinakill team that won the 2014 county final at this grade, we wonder can this current generation of players follow in his footsteps.
We also hear from both managers - Eamon Jackman from Ballinakill who is coaching the team after an amazing 21-year playing career where he never missed a game. He tells us about how he got involved with the team so soon after retirement as well as explaining how the Ballinakill club came to developing an incredible indoor hurling facility on their grounds.
Enda Lyons joins us from the Ballyfin corner where he chats about how he found himself over this team, balancing the club's football commitments and how he has really enjoyed his role with Laois GAA TV.
The LaoisToday Talking Sport Podcast is brought to you in association with Booth Concrete.
For the second time in under three months, Borris-Kilcotton and Clough-Ballacolla will do battle in the Laois senior hurling final.
The sides only met in August in the delayed 2020 final and now they face off again.
Clough-Ballacolla won that game by 1-22 to 1-17 and arrive to this season's final unbeaten and seeking to retain the title for the first time.
Borris-Kilcotto picked themselves up after that final loss by topping their group and beating Camross and Rathdowney-Errill and were again too strong for Camross in the semi-final two weeks ago.
Clough-Ballacolla eased through their group with huge wins over The Harps, Castletown and Rosenallis and then had too much for Rathdowney-Errill of the semi-final despite being reduced to 14 men late in the first half.
Steven Miller is joined by Damien Carter to look ahead to Sunday's final and we also hear from both managers - Clough-Ballacolla's Declan Laffan and Ciaran Comerford from Borris-Kilcotton.
The LaoisToday Talking Sport Podcast is brought to you in association with Booth Concrete.
Alan Hartnett may be out of action this week but Steven Miller and Billy O'Loughlin are here to keep the show on the road and look back on a very busy weekend of action once again.
Park-Ratheniska and St Conleth's take pride of place following their county final wins over the weekend and we look back at their successes in detail.
We also chat about the men's senior semi-finals. Portlaoise look back to their best and will face a Portarlington side that laboured over Emo in the other semi-final.
Plus we look back on the two junior semi-finals as Barrowhouse set up a novel final clash with Ballyroan-Abbey.
The LaoisToday Talking Sport Podcast is brought to you in association with Booth Concrete.
The action continues to ramp up - and so too do the volume of our Talking Sport Podcasts.
This is our third one of the week and this time it is all about Ladies Football.
Saturday evening at 7pm will see Sarsfields and St Conleth's meeting in the Senior final in O'Moore Park.
After losing the 2020 final to Portlaoise, Sarsfields are competing in their 16th straight final and hoping to win their tenth title.
While for St Conleth's, this is the very ever final appearance and they are hoping to go all the way.
The Podcast begins with interviews from Sarsfields' Pat O'Sullivan and Noel Whelehan of St Conleth's.
Alan Hartnett and Steven Miller then give their views on how the final is likely to pan out.
It's a busy week for the LaoisToday Talking Sport Podcast Production team with three preview episodes available.
Today we look forward to Friday night's intermediate football final between Mountmellick and Park-Ratheniska.
We hear from Mountmellick manager Gordon Lalor and Park-Ratheniska's Kieran Kelly while Steven and Alan preview the match, look at the various match-ups, selection decisions and predict who will win.
It's a split vote - with Steven bidding to complete his 100% record of correctly predicting every intermediate championship match this season.
The LaoisToday Talking Sport Podcast is brought to you in association with Booth Concrete.
With so much to discuss this week, we have split our football podcast out into THREE different episodes.
Our first looks forward to this weekend's senior and junior championship semi-finals as well as discussing the new Laois minor football managerial appointment.
We also look back on the GAA's decision not to change next year's inter-county championship structures - and bemoan the lack of transparency in relation to how counties voted.
The LaoisToday Talking Sport Podcast is brought to you in association with Booth Concrete.
The club hurling season in Laois is really beginning to wrap up now though there are still two hugely significant games to be played in O'Moore Park on Sunday week.
For the second season running - though in the same calendar year - Borris-Kilcotton and Clough-Ballacolla will clash in the Laois senior hurling championship final after their semi-final wins over Camross and Rathdowney-Errill respectively on Sunday.
Alan Hartnett was at those two games in O'Moore Park and he joins Steven Miller to look back on the action.
Steven was at the Premier IHC semi-finals on Saturday night where Ballyfin and Ballinakill booked their final places while the lads also discuss intermediate and junior joy for Trumera and Ballypickas.
You can listen to the latest episode on Soundcloud below or by subscribing on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
The LaoisToday Talking Sport Podcast is brought to you in association with Booth Concrete.
Damien Carter joins Steven Miller on the latest Talking Sport Podcast to look ahead to the weekend hurling action.
The senior semi-finals between Borris-Kilcotton and Camross and Rathdowney-Errill and champions Clough-Ballacolla get top billing while there's also semi-final action in the Premier IHC where Ballinakill and Portlaoise meet in one semi-final and Camross and Ballyfin clash in the other.
As well as that we preview the intermediate hurling final between Clough-Ballacolla and Trumera and the local derby between Ballypickas and Abbeyleix in the junior final.
The LaoisToday Talking Sport Podcast is brought to you in association with Booth Concrete.
It's not often we get Tuesday night football in Laois and given Emo's surprise win over Graiguecullen in the delayed championship quarter-final we've produced a bonus edition to discuss that clash.
A throwaway line in our preview podcast last week dismissing their chances was used as ammunition in the buildup and they haven't been slow to let us know how wrong we were!
Their thrilling 1-12 to 0-12 was the shock result of the quarter-final stage and sets up a semi-final meeting with Portarlington on Sunday week.
We look back on the game, the main talking points, the crucial winning goal and our choice of man of the match.
We also discuss Peter O'Neill's decision to step down as chairman of Laois GAA and the upcoming Congress where a major proposal is on the agenda in relation to the restructuring of the All Ireland football championship.
The LaoisToday Talking Sport Podcast is brought to you in association with Booth Concrete.
And just like that the senior football championship is down to five teams, intermediate to two and junior to four.
The remaining senior quarter-final between Graiguecullen and Emo will be played on Tuesday night but Portarlington, Portlaoise and Ballyroan-Abbey are already through following the weekend action.
Regular LaoisToday Talking Sport Podcast presenters Steven Miller and Alan Hartnett are joined once again by Billy O'Loughlin to look back at the weekend action.
We chat about the three senior football quarter-finals as well as a dramatic relegation final, the intermediate semi-finals, junior quarter-finals and two very close games in the ladies semi-finals.
From traffic jams to man buns, multiple yellow cards to wounded warriors we go into each game in detail as well as choosing the man of the match in each of the weekend's big games.
The LaoisToday Talking Sport Podcast is brought to you in association with Booth Concrete.
In our first football podcast since news broke of Billy Sheehan's appointment as Laois senior football manager, we're joined by recent Laois U-20 boss Billy O'Loughlin to look at the challenge facing them.
We also look ahead to this week's Laois SFC quarter-finals and relegation final as well the intermediate semi-finals and junior quarter-finals.
It's also semi-final weekend in the Laois Ladies SFC with champions Portlaoise facing Sarsfields and St Conleth's taking on St Brigid's.
The LaoisToday Talking Sport Podcast is brought to you in association with Booth Concrete.
It was another weekend of fierce action on the hurling front with games of huge significance in the top four grades.
We had quarter final action in the SHC and Premier IHC - while there was also semi finals in the IHC.
Camross and Rathdowney-Errill joined Borris-Kilcotton and Clough-Ballacolla in the SHC semi finals following wins over Castletown and Rosenallis respectively.
While in the Premier IHC, Ballinakill will face Portlaoise and Ballyfin will take on Camross following the weekend's games.
