Hurlers have wherewithal to secure league status

NATIONAL HURLING LEAGUE DIVISION 1B Laois v Kerry Saturday, April 1 O’Moore Park, Portlaoise 7pm

IT all comes down to this.

Seventy minutes, everything on the line, two teams scrapping as though their lives depend upon it. Next Saturday evening in O’Moore Park is probably not going to be for the feint of heart.

As preparation for the Leinster round-robin the Kingdom couldn’t ask for better, to our mind at least that’s the case. We’re sure this week that the players and management are hugely disappointed to miss out on the honour of welcoming Tipperary to Stack Park for a National League quarter-final.

That would have vividly represented the progress that’s been made and hopefully will continue to be made. Still though against Tipperary, Fintan O’Connor’s men would have been fighting a rearguard action all the way.

They would have had very little chance to put their game plan into effect in a proactive way. To make progress in the championship, in the Leinster Round Robin which gets underway in less than a month, that’s what Kerry will have to do.

A game against Laois is of far more benefit to Kerry at this stage in their season than one against Tipperary, even if we must acknowledge it would be much better for the Kingdom to have their Division 1B status already secured for another season.

And that’s a pretty big carrot for both teams. It’s also why we probably shouldn’t expect a free-flowing game this weekend. There’s too much at stake for that. Both teams will do whatever they must to get over the line.

Laois will probably be most people’s favourites for this game and it’s easy to see why. Just last weekend they ran all conquering Wexford to within a point. Indeed, the yellow bellies needed a last gasp score to finally see off Laois.

Just as Offaly were before last weekend’s game, Laois are coming into this game with a little bit of momentum built up. That was a genuinely impressive performance against Wexford too.

Fair enough Wexford had nothing much to play for – their promotion and position as Division 1B top seeds was secure long before throw-in – but Davy Fitzgerald still picked a pretty strong team – Lee Chin featured as did Liam Óg McGovern, Ciaran McDonald and match-winner Shea Tompkins.

Laois will rightly take a lot of heart from that performance and, as the majority of these Kerry players know only too well, Eamonn Kelly is a quality coach and motivator.

The longer he’s at the helm the better Laois are likely to get and, remember, the O’Moore men gave Kerry a bit of a run-around in the first half of their earlier encounter in the league.

In that first half they looked the sharper hungrier team. To be fair to Kerry, Laois had the first half breeze and, due to O’Connor’s late appointment as Kerry manager, had more work done.

O’Connor’s charges turned it around in the second half in a major way. They got a grip on primary possession and Laois retreated into their shells somewhat. Central to that second half turnaround was Mikey Boyle who claimed six puck-out possessions, even though he was named on last weekend it seems unlikely he’ll play a major role and that’s hugely frustrating.

Kerry haven’t had the luxury of choosing from a fully fit squad at any stage in this campaign. That being the case, the management team have done really well to craft a coherent until out of what they have at their disposal.

Bit by bit they seem to have forged Kerry into a more cohesive unit, with a much clearer sense of direction and for all we can praise Laois for their performance against Wexford, it’s important to note Kerry did really well last weekend against Offaly and before that against Galway.

Kerry have held their own at least as well as Laois have done – better if you compare and contrast both teams performances against Galway – they are here on merit. They don’t travel to Laois with any feeling of inferiority, nor should they.

Laois’ defence has been much worse than Kerry’s has over the course of the campaign – to date Kerry have conceded 134 points (including goals) and Laois have conceded 167 – that’s an area Kerry could exploit (as they did in the opening round).

On the other side of the coin Laois’ scoring return is much higher than Kerry’s – Laois have scored 111 points (again including goals) and Kerry just 86 – so Kerry will have to be at their best to curb the attacking instincts of guys like Cha Dwyer, Stephen Maher and Willie Hyland.

That said Kerry’s defence has improved quite a bit over the course of the campaign, especially since the move of Daniel Collins to the half-back line. Sean Weir, meanwhile, continues to set high standards.

What all of these countervailing forces add up to only time will tell, our suspicion would be that they’ll add up to a really tight contest where one little moment of magic could prove the difference.

Even the fact the game is on in Portlaoise in itself could tip the balance. As, indeed, could the fact that Laois have now lost three games consecutively to the Kingdom. The longer that run goes on the greater chance it will end. Simply put: Laois owe Kerry one.

And still for all that we feel as though Kerry have every chance of getting what they need from the game. At long last Kerry are getting near to a fully fit squad. The O’Leary brothers may not start but they stand poised to make a positive contribution.

Laois are favourites and probably rightly so, but we just have this feeling that Kerry can do it. When they’ve played their best – the second half against Laois, the Galway game, the first half against Wexford (the real one not the one fulfilling a fixture) – Kerry showed how good they can be.

Reach that standard and they should be capable of seeing off Laois – if

only just about. Verdict: Kerry