Christy O'Connor: GAA needs to do more for squeezed middle

As Offaly and Laois go up against Cork and Wexford in Saturday’s All-Ireland preliminary quarter-finals, they do so in the knowledge that the average losing margin at that stage of the competition is 22 points.

SQUEEZED: Charlie Mitchell of Offaly in action against Diarmaid Conway and Ryan Mullaney, left, of Laois during the Joe McDonagh Cup final. Pic: Piaras Ó Mídheach, Sportsfile

AFTER they defeated Dublin in the 2019 preliminary All-Ireland quarter-final, the Laois hordes rushed on to the field to sweep up the players in a tidal wave of joy, the tsunami of goodwill so powerful because generations of Laois people had never experienced it before.

As they bobbed and weaved on an ocean of ecstasy, the depth of emotion was bottomless.