Fennelly leaves Laois post

Brendan Fennelly has resigned as Laois senior hurling manager, accoring to a report on Midlands 103.

Fennelly's last match in charge was a 10-20 to 1-13 mauling by Cork in the All-Ireland SHC qualifiers last month.

The Kilkenny man's departure after one season leaves the Laois County Board looking for their 14th senior hurling boss since the mid-1990s.

Speaking after the Cork game, he said that he had encountered "a terrible lot of disillusionment" in the set-up and highlighted a lack of commitment from some of the players.

Only 13 of the 30 invited players turned up for Fennelly's first meeting with the squad and prior to the defeat to Cork, they struggled to field teams for challenge matches against Waterford and Kilkenny selections.

In a Sunday Independent interview earlier this month, former Laois star James Young said he wasn't shocked by the heavy Championship losses suffered by the county's senior and Under-21 sides.

He argued that the Laois team has gone backwards in recent seasons and that maybe people 'will be shamed into doing something now.'

"There always seems to be a problem between players and managements and it doesn't take a genius to realise what's wrong. Who is overseeing all of this? The County Board and now I think they should resign," insisted Young.

The Laois County Board held a forum last week to discuss the future of hurling in Laois and 'to establish a consensus for the way forward.' The parties invited to attend included current and former players.

Tommy Fitzgerald quit the senior panel in March. It is understood that Fennelly and some of the players did not see eye-to-eye on certain issues, and Fitzgerald said that he would not have walked away had Niall Rigney still been in charge.

"Unless it's right at the top, you're going nowhere. Laois against Cork - how better prepared were Cork than Laois? You can only imagine," he told the Irish Examiner.

"It was a brilliant set-up under Niall Rigney. He was brilliant, so professional, so organised and we had full attendance at training. We felt we were making some progress but then your man comes in and it takes 10 steps backwards."

Under Fennelly, the O'Moore men showed some promise in this year's Allianz Hurling League, earning wins over Westmeath, Carlow, Antrim and Clare.

Laois ended up finishing third in the Division 2 table but suffered a disappointing 1-21 to 3-12 loss to Antrim in their Championship opener in May.

Fennelly had been appointed to the Laois role just last September, taking over from Rigney who resigned 12 months ago in the wake of a qualifier defeat to Carlow.