We also chat about the intermediate and junior semi-finals as well as one of the coolest nicknames in Laois GAA!
The LaoisToday Talking Sport Podcast is brought to you in association with Booth Concrete
And it’s back to hurling championship action this weekend with the knock-out stages finally set to commence.
In the Senior, Camross and Castletown will meet in one quarter final with Rathdowney-Errill and Rosenallis in the other.
Ballinakill and Clonaslee-St Manman's will clash in one Premier IHC quarter final with Camross and Rathdowney-Errill in the other.
While The Harps meet Clough-Ballacolla in one IHC semi final with Trumera and Borris-Kilcotton clashing in the other.
The action over the coming days will also see a number of relegation finals played.
The Senior actually kicks the weekend off as Abbeyleix and The Harps meet tonight in O'Moore Park.
The Premier Intermediate follows that on Friday with Slieve Bloom up against Colt-Shanahoe.
While the IHC playoff is between Mountrath and Park-Ratheniska-Timahoe.
Damien Carter is on the line with Alan Hartnett to look ahead to all of the games.
Another week, another jam-packed schedule of Laois GAA club championship action.
The season ended for six senior and three intermediate teams over the weekend while the group stages of the junior championship also came to a conclusion (sort of).
Portlaoise, Emo, Courtwood and Stradbally all booked their place in the Laois SFC quarter-finals while Arles-Kilcruise and Timahoe went through to the intermediate semi-finals.
At the other end of the championship, Arles-Killeen and Ballyfin both secured their senior status with big wins in the relegation playoffs. But The Heath and Ballylinan must face off in two weeks time to see who makes the drop to intermediate for 2022.
In the intermediate championship, The Rock preserved their status thanks to a comfortable win over Portlaoise.
On our latest Talking Sport Podcast, we look back on all of the weekend games, discuss the talking points, pick our man of the match in each game and look at the pairings for the next round.
Plus we discuss the fallout from the Round 2 Arles-Killeen v Killeshin game and the suspensions that never were.
The Laois football championships return this evening with another busy couple of days of action scheduled.
Neighbours Arles-Kilcruise and Crettyard do battle in the intermediate football quarter-final in the first game of the weekend on Thursday night while Timahoe and O'Dempsey's meet in the other quarter-final on Friday.
The first of the senior double headers is on Saturday with Courtwood taking on Clonaslee and Emo meeting Rosenallis - for both of those games it is the first ever senior championship meeting.
There is two double headers on Sunday - The Heath and Ballyfin in the relegation semi-final is the opening game, followed by Stradbally and Killeshin, while on Sunday evening neighbours Ballylinan and Arles-Killeen meet in the other relegation game with St Joseph's and Portlaoise playing in the final game.
All difficult games to call - and Steven and Alan bid to make predictions.
They also chat about the shambolic group stages of the Junior football championship and hope that things will pick up for the knockout stages.
The LaoisToday Talking Sport Podcast is brought to you in association with Booth Concrete.
In a special bonus edition of the Talking Sport Podcast, it is all about Minor.
Wednesday evening saw Graiguecullen and Na Fianna Og meet in Minor 'A' football final with Graiguecullen coming back from two points down at half time to win by six in the end.
Steven Miller was at the game and he reflects on it here with Alan Hartnett as he picks a Man of the Match, chats about the young players coming through and how Graigue are on the up. .
In part 2 of the Minor special, the lads look ahead to Friday's 'A' hurling final.
Abbeyleix are contesting their third straight final and are hoping to make it two in a row.
But Camross stand in their way of doing just that and this one is expected to be close.
Both teams are littered with county quality and if the weather holds up, we could be set for a cracker.
The LaoisToday Talking Sport Podcast is brought to you in association with Booth Concrete.
Once again it was a busy weekend of local GAA championship action with hurling going centre stage again as the knockout places were confirmed.
There was drama in the senior hurling as a late goal sent Rosenallis through to the quarter-final and knocked out The Harps - as well as sending them into a relegation final.
They'll play neighbours Abbeyleix in that game, who were well beaten by Camross in their Thursday night clash.
Are Camross back? Are Clough-Ballacolla unbeatable? What of Rathdowney-Errill and Borris-Kilcotton? And who will make the drop?
They're some of the issues we discuss on this week's Talking Sport Podcast as well as running our eye over the lower grades where it's getting down to business now too in the Premier Intermediate, Intermediate and Junior 'A' now too.
Plus we preview this week's Minor 'A' hurling final as well as looking back on last week's thrilling Minor 'B' decider.
The LaoisToday Talking Sport Podcast is brought to you in association with Booth Concrete.
And it's back to hurling championship action this weekend with a number of big games in the top two grades set to finalise the quarter-final pairings.
In the senior grade there are two games of huge consequence - Abbeyleix v Camross and The Harps v Rosenallis.
The winners of those two games will go through to the quarter-finals while the respective losers will face off in the relegation playoff.
The meeting of Borris-Kilcotton and Rathdowney-Errill and Clough-Ballacolla and Castletown will merely decide who goes through as group winners and straight to the semi-finals.
Everything is still up for grabs in the premier intermediate grade though it's much clearer in the intermediate where the semi-finalists are already known and the main thing to be decided this weekend is who will end up in the relegation decider.
Damien Carter is on the line with Alan Hartnett to look ahead to all of the games, while Alan also hears from Eddie Downey from Portarlington, about the club's hurling rise following their success in the U-15 'B' final last weekend.
He chats about the work being done on hurling in Portarlington - as well as what the future might hold.
It was another busy weekend of Laois GAA action as the local football championships once again went centre stage.
Six teams are now out of the top two tiers of the competition and are in relegation battles.
Arles-Killeen, Ballylinan, Ballyfin and The Heath have all been eliminated from the Laois SFC.
While The Rock and Portlaoise's second team will contest the IFC relegation final in two weeks time.
The big talking point from the weekend came from the row involving Arles-Killeen and Killeshin - the outcome of which will be known as the week goes on.
Steven Miller and Alan Hartnett are here to review all of the games from the weekend in the SFC and IFC.
They also give an update on the current games in the Ladies SFC while also reflecting on the first ever Confirmation to be held in O'Moore Park.
The Thursday night Laois GAA action is becoming a bit of a thing - and it delivered in style again this week with three big football championships down for decision.
And all three produced plenty to talk about.
Rank outsiders Clonaslee-St Manman's got the better of Ballylinan to book their place in Round 3 of the Laois SFC and send Ballylinan to a relegation playoff while in the intermediate championship Park-Ratheniska and Timahoe advanced.
Park-Ratheniska, who only won the 2020 junior final back in June, were hugely impressive 3-16 to 0-10 winners over last year's intermediate finalists Crettyard.
It's a result that sends Park-Ratheniska to a semi-final in four weeks time.
The other intermediate game saw Timahoe beat The Rock thanks to a last-minute Brendan Quigley goal. Timahoe now go forward to a quarter-final while The Rock must play in the relegation final.
In our latest Talking Sport Podcast, we look back at all three games as well as picking our man of the match from each.
We also discuss the 'feedback' that comes with getting predictions wrong! Please, Clonaslee, go easy on us!!
There are eight Laois senior football championship games down for decision over the coming days as well as four in the intermediate and a handful in the junior and our latest Talking Sport Podcast is here to look ahead to all of the action.
For those who lost in the opening round of the senior or intermediate, they are now in the last-chance saloon - a loss would end their championship and send them into the relegation playoffs.
And the draw has thrown up some tasty contests and local derbies on the losers side of the senior in particular.
