PREVIEW: Busy Sunday for Laois as both football teams head to Clare

It’s a big day for Laois GAA as both the senior and ladies footballers travel to Clare this Sunday, February 22, for their respective league fixtures.

The senior footballers, under Justin McNulty, will face Clare in Round 4 of the Allianz Division 3 Football League, throwing in at 2pm in Zimmer Biomet Páirc Chíosóg, Ennis. Meanwhile, Stephen Duff’s Laois Ladies take on Clare in Round 4 of the Lidl Ladies National Football League Division 3 at 1pm in Clarecastle GAA.

Laois Senior Footballers

After a challenging start to the league, Laois finally secured their first win of the 2026 campaign last Saturday, defeating Sligo in Portlaoise. Apart from conceding three points in the opening seven minutes, Laois dominated, scoring 12 consecutive points in the first half, despite allowing a goal to Luke Casserly just before the break.

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The full-forward line was in fine form, contributing 15 of Laois’ 18 points. Evan O’Carroll and Portarlington’s Rioghan Murphy both scored six points, while Darragh Galvin added three. A missed penalty did little to dampen Laois’ performance as they continue to build momentum, now holding three points from their first three league games (a draw with Limerick, a loss to Wexford, and the win over Sligo).

Clare, by contrast, are coming off their first league victory of the campaign, having defeated Fermanagh. Their opening games against Down and Westmeath were tough assignments, as both sides were relegated to Division 3 in 2025.

Last year’s meeting in Portlaoise saw Clare edge Laois 2-22 to 1-21 after Laois had led by six points at one stage. Laois will be looking to overturn that result on Sunday and continue their push up the Division 3 table.

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Laois Ladies Footballers

The Laois Ladies also enter Sunday’s fixture fresh off their first league win, a dominant 5-15 to 0-7 victory over Limerick in Rathkeale. Their campaign began with a draw against Fermanagh and a narrow loss to Down, leaving them eager to build on their recent form.

Manager Stephen Duff reflected after the Limerick game: “We're fully confident in this division that if we perform, we win 80–90% of the games. We didn't perform the last two days, and we didn't win them; we didn't deserve to win them. We went out today in a position that we had to get a win, and we had to get a result, and if we could put a score up, we put a score up, and we got that opportunity today. The rest of the league is a battle with ourselves. Delighted to get the result, but there are definitely areas of improvement. That was probably a 6 out of 10 performance. So, definitely areas for us to improve.”

Their Round 4 clash with Clare throws-in an hour before the senior footballers and is just 10 minutes away, but it is likely to create some family dilemmas, with Darragh Galvin and Eva Galvin both in action for Laois on Sunday.