Portarlington v Clonaslee-St Manman’s
Laois SFC Round 3 in O’Moore Park at 2pm
Round 3 of the Laois Shopping Centre Senior football championship will conclude with an O’Moore Park double header today.
The action gets underway at 2pm as Clonaslee-St Manman’s take on Portarlington.
This is a rather novel pairing and pits a side that started 2024 in Division 1 of the league against a side that was in Division 3.
They will both compete in Division 2 next year but have ended up here in different ways.
Portarlington defeated O’Dempsey’s in Round 1 and then lost after extra time to Graiguecullen in Round 2.
Clonaslee-St Manman’s lost a high scoring game to Emo in Round 1 but bounced back to defeat Stradbally in Round 2.
Niall Corbet and Cathal Lee will be integral if Clonaslee-St Manman’s are to get the job done here.
Curtis Lyons joins the Portarlington absentee list after sustaining a nasty arm injury against Graiguecullen.
But despite that, Portarlington should have enough to win this one.
Courtwood v St Joseph’s
Laois SFC Round 3 in O’Moore Park at 3.45pm
For the fourth time this year, Courtwood and St Joseph’s are set to do battle.
While the previous meetings were all in the league, there are no more safety nets left for any of the competing teams.
The loser in this round joins Stradbally, Ballyfin, Ballylinan and The Heath in Senior B.
While for the winner, the prize is that they are safe from relegation and will face one of Graiguecullen, Arles-Killeen, Portlaoise or Ballyroan-Abbey in the last eight.
Courtwood lost the league final to St Joseph’s but were excellent in Round 1 as they brushed Killeshin aside.
However, they were stunned by Arles-Killeen in Round 2 which has left them here.
County champions St Joseph’s were edged out by Graiguecullen in Round 1 but recorded a routine win over Ballylinan in Round 2.
There will have to be a response in Courtwood but will that be enough to knock out the champions? Probably not.
Annanough v Timahoe
Laois IFC Round 3 in Stradbally at 6.30pm
The final game of the weekend is in the Intermediate football championship where Annanough clash with Timahoe.
Stradbally is the venue for the parish derby where a place in the IFC semi final is up for grabs.
These rivals have met a fair few times down through the years with Timahoe typically coming out on top.
To get here, Annanough defeated Mountmellick in Round 1 but lost to Park-Ratheniska in Round 2.
Timahoe were beaten by Arles-Kilcruise in Round 1 but bounced back to see off Ballyroan-Abbey in Round 2.
If Annanough win this game, then they will face Crettyard in one semi final and Mountmellick will take on Park-Ratheniska in the other.
But if Timahoe win, a draw will be needed to set up the semi finals.
The loser will join Arles-Kilcruise, Ballyroan-Abbey and Portlaoise in the IFC ‘B’ semi finals.
This is a very hard one to call but the injury sustained by Simon Shortall in the loss to Park-Ratheniska will hurt Annanough and that may prove the difference.
SEE ALSO – Laois IFC: Culleton the hero as Mountmellick see off Arles-Kilcruise to reach semis
