Laois Marlins swimmers continue to enjoy great success, achieving personal bests by the dozen, as well as a host of medals at Dublin based galas.

They brought home eight medals from their most recent gala run by the Tallaght Swim Club; Eoin Donoghue taking gold in the 100m and silver in the 100m breaststroke, Tyler Dolan taking silver in the 50m fly, Toni Dolan taking bronze in the 50m breaststroke, David O’Reilly taking silver in the 50m Breaststroke, Thomas Martin taking bronze in both the 100m backstroke and the 100m Fly, and Conor Donoghue taking bronze in the 50m fly.

Jordan Overton came fourth in the 100m Backstroke and the 50m fly, and Ryan Flynn achieved impressive personal bests in all strokes. All swimmers also outperformed expectations at the previous gala - the Leinster Graded Distance Gala at the National Aquatic Centre- where individual swimmers gained promotion to higher grades as well as taking medals in some strokes.

Laois Marlins will be in action again this weekend at the NAC Charity Gala, and at The Portarlington Training Gala. Meanwhile, the Laois Marlins Swim Club has seen a record number of new members joining. According to Marlins Secretary Violet Nealon. “Parents are amazed at how simple it is to become a member. You just come for a short trial during the Monday or Friday evening session, and based on that you are accepted, or perhaps advised to go for further lessons.” Violet may be contacted at 086-8953209.

Team Silvers Portlaoise played host to Maree on Saturday night in St. Marys Hall with the away side holding out for an eight point victory. An excellent display of composure and skill in the second quarter gave the Galway men the platform needed to see out the second half. The home side can be happy with how they finished out the game winning the final quarter by seven points.

The Portlaoise men got off to the best possible start scoring seven points from their first four offences with both Daniel Debosz and Pierce Fagan showing great strength in getting to the hoop. Maree point guard Con Crowley stepped up to hit two jump shots to close the margin but Team Silvers stretched out their lead to five points by the end of the quarter with two off-the-dribble baskets from Declan Kearney and Peter O’Sullivan.

The second quarter saw Maree coming out and pressure the home side with great man to man defence leading to turnover after turnover with Liam Conroy punishing the home side on the break. Team Silvers were rattled and looked to the bench for a change of fortune. A three pointer from Greg Dunne and a fine basket inside from Juan Marchal could only halt the onslaught momentarily as Con Crowley stepped up to hit two massive three pointers to give Maree a thirteen point lead at half time. Team Silvers were stunned by the eighteen point turnaround and needed to come together as a team to get back into the game.

A tight third quarter ensued with Maree finding an answer for everything the home side threw at them. A three pointer from Declan Kearney was almost instantly cancelled out by another from Kenny Hansberry and both sides went on to trade basket for basket for the quarter with Maree finishing stronger to take a fifteen point lead into the last quarter.

Team Silvers had failed to bring the crowd into the game up until the final quarter but eventually gave them something to shout about when Peter O’Sullivan drained two three pointers in a row to close the gap to nine points with eight minutes left on the clock. The home side began to press the Galway men causing several turnovers, converted by Greg Dunne and Daniel Debosz. Maree’s experience at this level finally showed with Liam Conroy taking control from the top of the key scoring nine of his team’s fourth quarter tally leading them to a hard earned eight point win.

TEAM SILVERS: David Keane, Shane O’Neill, Declan Kearney 5, Juan Marchal 4, Peter O’Sullivan 11, Paul Leigh 2, Greg Dunne 7, Daniel Debosz 13, Ger Egan 5, Pierce Fagan 4. Coach: John Fennelly.

All roads are leading to Abbeyleix for this weekend’s Birr and District Motor clubs annual tarmac stages rally. The Abbeyleix Manor Hotel sponsored event kicks off the first round of the Rally Championships on Sunday morning.

There is a cracking entry list which consists of five World Rally cars and two Super 2000 cars in the top ten. Blasting away at the front of the pack this weekend will be number one seeded Kevin Barrett/Sean Mullay (Subaru WRC). Monaghan crew Niall Maguire/Enda Sherry (Subaru WRC) are at number two with Carragalines Brian O’Mahony/John Higgins making their second appearance in a McKinstry run (Subaru Imprezza WRC )at number 3. Robert Barrable/Dermot O’Gorman will make history this weekend being the first crew to tackle a Birr event in a Super 2000 rally car in their Skoda Fabia S2000 at 4.

There is a strong local contingent part taking in this event with Templemore crew Paul O’Brien/John Kinihan (no 38 )competing in a newly built class 11 Honda Civic followed closely by Nenaghs Andrew Slattery/Shaun Forde (Subaru Imprezza). The class 13 battle continues with William Cavanagh/Oliva Cowen, Eoin Woods/TBA, John Cavanagh/John Nolan and Kieran Guinan/Alan Higgins all driving Ford Escort Mk2s.

Durrows Oliver Stanley/Edward Thompson will be out in their newly built Ford Focus, followed by Mark Kane also in a new car a Mk2 Escort. Nenaghs Davey Forde/Cecil Doak will be out in their class 15 Subaru Imprezza. Ballacollas Mark Kirwin will be co-driving for Joey Carroll in a Citroen C2R2, while brother Brian will be driving his Peugeot 206.