Ballyfin v Portlaoise, Arles-Killeen v Killeshin and Emo v The Heath are all local derbies where the winners will be back in contention and the losers out. Ballylinan v Clonaslee-St Manman's is the final pairing on that side of the draw.
In the winners section, champions Portarlington take on Courtwood while Graiguecullen face Stradbally, O'Dempsey's meet Rosenallis and Ballyroan-Abbey play St Joseph's.
The standout game in the intermediate is the meeting of last year's beaten finalists Crettyard and the 2020 junior champions Park-Ratheniska.
Mountmellick play O'Dempsey's in the other game in the winners section. On the losers side, Arles-Kilcruise will be expected to beat Portlaoise's second team while Timahoe and The Rock should be an interesting clash.
We also look briefly ahead to the games in the junior championship, last weekend's minor semi-finals and opening round of the ladies championship as well as chatting about the approach of some no-nonsense referees.
It was another busy weekend of Laois GAA action as the local hurling championships once again went centre stage.
The picture is becoming somewhat clearer though after two rounds of the senior and premier intermediate competitions, there is still no team knocked out.
Clough-Ballacolla, Castletown, Rathdowney-Errill and Borris-Kilcotton are all assured of a knockout spot in the senior, though the final round of games in two weeks will decide who tops the respective groups and goes straight through to the semi-finals.
The winner of The Harps v Rosenallis and Abbeyleix v Camross will also go through to the quarter-finals with the losers of those games meeting in the relegation final.
In the premier intermediate, last year's beaten finalists Portlaoise are the only side with a 100% record but will need to win their final game against Clonaslee to top the group.
Camross, Clonaslee and Colt-Shanahoe are still in contention in that group to go through.
In the other group, all four teams are on two points having won one and lost one game each. Ballinakill will play Slieve Bloom and Rathdowney-Errill will play Ballyfin in the final round of games.
In the intermediate grade, the semi-finalists are decided - Trumera, The Harps, Clough-Ballacolla and Borris-Kilcotton - but the final round of games will decide the semi-final pairings.
At the other end of that competition, Mountmellick, Mountrath, Park-Ratheniska/Timahoe and Clonad are all out with their last game essentially acting as relegation semi-finals.
In our latest Talking Sport Podcast, we look back on all of the games in those three competitions as as well as some of the finals that have taken place over the past week in other grades.
Hurling goes centre stage again this weekend with Round 2 of the Laois hurling championships across the top three grades.
And we’re back with our latest Talking Sport Podcast with Damien Carter joining Alan Hartnett to look ahead to all of the action.
On paper, the biggest game of the weekend is the meeting of neighbours Borris-Kilcotton and Camross in O’Moore Park on Saturday.
With both teams having failed to win their opening game – Camross lost to Rathdowney-Errill and Borris-Kilcotton drew with Abbeyleix – they both need a win to avoid heading into the last round of group games in relegation bother.
Having never previously beaten Camross in the championship, Borris-Kilcotton have won the last two meetings in 2020 and 2019. The other game in that group sees favourites Rathdowney-Errill take on Abbeyleix.
In the other group, the big game is the meeting of The Harps and Castletown on Friday night.
The Harps will have had only five days to recover from their opening round loss to Clough-Ballacolla and a loss here against a Castletown side that beat Rosenallis in the opening round would leave them needing to win their final group game against Rosenallis to stay out of relegation trouble. A Castletown win would ensure their safe passage to the knockout stages.
In the other game in that group, champions Clough-Ballacolla will be expected to beat Rosenallis to stay top of the group.
The lads also look ahead to all the games in the Premier Intermediate and Intermediate games – and make their predictions.
What a busy weekend that was and in our latest LaoisToday Talking Sport Podcast, we look back on all the local club GAA action.
Following on from Courtwood's shock win over Portlaoise in the first round on Thursday night, which we discussed on Friday's Podcast, there was another upset on Friday evening when O'Dempsey's got the better of Emo.
We discuss that impressive showing - as well as the games on Saturday that saw wins for Graiguecullen, Portarlington and Ballyroan-Abbey.
From there it was on to Sunday where Rosenallis, Stradbally and St Joseph's all booked their place in the Round 2 winner section.
We look back at all the games, pick our Man of the Match in each and look briefly ahead to the Round 2 fixtures in two weeks time.
We also chat about the intermediate draw and Sunday's junior football games, where Annanough were the only first team in action.
As well as that we chat about Portlaoise's upcoming Leinster club ladies football final, the Laois links to Meath's success in the All Ireland ladies final and Westmeath's win in the intermediate grade.
Plus the end of Laois GAA TV and Steven's pet hate of frees not being taken from the correct position!
Another midweek evening, another selection of Talking Points from an eventful schedule of Laois club championship action.
And that's why we're back with our latest Talking Sport Podcast.
What an incredible start to the senior football championship: massive outsiders Courtwood beating Portlaoise, champions in 12 of the last 14 seasons.
Alan Hartnett was at that one and he talks about Courtwood's incredible display, Eddie Kinsella's managerial masterclass - and how far can they go now?
And what of Portlaoise? They've now lost three of their last five championship games in Laois. Can their sharp decline be halted or are they facing a period in the doldrums, as they did throughout the 1990s?
Steven Miller was at the intermediate championship game between Crettyard and The Rock as Crettyard stormed back in the final quarter of an entertaining game.
While we also discuss Mountmellick's gritty 0-13 to 0-10 win over Arles-Kilcruise.
As well as that we look forward to tonight's senior game between Emo and O'Dempsey's.
With the local sporting action coming thick and fast, we're going into overdrive with our podcasts these days.
In our latest Talking Sport episode, we discuss Park-Ratheniska's stunning start to the intermediate football championship and their 17-point win over neighbours Timahoe last night.
Are Park now serious contenders to win it out and go senior? And are Timahoe in danger of dropping to junior?
We also look briefly ahead to tonight's games - the senior clash of Portlaoise-Courtwood and the intermediate games between Crettyard-The Rock and Arles-Kilcruise-Mountmellick.
As well as that we discuss the farcical situation in the junior football championship where two walkovers were given last night and one club won't play a meaningful game now until mid-October.
Plus we discuss a dramatic hurling penalty shootout the other night as well going off topic discuss the heartbreaking loss for the Ireland soccer team and the official word that there will be no Electric Picnic this year.
About a month later than usual, the top three grades of the Laois football championships are set to commence this week.
Alan Hartnett and Steven Miller look ahead to the upcoming action.
The lads discuss how they feel the first round games across the top three grades will go.
They then each predict who will win the three competitions and also who they believe will be battling relegation.
The lads also look back on last week's Leinster Ladies Minor 'B' final which Laois won.
Apologies, first of all that this week's episode is a day late.
The exploits of Nicole Turner and Gary O'Reilly at the Paralympics mean that we're recording this week on Tuesday morning instead.
And we start by offering our congratulations to Nicole and Gary who have claimed silver and bronze medals respectively. Alan chats through their performances and anticipates a serious homecoming for both in the coming days.
We also look back on a busy weekend of club hurling championship action.
Have Rathdowney-Errill justified their status as favourites? What of Camross?
Did Castletown cause an upset or is it second-season syndrome for Rosenallis? And did Abbeyleix let Borris-Kilcotton off the hook?
We also discuss the Premier Intermediate grade where Ballyfin were narrow winners over Ballinakill while Portlaoise, Rathdowney-Errill and Clonaslee all had big wins.
In the intermediate grade, The Harps, Clough-Ballacolla, Borris-Kilcotton and Trumera all had wins while a red mist descended on Mountrath and Mountmellick, Clonad and Park-Ratheniska are all on the back foot after opening round losses.
About a month later than usual, the top four grades of the Laois hurling championships are set to commence this week.
