Laois SHC Prediction: Camross v Abbeyleix

Laois Shopping Centre Senior Hurling Championship

Laois SHC Round 2 Group A

Camross v Abbeyleix

O'Moore Park @6.00pm, Saturday 17th August

Odds: Camross 1/14 | Draw 16/1 | Abbeyleix 13/2

Coming off defeats in the opening round of fixtures in the championship, Camross and Abbeyleix will both be looking to get their campaigns back on track as they look to book at least a quarter-final spot.

Like last year where they suffered a shocking opening round loss at the hands of neighbours Castletown, the reigning champions Camross began their search for three in-a-row with a defeat to fellow big hitters Borris-Kilcotton.

They won't be all that worried about that though, and will see Abbeyleix as the perfect backboard to get back in the mix to qualify from this group. 

The more worrying concerns from a Camross perspective are how they will deal with the loss of key marksman down through the years, Zane Keenan, to injury. Keenan picked up a bad injury in the Palmer Cup final win over Castletown earlier in the year, and is expected to miss the rest of the season.

Mark Dowling is also over in America for the summer, so already Camross don't appear as strong as they did in previous years and their dreams of a three in-a-row look to have been made that bit harder.

They come up against a side that they will be expected to beat in this one though. Abbeyleix endured a difficult Division 1 campaign this year, although they avoided relegation due to the fact that two second teams finished top of Division 1A and couldn't go up, so Abbeyleix retained their place.

Abbeyleix performed admirably in the first-half against Clough-Ballacolla in the opening round, bravely leading at half-time by two points and a surprise was on the cards. However, playing against the wind in the second-half, they couldn't kick on and ended up on the losing side by nine points.

It's two years since one of the biggest shocks in the Laois senior hurling championship occurred, and that was when Abbeyleix stunned Camross in round 2 in 2017. It was hoped that win would catapult Abbeyleix into contention for championships in years to come, but it hasn't seemingly turned out that way.

Forwards Dayne Peacock and Jamie Coffey will need to play big games if Abbeyleix are to stun Camross again, while county goalkeeper Enda Rowland will also need to be at the top of his game. However, it's impossible to look past the reigning champions getting their run for a three-peat back on the road.

Verdict: Camross