Borris-in-Ossory’s Frank Dwyer is swapping the passenger seat for the driver’s seat for this year’s rally driving his Ford Ka with Barry Foyle doing an opposite swap and navigating for Tommy Kelly in a Honda Civic. Keith Murray will navigate David Fitzsimons in a class 13 escort with Robert Lewis returning to the stages after a two year absence.

Finally help is also required and anyone intending on marshalling or helping out in any way is asked to contact Ger on (087-2156419). Rally programmes will also be available in Rathdowney, Durrow and Abbeyleix from Friday. The club would also like to wish Clerk of the Course Bill Ryan and his team the very best of luck in the running of the rally this weekend .Rember safety first, Keep The Race In Its Place and please obey all Rally Marshalls. For More information log on to www.Birrmotorclub.com.

The Laois Ladies picked up their second NFL Division 1 victory in the space of a week on Sunday afternoon, as a superb display of attacking football saw them cruise to a 15 point win over Donegal.

Laois 3-12

Donegal 1-3

Having shown flashes of what they could do the week before against Tyrone, this was a more complete performance from Joe Higgins side. After a nervy opening to the game they eventually cut loose on a Donegal side which simply had no answer for them. They strung together some wonderful scores, moving the ball with purpose and cutting through the Donegal cover with surprising ease time and again.

For the second game in a row too, every player from midfield forward got on the scoresheet, as the team attacked in waves and showed a real intent to punish Donegal at every opportunity. They had the victory all but wrapped up by half time, leading 1-7 to 0-1, and the icing on the cake came courtesy of two outstanding goals in the second half from Sarah Quigley and Alison Taylor.

See this week’s Leinster Express (February 22) for full report

The draws have been made for the first staging of the reformed Laois ACHL Division 1, as league placing will count towards championship seeding for the first time.

The new model will see a team’s placing in their group stages of the league determine who they will play in the championship, with teams which top their groups in the league contesting the final as well as receiving a bye through to the quarter-finals of the championship.

The first name out of the hat was newly promoted Ballyfin, and they are joined in Group A by Borris-Kilcotton, Abbeyleix, Portlaoise and reigning champions Clough-Ballacolla.

In Group B, Camross will meet local rivles Castletown-Slieve Bloom, with The Harps, Ballinakill and Rathdowney-Errill completing the group.Division 2 and the intermediate championship will remain as it has been in recent years.

The draws for the Palmer Cup also took place on Monday night, with Portlaoise, Castletown-Slieve Bloom, Camross, The Harps and Borris-Kilcotton making up Group A, while Clough-Ballacolla, Abbeyleix, Ballinakill, Rathdowney-Errill and Ballyfin make up Group B.

The Palmer Cup is scheduled to get underway on March 10, and county players will not be available for games in the competition. County players will be released for all games in ACHL Division 1, however.

See this week’s leinster express for full draws

Laois GAA will oppose the introduction of payment to managers after delegates opted against the move at Monday night’s county board meeting.

The current hot topic in GAA circles has been widely debated at club level in recent weeks, and club delegates were informed at Monday night’s meeting that a decision would have to be made on Laois’ stance on the issue ahead of further meetings between the GAA’s Central Council.

Portarlington delegate Seamus Hunt urged that no payments to managers be brought in, as he felt it would be a “recipe for disaster” which would in turn lead to players demanding payment, and in turn leading to a situation which the GAA could not afford.

Rathdowney-Errill delegate Mick Fitzpatrick spoke in favour of managers being paid, saying. “Managers are going to be paid whether we like it or not, it should be out in the open.”

John Kealy from Borris-Kilcotton felt clubs in particular needed assistance from GAA authorities on the matter. “Clubs need guidelines, eventually some club is going to be investigated and on one wants to see anyone left out to dry, a bit of guidance is needed so that everyone is satisfied. This won’t go away.”

Addressing the meeting, Central Council delegate Anthony Delaney said he would “exercise whatever is decided here” at Central Council level, but felt that it was an almost impossible situation to police as it would mean the county executive would have to investigate its own clubs. A breach of the rule would lead to a six month suspension if a club or county board was found guilty.

Martin Byrne, the current Treasurer of the Laois County Board insisted that should an inspection of Laois’ finances ever be conducted, that the county would have nothing to hide.

Under current guidelines, managers are only entitled to claim mileage at a rate of 50 cent per mile, along with other various expenses such as for food or phone calls.

It was eventually decided that the county’s stance be that the current rules, as they stand, be enforced, rather than seeing payments legalised or regulated, with the members settling on the statement that the Association “Implement GAA Rules and continue to pay standard mileage” to managers.

No Central Council meeting on the subject has been arranged as of yet, with one expected either on or before the GAA convention in April.

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The greater physical presence and superior scoring ability of St Brigid’s Loughrea saw them overcome the challenge of Leinster champions St Fergal’s Rathdowney at Banagher last Saturday.

St Brigid’s, Loughrea 2-10

St Fergal’s Rathdowney 0-7

That physical advantage saw the Galway side dominate around the midfield diamond area and though the St Fergal’s defence hurled well throughout they were under almost incessant pressure.

And yet the final scoreline does scant justice to the Laois school for they were a mere four points in arrears with five minutes remaining (0-10 to 0-6) but then two Loughrea goals in a minute sealed Rathdowney’s fate.

See this week’s Leinster Express (February 22) for full report