Hurling analyst Damien Carter joins Alan Hartnett and Steven Miller as they look ahead to the upcoming action.
There has been drama before a ball has even been pucked as the SHC game between The Harps and Clough-Ballacolla has been postponed due to Covid-19 cases in The Harps.
The lads discuss how they feel the first round games across the top three grades will go.
They then each predict who will win the three competitions and also who they believe will be battling relegation.
Following the last quiet weekend on the GAA front for the foreseeable future, we have a very special interview for Monday's edition of the Talking Sport Podcast.
Ballyfin's Will Reilly, Laois's newest Irish rugby international, joins Alan Hartnett to discuss his journey so far.
Reilly's rise through the ranks has been very impressive over the last number of years.
Success with Portlaoise RFC followed on to North Midlands and then eventually led him to Leinster.
At the same time, Reilly was competing well on the GAA front as he represented the Laois minors and his club.
The defining moment came for him in May when he secured a place in the Ireland squad for the U-20 Six Nations.
In the same week, Reilly signed a pro contract with the Connacht Rugby academy.
His career is certainly on an upward trajectory and Will has big hopes for the future too.
The special guest on this week's LaoisToday Talking Sport Podcast is Portarlington senior football manager Martin Murphy.
Murphy guided Portarlington to the 2020 SFC title last weekend, their first championship success since 2001.
He looks back on the fragmented season, what it was like to get the job done - and the challenge of retaining the title in the new campaign which gets underway in just over two weeks time.
He also chats about his success with other teams, notably with Stradbally in 2005 and 2016 as well as with Daingean in Offaly in 2002 and his time with other clubs, Tinryland in Carlow in 2011 and Timahoe in Laois in the late 1990s.
As well as that he looks back on his time as manager of the Portarlington rugby team and incredibly dramatic series of games with Portlaoise in the 2003 Towns Cup.
Plus he discusses how management has changed over the years and why he hasn't been tempted to get involved in the inter-county scene.
What a busy weekend that was!
Three county finals from 2020 and an All Ireland intermediate ladies football semi-final.
And because there's so much to talk about, we've split our Monday Talking Sport Podcast out in to two episodes this week - one for football and one for hurling, where Alan, Steven and Damien reflect on the senior and premier intermediate finals.
For the football we're joined by Chris Conway to look back on Portarlington's dominant display that saw them beat Graiguecullen 1-15 to 0-7 to win their first senior championship since 2001.
We reflect on the early black card for Graigue and the impact that had on the game - but Port were on top across the field and really delivered in style on the big day.
Can they now go on and win the 2021 championship, which begins in under three weeks time?
Away from Port's manic celebrations, Alan was in Nowlan Park in Kilkenny where the Laois ladies football team were beaten by Wexford in the All Ireland semi-final.
The defeat brings an end to an eventful season but was it an opportunity lost to make it to Croke Park for All Ireland final day? Or can Laois regroup and come back stronger in 2022?
After a huge weekend of club action, we've split up our Talking Sport Podcast into two parts - hurling and football.
This episode focuses solely on hurling as Damien Carter joins Steven Miller and Alan Hartnett to reflect on it all.
First, the lads discuss the 2020 Laois SHC final between Clough-Ballacolla and Borris-Kilcotton which took place on Saturday evening.
Clough-Ballacolla won their first Laois SHC title since 2015 as the excellence of Stephen Maher and Robbie Phelan fired them to glory.
Maher scored 13 points while Phelan ended with 1-3 as Clough-Ballacolla ran out five point winners.
The lads reflect on a brilliant performance and examine where the game was won.
They then turn their attentions back to Friday evening where The Harps made history against Portlaoise.
Not since Durrow won the intermediate title in 1976 has a main team from the parish won a hurling championship title, making it the longest any club in the county has gone without serious silverware.
While they’ve won plenty of league titles, underage and junior grades – as well as a selection of camogie and football championships – their main hurling team has endured serious heartache since the Durrow and Cullohill clubs came together in 1984.
The lads manage to conclude their chat just in time for the latest episode of Love Island too.
Podcast fans are being treated this week as this is the third Talking Sport edition in the last four days.
Yesterday, we focused on the hurling championship finals with a show from Bob's Bar in Durrow.
While today, Steven and Alan are back once again where the focus is all on football.
Former Laois footballer Chris Conway joins the lads to discuss Sunday's 2020 SFC final.
Portarlington face Graiguecullen for the first time ever in a senior final and the lads looks ahead at the key match ups and discuss how they think the game will go.
After that, Steven and Alan look ahead to the Ladies All-Ireland semi final against Wexford in Kilkenny.
After so long being cooped up in offices and looking at each other on Zoom calls, the LaoisToday Talking Sport Podcast went on a road trip this week to record our hurling county final preview show.
Durrow was the destination and the picturesque Bob's Bar was the venue as Steven Miller, Alan Hartnett and Damien Carter looked ahead to this weekend's delayed 2020 hurling finals.
It was a behind-closed-doors recording in Bob's Hideout upstairs - but all going well we'll get to a venue at some point in the future with an audience. And as Christy Moore might say "with six creamy pints out on a tray".
The Harps - who are bidding to win a first championship title for the parish with a main team since Durrow's 1976 intermediate triumph - take on Portlaoise in the Premier Intermediate final on Friday evening while on Saturday Clough-Ballacolla and Rathdowney-Errill meet in the senior decider.
Both Durrow and Cullohill are decorated brilliantly in the yellow and red colours of The Harps as they seek to win the title in what is their third final in a row to be in.
Portlaoise, who got the better of The Harps in the 2018 final, though, will be serious opposition. Is The Harps time now? Alan and Damien reckon it is. Steven isn't as sure.
As for the senior game, again it's a hard one to call. Borris-Kilcotton are seeking a second senior title and a first since 2016 while you have to go back to 2015 for Ballacolla's last championship win though they are going for a fourth in 11 seasons.
Again the lads are split on who will win it, and to rob a great line from former Limerick player and manager TJ Ryan: "It's like a deaf dog. Hard to call."
Alan and Steven also chat about the Laois camogie manager's job, which is now vacant following the decision of John Desmond to step down after two years in the role.
We will have another episode out on Thursday morning to look ahead to the 2020 senior football final between Portarlington and Graiguecullen as well as the All Ireland intermediate ladies football semi-final on Sunday between Laois and Wexford.
It was another busy week of local GAA action as the delayed 2020 seasons resumed with the two senior football championship semi-finals as well as the Junior 'B' final.
The Laois ladies footballers booked their place in the All Ireland intermediate championship semi-final while there was also a Division 2 league football final and a Division 1A relegation playoff to look back at.
First up Steven and Alan chat about the 2020 Laois SFC semi-finals where Graiguecullen were impressive and deserved winners over Emo on Friday night.
Can Graigue now finish off the job and win a first senior title since 1965? Or are Port going to be too strong? They were comfortable winners over Ballyfin in the other semi-final on Saturday night.
Spink claimed championship glory with their win over Graiguecullen in the 2020 Junior 'B' final on Sunday morning while Rosenallis got the better of Mountmellick in a very entertaining Division 2 football league final, also on Sunday.
Steven and Alan were both in Kinnegad to look at the Laois ladies football team take on Louth in the All Ireland quarter-final and while they weren't as impressive as they had been in the earlier rounds, they did get the win with a bit to spare.
They are now have an All Ireland semi-final against Wexford to look forward to next Sunday, which is looking like will clash with the senior county final.
After a break for the Bank Holiday weekend, we are back with a bumper Podcast this week.
Up first, analyst Chris Conway joins Steven Miller and Alan Hartnett to chat about the upcoming 2020 senior football championship semi finals.
