Laois GAA Senior Football Final: The Big Match preview

Bitter rivals and neighbours O’Dempseys and Portarlington will face off for the biggest prize Laois football has to offer. It will be the first time since 1963 that the two sides will meet in the senior decider.

Portarlington are the obvious favourites and has been for the duration of this championship. They are on the hunt for three Laois championships in a row. Nothing would please the Killinard community more though than to put a stop to that bid at the very last hurdle.                                                   

There is no doubt that Portarlington and O Dempseys have been impressive throughout the championship. Their second-round game against each other was probably the game of the championship so far. Portarlington and O’Dempsey’s played out a cracker that day in O Moore Park that went right down to the wire. It was free-flowing, fast-paced and every player was fighting like a dog for every ball that came near them. It was a joy to watch.

The Rocky Road to the final
Since then Portarlington had two tough battles against Ballyroan and Portlaoise. The Portlaoise game in the semi-final was particularly interesting. Portarlington was struggling in front of the posts that day, their forwards just were not firing to the level you'd expect. Only for the last gasp save from their keeper Scott Osbourne, they would be out and the dream of three in a row would be dead. As it stands that dream is still alive.

O’Dempsyes have had a similar battle-hardened road to the final. Their performance against Park Ratheniska in round three, even though they won, was probably a good bit below par. Many people would have ruled them out as championship contenders after that performance. However, they showed their credentials with a hard-fought win over league champions St Josephs and a comfortable win against Courtwood in the semi-final.

Firepower in Forwards
O’Dempseys forwards are extremely dangerous. County man Mark Barry coming back into the set-up after an injury has given the front 6 a fantastic boost. The Finlay family are the real stars of this team though. Except maybe Jake Foster, Matthew ‘hatch’ Finlay has to be considered the most accurate sharpshooter in Laois right now. Defences this year have not been able to come up with a solution. Eoin and Micheal have been nearly just as vital as Hatch. The three of them
have to take a huge amount of credit for getting O’Dempseys back to a Laois Senior Final, Their first since 2018.

Portarlington's forwards look equally if not more dangerous than their neighbours.                                                  Jake Foster’s accuracy from frees is second to none. While he can be temperamental, It's not a good idea to poke the Foster bear as usually this spurs him on and he can chip in with some outrageous scores from free play as well. Full Backs all across Laois have had no answers when it comes to dealing with Colm Murphy. He has been hugely influential and comes across as one of the key leaders in the group. For us though the biggest star in the Portarlington forwards has been wing forward Rioghan Murphy. His work rate on and off the ball is nothing short of exceptional every game. Got the winning score in the Portlaoise game, having started the move twenty seconds earlier back at his own 45. He has been absolutely
incredible to watch this year and does not get the recognition he deserves.

Portarlington edge the defensive battle
Portarlington's defence has also been solid for some time now. Their defensive structure is rigid, and hard to break down and they are well able to capitalise and punish mistakes. Alex Mohan, Stuart Mulpeter, Paddy O’Sullivan and Robbie Pigott have been at the forefront of this. Their vocal, they're strong and fantastic at turning over even the most composed forwards. While O’Dempsyes defence is very good, we have seen them getting caught out on the break a few times this year. This is one of the areas that could get Portarlington over the line.

Final Prediction
Portarlington is to edge it by 3 or 4 points.