Preview: A look ahead to the Laois Senior Football Championship

The Laois Senior Football Championship gets underway tonight (Wednesday), and we take a look ahead to another summer of football.

Jody Dillon's dramatic last-minute goal in 2016 to bring the Jack Delaney cup to Stradbally had handed a few doubts out to people as to whether Portlaoise were the giants they once were.

And while they may not have the panel depth that they possessed back in 2015 when they came within a kick of a ball of beating Ballyboden St Enda's to claim a Leinster crown, they have silenced their critics somewhat by taking home the last two Laois Senior club championships and being very competitive in Leinster.

The likes of David Holland, Chris Finn, Frank Flanagan, Ciaran McEvoy and Benny Carroll have filled shoes very well, and even younger talents like Gary Saunders, Michael Dowling, Jason Maher and Damon Larkin have kept the production line ticking over and look set to play a big part going forward.

The Town have been tasked to deal with the team they defeated in the 2017 final, Ballylinan, in round one. While Niall Carew's charges have enjoyed a successful season so far, bringing back Division 1B silverware for the second time in three years, Portlaoise should prove a bridge too far, especially when you consider Gary Walsh's exit to the States.

Portlaoise should come out of Laois on top, but we could see a few contenders to the throne emerge. One of the contenders who emerged last season were O'Dempsey's, but they certainly didn't come out of nowhere.

Before the championship got underway last year, the Killenard side had previously picked up their second consecutive Division 1A crown on the road to reaching their first Senior final in thirty-five years. While they lost out to Portlaoise in the end, O'Dempsey's were more than competitive with them for large periods.

They reached their third straight Division 1A final again this season, but that showdown with Portlaoise will likely take a back seat due to it being fixed in the middle of the championship.

In the meantime, O'Dempsey's look forward to a first round match-up against St Joseph's, a side they've beaten in the last two Division 1A finals.

St Joseph's were quietly going about their business in last year's championship, picking up some decent victories over The Heath, Portarlington and Stradbally, but Portlaoise lay in their path of getting to the final, and they were easily ripped apart.

They haven't reached the Division 1A decider this year, so their attention is fully focused on O'Dempsey's in the first round, and if they get past them, they could be capable of going one step further this year.

One of the sides St Joseph's saw off last season was Portarlington, who look set to make a big mark in the championship this year and in future years with the abundance of talent they have coming through.

They are possibly the one club who have the depth in their panel to go the distance for the full sixty minutes with Portlaoise. Portarlington are boosted by the return of Jason Moore after he was away with the army last year, and David Murphy also came back into the fold late during the league.

They have Laois Senior footballers in Robert Pigott, Paddy O'Sullivan, Colm Murphy and Sean Byrne, who all saw significant game time under John Sugrue this season. Added to that are Laois U-20 players in Alex Mohan, Colin Slevin, Ronan Coffey and Eoin Kennedy, and more talent that recently graduated from minor in the likes of Cathal Bennett, Sean Michael Corcoran and Daragh Galvin.

Then there is possibly the secret ingredient with Gracefield man Martin Murphy now at heading down the road to take over the reigns. He was the manager who masterminded Stradbally's success in 2016, and he'll be looking to repeat that trick again.

Graiguecullen are another who have the potential to give Portlaoise problems. They played them twice in the last two years, but never really got close enough to them to cause an upset.

Kevin Doogue has taken over from Padraig Clancy, but that's not a step down in quality. Doogue knows the squad very well, having had a brief spell in 2016 where he guided Graiguecullen to safety from relegation.

It's hard to see any of the other teams putting it up to Portlaoise. The two Arles clubs look like their best days are behind them, Arles-Killeen in particular have little in the way of youth coming through.

Ballyroan Abbey are a club who should have a serious injection of young players hitting them soon, but it is probably a couple of years too early for them to really put their stamp on the championship.

Their opponents in the first round, Emo, will be aiming to at least make it back to the quarter-finals. Nigel Murphy and Jack Owens will provide most of the scoring threat for them, and there's a chance Evan Costello could return in time for the championship.

A club who won't hold any fear of a lot of the teams in this championship is last year's Intermediate winners Courtwood. Eddie Kinsella has them motoring nicely, and despite a bad beating to Ballylinan in the Division 1B decider, they will welcome Laois U-20 stars Matthew Byron, Sean O'Flynn, Alan Kinsella and Niall Dunne back.

Killeshin and Stradbally will face off against each other in round one, and they're two clubs whose campaign could go either way. If either catch fire they are capable of putting it up to the very best, but whoever loses that clash could well find themselves in relegation territory.

Three of the teams who will probably be just hoping to retain their Senior status are Ballyfin, Crettyard and The Heath. 

The Heath look the strongest of the three, after a bit of youth being injected into their team recently, but Ballyfin and Crettyard are almost certain to find it tough.