The action begins on Friday night when Graiguecullen face Emo with the other semi final between Ballyfin and Portarlington on 24 hours later.
The lads discuss both games and then give their verdict on who they think will win.
In part two, Steven and Alan look back on the Division 1A hurling final between Rathdowney-Errill and Borris-Kilcotton.
They then discuss a great win for Laois camogie against Tipperary while also looking ahead to their must win game against Kerry.
The show concludes with a focus on the Laois ladies who face Louth in the All-Ireland quarter final on Sunday.
Alan chats to Dan Bannon from the LouthAndProud Podcast who tells us all we should know about Laois's opponents.
Matthew Whelan is the special guest on this week's LaoisToday Talking Sport Podcast to look back on his 15-year career with the Laois hurlers which he brought to an end when he announced his retirement after Saturday's Division 1 relegation playoff win over Westmeath.
The Borris-Kilcotton club man chats about his career, the good and bad days in the Laois jersey and how he sees the county progressing in the coming years.
He also looks ahead to the delayed 2020 Laois SHC final between Borris-Kilcotton and Clough-Ballacolla in two weeks time.
Steven and Alan chat briefly about that win over Westmeath as well as the ladies footballers qualifying for the All Ireland quarter-final and how they now have to handle the mantle of being favourites.
In addition they chat about the upcoming club league finals as well as a possible increase of O'Moore Park's capacity to 1,400, something that would be hugely welcomed by both Laois and club officials
It's another busy weekend on the Laois GAA scene with three county teams in action again.
The Laois senior hurlers face a huge game against Westmeath on Saturday evening when they host Westmeath in the National Hurling League Division 1 relegation playoff in O'Moore Park.
Both sides will play in a six-team round-robin Leinster championship in 2022 but the loser of Saturday's game will be relegated to Division 2 of the league which wouldn't be ideal preparation for such a demanding championship.
Presenter Steven Miller is joined by Damien Carter to look ahead to that game, how the Laois team might line out and what to expect from Westmeath.
As well as that they chat about a busy weekend of club league games - with the semi-finals down for decision in both hurling and football.
Damien was on commentary duty for the O'Dempsey's v Portarlington Division 1 football game on Tuesday evening as Portarlington continue to impress ahead of the upcoming championship action.
Steven is also joined by Roscommon-based journalist Kevin Egan to look ahead to Sunday's All Ireland intermediate championship clash between Laois and Roscommon in Kinnegad.
Laois are in a decent position to qualify for the quarter-finals but a four-point win for Roscommon would send them through and knock Laois out.
We also chat briefly about the opening round of the All Ireland intermediate camogie championship where Laois entertain Derry in O'Moore Park on Saturday afternoon.
On the hottest weekend of the year, Laois GAA fans were treated to two incredible championship matches, both of which went right down to the wire.
On Saturday the senior hurlers pushed Waterford all the way in the All Ireland Qualifiers before eventually succumbing to a five-point loss.
Presenter Steven Miller is joined by Alan Hartnett and Damien Carter to look back on that game.
Though disappointed that Laois didn't pull off a shock win, there has been a marked turnaround in approach since losing the opening game to Wexford.
But despite exiting the championship the season isn't finished just yet and Laois face Westmeath in the Division 1 league playoff this Saturday in O'Moore Park in a fixture that is likely to go right down to the wire again.
Steven and Alan also look back on Laois's win over Kildare in the All Ireland intermediate ladies football championship.
The ladies have played in a number of thrilling games already this year en route to winning the Division 3 league title - and their championship opener was an epic too.
They led by eight points early in the second half, trailed by four at the water break and eventually won by two.
They now play Roscommon in their second group game this Sunday where a win would see them top the group and face Louth or Offaly in the All Ireland quarter-final.
A draw or a loss of three points or less would see them through in second place to play Leitrim.
Alan also looks back on the club football league matches he was at at the weekend while the Go Games, a LaoisToday Golf Society and a Harry Kane apology also get a mention.
We're back with the latest edition of the Talking Sport Podcast and this episode is split in two parts.
Part 1 sees host Alan Hartnett chat with hurling analyst Damien Carter.
The pair look back on the Laois U-20s dramatic clash with Kilkenny on Tuesday evening - a game they could've won!
They also look ahead to the Laois senior hurlers clash with Waterford which takes place this weekend.
While Damien, a selector with the Laois minor hurlers this year, reflects on their disappointing exit from the championship against Kildare.
In part 2, Steven Miller joins Alan as the duo look back on the draw for the 2021 club championships which took place last week.
They go through the interesting ties, moan about structures and try to call who they think will win the top grades.
There's only one place to start after that weekend of sporting action and that's with the Laois hurlers, who recorded a thrilling win over Antrim in Parnell Park on Saturday.
It's a result that sends Laois into an All Ireland Hurling qualifier game with Waterford next weekend and also crucially keeps their place in next year's Leinster championship.
We hear from Laois manager Seamas 'Cheddar' Plunkett after the game as well as discussing the game's many talking points.
Laois's savage intensity, the brilliance of Enda Rowland, Paddy Purcell and Podge Delaney - among others - sin bins and red cards.
We also discuss how the GAA can come up with a system that keeps the likes of Laois and Antrim playing the top-tier counties, as well as the likes of Westmeath, Carlow and Kerry in a meaningful way.
We also look back on the Laois minor football loss to Louth, ahead to the U-20 hurling game with Kilkenny and go on various rambles on the way too.
Were you sorry to see England beaten? How hardy is Giorgio Chiellini? And remembering the day Paul McGrath kept Italy at bay in the World Cup.
As well as that we discuss a new local sporting star - 18-year-old jockey Julie McDonald from Spink.
It could not be any busier for Laois GAA teams at the moment.
In the last 12 days there have been seven championship games for Laois teams - and an amount of talking points and controversies.
We've had extra times and penalty shootouts and a resignation from Laois senior football manager Mike Quirke.
And coming up we have the Laois hurlers in a crucial All Ireland Qualifier game against Antrim that also doubles up as relegation game to see who will drop to the Joe McDonagh Cup in 2022.
We start this episode by discussing Mike Quirke's decision to step down as Laois football manager in the wake of Sunday's 3-20 to 1-10 loss to Westmeath in the Leinster championship. How will his time in charge be remembered, who are the contenders to take over - and what can we expect of Laois over the next couple of seasons.
We look ahead to Laois's must-win hurling clash with Antrim as well as hearing from U-20 hurling captain as they look ahead to a Leinster quarter-final clash with Kilkenny next week on the back of wins over Westmeath and Antrim.
We also cast our eye back over the Laois v Kildare minor hurling championship game on Wednesday night that saw Laois crash out at the first hurdle.
And as well as looking ahead to the Laois v Louth minor football game, we hear from Dan Bannon, host of the Louth and Proud Podcast.
After a bitterly disappointing couple of days of GAA in Laois, we are back with the latest Talking Sport Podcast.
Alan Hartnett is not joined by Steven Miller this week as the latter is away on his holidays.
So this episode will comprise largely of different interviews - along with a brief monologue from Alan.
Up first, Laois football manager Mike Quirke gives his reaction to his side's crushing 16 point defeat to Westmeath on Sunday - and there is a rather tetchy exchange between him and Midlands 103's Jack Nolan.
Former Laois footballer Chris Conway then joins Alan to discuss the game and look at where Laois go from here.
There is some chat about the U-20 footballers who were very unlucky to lose to Wicklow on Thursday.
While the podcast concludes with a chat with Laois U-20 hurling manager Ollie Hally who's side are getting ready to face Antrim on Tuesday.
