Sunday June 4

Leinster Senior Football Championship Quarter-Final

Laois v Kildare, O’Connor Park, Tullamore, 3pm

By William Dunne

Following a disappointing Allianz Football League Division Three campaign Laois enjoyed a good start in the Leinster Senior Football Championship defeating Longford.

Now, though, Peter Creedon’s charges face a tough test against a Kildare outfit that earned promotion to Division One of the League for 2018.

Laois emerged as comfortable winners on a scoreline of 4-15 to 0-16 in the previous round, which undoubtedly will instill a certain amount of belief heading into this Sunday’s clash in Tullamore.

Cian O’Neill’s Kildare will be heavy favourites, however, after registering five wins in their first six League games.

Former professional footballer Kevin Feely has impressing at midfield for the Lilywhites and has taken on the added responsibility of free-taking.

Feely, aged 24, has been a stand-out performer for Kildare alongside sharpshooter Niall Kelly and rising star Ben McCormack, who suffered an unfortunate injury at the end of the League.

 “The way we worked things in the League is that we tried our best not to look ahead of ourselves”, Feely remarked at the Leinster Championships launch. “That really worked well for us, was just taking each game as it came and at the moment I suppose our only aim and our only goal is just to win our Quarter Final.

“There has literally been no talk at all among the group or the management to us about potential finishes in the Leinster Championship.”

That sort of focus served Cian O’Neill’s Kildare well during the League and they will be aware of the threat the Laois attack carries, especially the Kingston brothers, Donie and Paul, who were prominent against Longford.

The pair scored a combined 3-5 as the O’Moore County progressed, while Evan O’Carroll is another talented Laois attacker.

Recent underage form in Leinster shows that Kildare are producing talented footballers and they will want to showcase their ability at the highest level.

Laois were boosted by the Longford success, striking vital goals to seal victory, and this upcoming match against Kildare should be a lively fixture.

Kildare boss Cian O’Neill wants his players to react following the Croke Park Allianz Football League Division Two Final defeat to Galway. “We under performed on the day, but the key thing is we know why and we're going to rectify that for Championship, O’Neill states. “We've step one on June 4th in Tullamore. You need to approach it every game at a time.”

KILDARE: Mark Donnellan; Mick O'Grady, David Hyland, Ollie Lyons; Johnny Byrne, Eoin Doyle, Keith Cribbin; Kevin Feely, Tommy Moolick; Fergal Conway, Niall Kelly, Paul Cribbin; David Slattery, Daniel Flynn, Cathal McNally.