No looking back for Laois

LAOIS manager Sean Dempsey is adamant there will be no ill feelings when his charges renew one of the GAA’s keenest underage rivalries against Cork in Saturday’s Cadbury’s U21 football final.

The counties have contested four championship games in the last three years, each of which has been a keenly contested and entertaining affair.

It was the first of these games back in 2004, an All-Ireland minor quarter-final in Limerick, that most people remember. With the sides level at full-time, a mass brawl erupted resulting in a raft of suspensions and some of the most negative publicity the GAA has seen in years.

At least two dozen of the same players will be on duty again this weekend in Thurles, including Cork’s Michael Shields and Andrew O’Sullivan as well as Brendan Quigley of Laois, all of whom earned long suspensions.

“It’s in the history books,” said Dempsey yesterday. “There’s too much made out of it by some of ye’re own comrades in the press. There were comments made by GAA people at the top who weren’t even at the match.

“It spiralled out of control but it’s no big deal to the lads involved on Saturday. There will be a good few of the same lads playing but it’s not even a consideration. It hasn’t even been mentioned in our camp.”

As Dempsey added, the subsequent replay went off without a hitch and there was no evidence of any animosity when many of the same players faced off in last year’s All-Ireland U21 semi-final when Cork avenged defeat in 2004 with a replayed victory of their own.

Part of that is down to the mutual respect both camps have for each other and the fact that a handful of players from each side had previously played alongside each other with an Ireland U17 side that toured Australia.

“We have a good rapport with them, with the players and the management and we’re delighted to be meeting them for the second year in-a-row,” said Dempsey. “Hopefully though it will be another unhappy day for them from our point of view.”

Cork selector Mick O’Loughlin expects a close game between two teams that try to play a fluid brand of football.

“What happened before isn’t an issue at all for us. We have played Laois a number of times in the last few years and there hasn’t been a problem at all. They’ve always been fantastic games between us,.” said the Kanturk man.