The GAA action keeps coming and we are back with another instalment of the Talking Sport Podcast.
Alan Hartnett is joined by Steven Miller to give a run down of the action that is ahead for Laois fans.
Before all of that, we have to go back to Tuesday evening and the drama that took place between Laois and Westmeath in the U-20 hurling championship.
Laois squandered a 15 point lead but came back to win by six in extra time and progress to the next round.
Eddie Kinsella's U-20 footballers are away to Wicklow in Round 1 of that championship this evening.
They have reached the last two provincial finals at this grade but are actually underdogs for this game.
The podcast will also hear from Laois senior manager Mike Quirke while the lads will preview their Leinster clash with Westmeath.
It was another busy weekend of local GAA action with pride of place undoubtedly going to the Laois ladies footballers who claimed the Division 3 National League title with a thrilling win over Kildare on Sunday.
In an epic battle in Baltinglass, Mo Nerney popped up with the winning point with less than a minute of normal time remaining.
It was a heroic performance from Laois all round as they got the better of their neighbours for the the third time in a row - with this win also sealing promotion to Division 2 for 2022.
It also sets them up perfectly for the All Ireland intermediate championship - where Kildare and Roscommon, the side they beat in the league semi-final, in their group.
We hear from manager Donie Brennan while Steven and Alan look back on the game.
We also hear from Laois hurling manager Seamas 'Cheddar' Plunkett in the wake of their disappointing 5-31 to 1-23 loss to Wexford in the opening round of the Leinster championship, a result that means they now have to beat Antrim in two weeks time to avoid dropping to the Joe McDonagh Cup competition once again.
As well as that Alan goes into detail on the Laois minor footballers' dramatic penalty shootout win over Wexford on Saturday.
And finally, we discuss Park-Ratheniska's Laois junior football championship win on Friday night and hear from their manager Kieran Kelly, chairman John Kelly, captain Mark Delaney and top scorer Kieran Delaney on what the success means for the club.
After an inter-county free weekend last week, the top level of the GAA roars back into action this weekend.
Three Laois teams are set to take to the field with significant things at stake.
The Laois minor footballers begin their Leinster championship campaign at home to Wexford on Saturday afternoon.
The Laois senior hurlers will go in search of their first win of 2021 against Wexford in a Leinster quarter final later that day in Kilkenny.
Steven Miller and Alan Hartnett will preview both of those games and also look ahead to the Ladies National League Division 3 final on Sunday between Laois and Kildare.
The pair will also chat about Friday's 2020 junior football final which will see Park-Ratheniska take on Portlaoise.
The show will conclude with an interview with Laois ladies forward Erone Fitzpatrick.
A nightmare knee injury made 2020 even more unbearable for her than most of us but she is back now, flying again and hoping for a win in Baltinglass.
The longest day of the year this year is coinciding with a significant increase in sporting action both on a local and global scale.
Four Laois adult county finals were down for decision over the weekend with four groups of players experiencing the thrill of championship success.
On our latest LaoisToday Talking Sport Podcast, Steven Miller and Alan Hartnett look back on all the action.
They discuss hurling final wins for Rathdowney-Errill, The Harps and Camross, football joy for Kilcotton and junior football semi-final wins for Portlaoise and Park-Ratheniska.
They also chat about the full schedule of Division 1A and 1B football league games over the weekend.
As well as that, they discuss the summer soccer season for the CCFL and lament the reduction in local soccer teams over the years.
There's also chat about Will Reilly's debut for the Ireland U-20 rugby team over the weekend and the success of the Ireland 7s rugby side qualifying for this year's Olympics in Tokyo.
After six weeks of inter-county GAA, the action this weekend focuses on club.
None of Laois's four adult teams are in action and the emphasis is back on the multitude of club games that are taking place this weekend.
The action gets underway on Friday night with a host of championship games from 2020.
The intermediate hurling final sees Trumera and Rathdowney-Errill meet in O'Moore Park while Kilcotton take on Colt in the junior 'C' decider.
The junior football semi finals are also down for decision as Portlaoise meet The Heath and Ballyroan-Abbey take on Park-Ratheniska.
Saturday will see the junior 'A' and 'B' hurling championship finals with Portlaoise facing The Harps and Camross respectively.
Steven Miller and Alan Hartnett will run through all of these games and also discuss the recent Ireland rugby call ups for Will Reilly and Tom Daly.
The interview will end with an interview from Laois Games Development Manager Mike Henchy.
He will provide an update on Cul Camps, GAA coaching courses, GPO take up and give some tips for current club coaches.
So far this year the Laois hurlers and footballers have played a combined nine games between them and lost all nine.
The latest football loss to Down on Saturday evening sends the county to Division 3 for 2021 and Steven Miller, Alan Hartnett and Chris Conway discuss the fallout from that game, including Mike Quirke's aftermatch comments.
We look back at the game, ask were there any positives and how can Laois now approach their championship clash with Westmeath in three weeks time.
Damien Carter joins us to discuss Laois's latest hurling loss to Antrim and whether Laois have something up their sleeve to shock Wexford on Saturday week in the Leinster quarter-final.
But the game of the weekend was undoubtedly the Laois ladies football Division 3 semi-final win over Roscommon and Alan Hartnett is well impressed with their style of play and approach as they now look forward to a league final against Kildare.
He also chats about Laois camogie's win over Dublin that preserves their Division 2 league status - and their favourable championship draw.
And all of a sudden there is more GAA games than we can keep up with.
All four Laois adult county games are in action this weekend as well as the return of club league games, outstanding 2020 championship fixtures and underage county finals.
Steven and Alan are back with this week's LaoisToday Talking Sport Podcast to look ahead to the Laois footballers relegation playoff against Down, the hurlers clash with Antrim, the ladies football Division 3 semi-final and a camogie relegation game.
Can the Laois footballers survive in Division 2? Are the hurlers heading in the right direction? What can they learn from Kilkenny game?
The action continues this weekend with two of Laois’s adults GAA teams set to take to the field.
The Laois camogie and football teams will be glad of a break this weekend following some heavy defeats throughout May.
But after their weekend off, the Laois hurlers are back this Sunday away to Kilkenny.
Steven Miller and Alan Hartnett discuss their chances and look at the broader picture on how the rest of the year is likely to unfold.
The ladies footballers are guaranteed a Division 3 semi final place but they will be keen to keep their winning streak going away to Wicklow.
The minor football and hurling panels have been released and Alan will provide a breakdown of the clubs involved while Steven will tell you who all the player's fathers and grandfathers are.
The show concludes with a chat with Paralympic swimmer Nicole Turner.
The Portarlington native is just home after claiming four medals at the European Championships and now has her sights firmly placed on Tokyo.
The return of GAA action hasn't been a positive one for Laois football and hurling supporters.
Both adult county teams have played three National League games each and have lost every one of them. Relegation remains a distinct possibility for both.
On Sunday in O'Moore Park the footballers lost to Kildare by 2-18 to 1-8, their third loss on successive weekends and a result that confirmed their place at the bottom of Division 2 South.
In our latest Talking Sport Podcast we hear the thoughts of Laois football manager Mike Quirke after the game as well as reaction from former Laois player Chris Conway and LaoisToday's Alan Hartnett and Steven Miller.
This week's podcast was recorded in O'Moore Park after the game - the first of the year not to be conducted via Zoom!
The action continues this weekend with three of Laois’s adults GAA teams set to take to the field.
For the Laois footballers, it is their third game of 2021 as they will host Kildare, still in search of their first win.
Kildare lost out to Clare last weekend and we’ll be joined by former footballer Johnny Doyle to get the view from over there.
A brand ambassador for Joe Mallon Motors, the Allenwood man will also recall some of his memories from encounters with Laois in his playing days.
