Preview: Tailteann Cup Final – Laois v Down:
Saturday 13th July
Tailteann Cup final
Laois v Down in Croke Park at 3pm (RTE)
Surely the one thing we can say for sure about Saturday’s Tailteann Cup Final is that it will be a very different game to the semi-final these two teams contested last year.
That match was effectively over by the 17th minute when Down banged in their fourth goal of the day, and they went on to kick another four before the final whistle mercifully blew from a Laois perspective.
There was an awful lot to admire about the way Down went about their business that day, but manager Conor Laverty is adamant it was a ‘freak’ of a game that bears little relevance as far as this year’s final is concerned.
“That’s the perfect word to use, it was a freak game,” says Laverty. “You don’t score eight goals at this standard. And it was just that we got so many early and Laois probably then had to push out and go for the game which left holes.
“You can’t be living on past results or past games. And we’ve put a lot of focus in that. I can see the difference already, structurally and defensively, in Laois.
“They’re not conceding as many scores and probably that structure with Byrne sitting in the pocket now in front of the defence so we know that there’s going to be a different task, a completely different game to what it was last year.”
Laois certainly look like a more solid outfit this year since Justin McNulty took charge of the team.
They endeavour to constrict the space between their two defensive lines, and don’t commit too many bodies forward to avoid being picked off by counter-attacks if the ball is turned over.
Instead they use a long kick-passing game to good effect because forwards like Evan O’Carroll, Niall Dunne, Evan O’Carroll and Mark Barry are all strong ball-winners.
Down’s game-plan in contrast is more of a hard-running, hand-passing off the shoulder sort of game, and their speed and athleticism makes it very hard to resist.
Pat Havern has been their main man in attack this year, but they can hurt you from anywhere and have a multitude of players comfortable taking a shot on.
The bare statistics underline why the Ulster team have been made odds on favourites for this game.
Leaving aside the extra-time of the semi-final against Sligo, they’ve scored an average of 23 points per match while conceding an average of 15.
Laois, meanwhile, have scored an average of 21 points per match while conceding an average of 19.
The Midlanders are a better team now than when they played Down in last year’s semi-final, but so too are the Mourne men.
In Year 2 of Conor Laverty’s management they’re further down the road than Laois in Year 1 of Justin McNulty’s project, and that’s likely to be telling.
DOWN: John O’Hare; Peter Fegan, Ryan McEvoy, Pierce Laverty; Miceal Rooney, Daniel Guinness, Shealan Johnston; Jonny Flynn, Odhran Murdock; Danny Magill, James Guinness, Ryan Johnston; Liam Kerr, Pat Havern, Conor McCrickard. Subs: Kevin Anderson, Finn McElroy, Paddy McCarthy, Ryan Magill, Ceilum Doherty, Caolan Mooney, Rory Mason, Shane Annett, John McGovern, Gareth McKibben, Eamonn Brown.
LAOIS: Killian Roche; James Kelly, Simon Fingleton, Mark Timmons; Seamus Lacey, Brian Byrne, Eoin Buggie; Damon Larkin, Conor Heffernan; Niall Dunne, Evan O’Carroll, Kevin Swayne; Mark Barry, Eoin Lowry, Paul Kingston. Subs: Aaron Cooney, Ciaran Burke, Niall Corbet, Ben Dempsey, Brian Daly, Shaun Fitzpatrick, Fionn Holland, Jack Lacey, Kieran Lillis, Aaron McEvoy, Rioghan Murphy.