Laois face tough battle

ALL-IRELAND champions Roscommon field five of the team which won last year’s title for this afternoon’s ESB MFC quarter-final against Laois in Thurles (2pm).

Despite having a third of last year’s winning team, they surprisingly lost their provincial crown to Galway by four points where star man Donie Shine picked up an injury that has restricted his preparation for this tie

Shine is one of the five still eligible. The others are Niall Carty, Paul Garvey, James McKeague and Alan O’Hara, while Keith Higgins was a panel member.

Team coach Fergal O’Donnell is thankful for the backdoor option.

“We went into the Connacht final against Galway with Donie Shine and Niall Carty struggling with injury and while we were in the game for long periods, those injuries caught up with us.

“While both are still not 100% fit we are thankful to be getting the second chance. Last year we enjoyed an injury free run which helped in no small way to winning the championship. This time around it’s different. We have such a small pool of players we cannot afford any injuries.

Laois coach Eddie Kelly expects a tough battle.

“They are strong down the middle and have a lot to prove having failed to retain their Connacht title. We made heavy work of defeating Carlow in the Leinster decider by two points and will have to improve if we are to stay in the title race. I’m not being disrespectful to Carlow but we should be beating them comfortably. We didn’t and that is a cause of concern. Maybe the lads thought it was going to be easy and didn’t apply themselves properly. The closeness of the final score may be the wake-up call they needed. Roscommon are going to pose an entirely different opposition and we have to be ready for that”.