The Laois ladies are the only team to have recorded a win this year as they defeated Kildare last weekend.
They travel to Longford on Sunday and will be hoping for two on the bounce. We chat to manager Donie Brennan ahead of that one.
While we also look ahead to Laois Camogie's must win encounter with Wexford in O'Moore Park on Saturday afternoon.
Host Alan Hartnett is joined by Steven Miller for all of that plus more.
The Laois ladies footballers provided the highlight of the weekend with their National League win over Kildare.
Given that the men's footballers and hurlers as well as the camogie team were all beaten it was a timely boost for GAA in the county.
It hasn't been a great couple of weeks for Laois since sporting action returned with the hurlers losing all three league games to date and the footballers two.
Alan Hartnett was at all three Laois games over the weekend and he joins us on today's podcast to look back on the action.
And we also hear from former Laois footballer Chris Conway as well as former county hurler Damien Carter.
As well as that we have reaction from both Laois football manager Mike Quirke and hurling boss Seamas 'Cheddar' Plunkett.
Plus the lads complain about dummy teams, GAA Go and the issue with subs coming on!
The action is ramping up this weekend with all four of Laois's adults teams set to take to the field.
For the Laois footballers, it is their second game of 2021 as they will host Cork and look to put last weekend's Clare misery behind them.
Cork lost out to Kildare themselves and we'll be joined by Kieran McCarthy of the Southern Star newspaper to get the view from down there.
The Laois hurlers are out for their third weekend in a row against Clare on Sunday in O'Moore Park.
Alan Hartnett and Steven Miller chat about their prospects and potential team changes.
The lads will also chat about the Laois ladies who begin their 2021 season at home to Kildare on Sunday.
Before all of that, on Saturday afternoon, the Laois camogie team begin their Division 2 league journey away to Kilkenny's second string.
We'll round out this week's podcast with an interview with co-captain Alison McEvoy.
It was a disappointing weekend for Laois GAA as both the county footballers and hurlers were defeated in the National League campaigns.
The hurlers were beaten by Dublin on a scoreline of 0-30 to 1-19 on Saturday evening while the footballers went down to Clare by 1-16 to 0-12 in Ennis on Sunday.
We hear reaction from both Laois managers in the immediate aftermath of those games - while Steven and Alan are joined by former Laois footballer Chris Conway and former Laois hurler Damien Carter to review the games.
Are Laois now on course to be relegated in both codes - or is there positives amid those defeats?
Plus, the lads discuss the proposed Laois GAA club calendar - as well as trying to figure out how long Chris Conway has actually been playing adult club football for!
The action is ramping up this weekend with two Laois teams set to take to the field.
For the Laois footballers, it is their first game of 2021 as they will travel to Ennis to face Clare.
In this bumper football preview, we'll hear from Laois manager Mike Quirke, forward Evan O'Carroll and Derrick Lynch of Clare FM - the latter giving the insight from out West.
Alan Hartnett is also joined by Steven Miller to discuss that game and also the Laois hurlers clash with Dublin in O'Moore Park.
We also have news of a new Laois Ladies captain, a predictions competition and a warning on fraudulent streaming sites.
With the GAA season now back up and running, the LaoisToday Talking Sport Podcast will return to a twice-a-week schedule.
We will publish a new episode every Monday and Thursday morning - to look back on the weekend action on Monday and preview the upcoming games on a Thursday.
In this episode presenter Steven Miller is joined by Alan Hartnett who was in Wexford Park to watch the Laois hurlers take on Wexford in the opening round of the National League.
Damien Carter from Laois GAA TV also joins the lads to chat about the game.
In the end Laois went down to a 19-point loss but was there positives to take from it?
At last we have an actual game to look forward to.
The Laois hurlers travel to Wexford this Sunday for the first round of the National League and we look ahead to that game and what Laois can hope to get from the league campaign.
We're joined on the line by Garry Doran from Wexford who is co-presenter of the Hurling Podcast to hear what the atmosphere is like there and if Davy Fitzgerald fatigue is setting in yet.
Plus Steven and Alan chat about some of the rest of recent local GAA news.
One of the lads also has big news on the vaccination front ...
At last the GAA season is upon us with the first competitive games taking place this weekend in the National Hurling League.
The Laois hurlers travel to Wexford to take on Davy Fitzgerald’s side this Sunday in what will be the first game for new manager Cheddar Plunkett.
And ahead of his second coming as Laois boss, Cheddar joins us on this week’s Talking Sport Podcast.
He chats with Steven Miller about his decision to take on the role again, his backroom team and his views on the gap that Laois have to bridge.
He also explains the story behind his nickname and how he enjoyed his role as a hurling analyst on the GAA Hour podcast with Colm Parkinson.
We’re back with the latest instalment of the LaoisToday Talking Sport Podcast.
Host Alan Hartnett is in the hot seat once again and he has a very special guest for this early May Bank Holiday Weekend edition.
One of Laois's most exciting up and coming sports stars joins the Podcast this week - Della Doherty.
The Portarlington teenager is just 17 and she has already risen to the highest level of women's soccer in Ireland.
Having both being capped and captained the Republic of Ireland at youth level, Doherty has been at the heart of the Peamount United defence this season.
The reigning league and cup champions currently sit top of the Women's National Football League with a 100% record thus far.
Della chats to us about her journey thus far, playing in an All-Ireland final with Laois in Ladies Football and balancing it all with the Leaving Cert in Colaiste Iosagain.
With the publication of the National League fixtures last week, the Laois hurlers and footballers now have a clear picture of what the next couple of months are going to look like.
The hurlers begin their Division 1B campaign away to championship opponents Wexford on May 9 in what will be Cheddar Plunkett's first competitive game in charge before hosting Dublin in O'Moore Park a week later.
They will then play Clare at home and Kilkenny away before finishing with a trip to Belfast to play Antrim.
The footballers have a shorter league season - with an away trip to Clare on May 16 before a Saturday night home clash against Cork the following week and then another home game against Kildare on Sunday, May 30.
On this week's LaoisToday Talking Sport Podcast, Alan and Steven discuss the league fixtures, where Laois might pick up points and what they need to learn ahead of the championship.
We're also joined this week by Laois GAA Games Manager Mike Henchy as underage training is allowed to resume.
He tells us about his background and how he got into working in the GAA, how the coaching structure in Laois works and advice for coaches as the season now finally gets underway.
He also chats about the introduction of a number of new full-time coaches to clubs around the county and why he says it is a hugely exciting project and one that should have a very positive long-term effect.
We’re back with the latest instalment of the LaoisToday Talking Sport Podcast.
Host Alan Hartnett is in the hot seat once again and he is joined by his colleague Steven Miller.
The pair take a look at the Leinster football and hurling championship draws which were made early on Tuesday morning.
The Laois footballers have been drawn to play Westmeath in this year’s Leinster championship.
It will be the third time in four years for the counties to meet at the quarter-final stage with Laois winning the 2018 and 2019 clashes.
The semi-final draw will only be held after the quarter-finals in the summer.
The football championship will again be straight knockout this year with no qualifiers for the teams beaten in their provinces.
While in hurling, Laois will play Wexford in this year’s Leinster championship quarter-final.
Should Laois win, they will meet Kilkennyin the semi-final. The winners of Dublin-Antrim will meet Galway in the semi-final.
This week's interview features Laois's longest serving and leading appearance holder for the hurlers - Matthew Whelan.
The Borris-Kilcotton man speaks about his decision to commit for a 15th year, the return of Cheddar, hopes for the season and ideal club structure.
We’re back with the latest instalment of the LaoisToday Talking Sport Podcast.
Host Alan Hartnett is in the hot seat once again and he is joined for the first time in a while by colleague Steven Miller.
The pair dissect the GAA's new calendar for 2021 in the company of former Laois footballer Peter O'Leary.
The O'Dempsey's man looks at the new schedule from both a club and a county player's perspective.
He also talks about what it has been like being a club player for the last seven months since all activity was halted last October.
The lads look ahead to their hopes for the year and predict when they feel the club championships will resume in Laois.
John O'Loughlin has been representing Laois competitively since 2005 when he first lined out for the county's minor hurling team when he was still U-16.
Sixteen years later and he is still as proud as ever to pull on the blue and white jersey, as he has done every season since.
An excellent underage player, he played for Laois in both hurling and football - for three years at minor and four years at U-21 - before making his senior football debut in his first year out of minor.
He's the special guest on this week's LaoisToday Talking Sport Podcast where he looks back on his career to date.
He chats about those busy underage days - including the incredible 2007 season when he was centre-back on the Laois U-21 team that lost the All Ireland final as well as being a key part of the minor team that won Leinster and were only beaten in the All Ireland semi-final after a replay.
He looks back on the various Laois campaigns under different managers and why he has never once been tempted to take a break from the demanding intercounty lifestyle.
He also chats about his club career - first with Mountmellick from underage level up and later with St Brigid's in Dublin.
Plus he discusses his decision to move back to Rosenallis recently and how he thoroughly enjoyed his first season with them.
Mike Quirke has had the most unusual two seasons as Laois senior football manager.
He was no length in the job in 2020 when the Coronavirus pandemic hit, meaning that for most of that year he didn't see his players until the action resumed last autumn.
And while it was initially thought that there would be a short turnaround ahead of the 2021 campaign, the season was again put on ice.
This week, however, the GAA have announced that inter-county teams can return to training on April 19 with games expected to begin at some stage in May.
He chatted to LaoisToday this week about the upcoming season, how he's been keeping in touch with the Laois players and why he says they haven't been tempted to break the training ban.
He also discusses his own recent coaching podcast series where he chatted to high profile personalities from a number of different sports as well as dispensing advice to underage coaches ahead of the return to training.
Both Mike Quirke and LaoisToday are brand ambassadors for Joe Mallon Motors in Portlaoise.
We’re back with the latest instalment of the LaoisToday Talking Sport Podcast.
Host Alan Hartnett is in the hot seat once again and this episode features a very special interview with former Laois and O'Dempsey's footballer Leo Turley.
Leo was first involved with the Laois senior team in 1985 but opted off the panel ahead of the 1986 season when Laois won the National League title.
He later returned and played up until 1997, featuring in the 1991 Leinster final and scoring four points in the famous win over Meath in 1992 in Navan.
A great man for a goal, he netted twice in a fine win over Kildare in Croke Park in 1996. His last game was the infamous day that Laois lost to a 13-man Kildare side in 1997.
In the latter stage of his career he transferred to play with Eire Og of Carlow, with whom he won a Leinster club title in 1999.
Now living in Kildare, where he runs his own Mortgage advisory business, he has managed numerous club teams, including two spells with O’Dempsey’s.
Leo is also heavily involved in Laois Gaels - the new supporters club of Laois GAA.
Over the course of the next hour, Leo will recall his sporting career - including his time in Knockbeg College - and bring us right up to the present day and explain why he has thrown his weight behind the Laois Gaels movement.
This month marks the 30th anniversary of Portlaoise AFC's incredible run to the 2nd Round of the FAI Cup, the only time in the club's history that they have made it to that competition.
On this week's Talking Sport Podcast we have a Down Memory Lane special with three members of that team - captain Aengus Burke, John O'Loughlin and Con Dunne.
They recall how they qualified for the FAI Cup through the intermediate competition needing replay wins over Whitehall, Mid Athletic and Lusk as well as incredible 4-3 win away to Drogheda Celtic.
They then beat Home Farm 3-1 in Rosleighan Park before 4,000 turned up to watch them take on Kilkenny City in the 2nd round, a game they led 2-1 in with ten minutes to play and had two goals disallowed only to lose 3-2.
The lads look back fondly on those times under manager Christy Cahill and how they rubbed shoulders with huge figures of the Irish game like Ray Treacy, Paddy Mulligan and Brian Kerr.
Plus they describe the makeshift scaffolding and bales of straw that were needed to make Rossleighan Park suitable to host those big games and how the ground didn't even have dressing rooms at the time, meaning they'd to tog out at the squash courts on the Ballyfin Road and then make their way to the pitch.
In a good-humoured chat with presenter Steven Miller, the lads reminisce on that glorious era for the club and how they'd love to see days like that again.
We’re back with the latest instalment of the LaoisToday Talking Sport Podcast.
Host Alan Hartnett is in the hot seat once again and this episode features a very special interview.
Portlaoise native Ger Dunne is a man of various sporting hats.
He currently holds the role of Head Performance Analysts with the FAI - a role that sees him working closely with Stephen Kenny and the Republic of Ireland soccer team in a bid to reach the World Cup in Qatar in 2022.
But that is only a small part of a playing and managerial career that has spanned four different sports over more than three decades.
A minor hurling winner with Park-Ratheniska, Ger also played gaelic football with The Heath - playing in goals on the 1993 team that won the senior championship. He also played for Laois for seasons.
He played as a winger for Portlaoise rugby club but his main sport was soccer - and he played on a Portlaoise AFC team that reached an FAI Cup quarter final 30 years ago.
His sporting life to date is incredible and you can check it out below:
We’re back with the latest instalment of the LaoisToday Talking Sport Podcast.
Host Alan Hartnett is joined by Steven Miller where they look back at all the sports news from the last week.
The first item on the agenda is the decisions that have been made at GAA Congress over the weekend.
A new sin bin rule, changes to U-20 formats, kick-out rules and a split season have all been voted in.
We also picked our senior hurling team of the year - and the lads go through their selections.
And then the show concludes with an interview involving two people who are behind the new Laois GAA supporters club.
Laois Gaels was set up last week and chairman Bryan Breen plus Laois GAA PRO Paul Dargan join the lads to discuss what it is all about.
On this week's LaoisToday Talking Sport Podcast, Steven and Alan pick the 2020 Laois senior club football team of the year and outline their various choices.
They also discuss some of the recent local GAA news including a new managerial appointment for the Mountmellick footballers, some of the transfer decisions and Mike Quirke's comments on getting young players back to some form of collective training.
Plus the lads discuss Ireland's Fittest Family and Alan tells the successful story behind finding a missing Laois GAA trophy.
We’re back with the latest instalment of the LaoisToday Talking Sport Podcast.
Host Alan Hartnett is joined by Steven Miller where they look back at all the sports news from the last week.
The pair begin with Laois GAA’s decision to move their County Committee meetings 'in camera'.
The decision ends a long-standing arrangement going back generations where the media were welcome to attend and report on what was discussed and the decisions made.
The full County Board meetings are attended by delegates from all the clubs in the county with the first meeting of 2021 set to take place virtually this evening.
The lads also discuss the appointment of Camross' Mattie Collier as the new hurling board chairman.
He succeeds county board vice-chairman Tom Clear who has been in the role for the last few years.
While this week's interview involves three stalwarts of Shanahoe Ladies.
Mikey Hyland, Mary Griffin (Kirwan) and Eimear Barry join us to discuss Mikey's recent award.
For a lifetime of contributions, Mikey was awarded the Lulu Carroll award by the Ladies Football Association.
The trio chat about that, Mary recalls the 2001 All-Ireland win while Eimear discusses how she has come to the inter-county set up later in life.