PREVIEW AND PREDICTIONS: Sunday's Laois GAA SHC double-header

Just like that we’re into the final double-header of this year’s Laois Shopping Centre SHC.

Abbeyleix v Rathdowney-Errill

The first game on Sunday is probably the game that will define not just Abbeyleix and Rathdowney-Errill’s season but it could affect Ballinakill and Borris-Kilcotton.

A win for Abbeyleix would see them avoid the relegation play-off and push their neighbours Ballinakill into it instead. It would also be enough for them to finish third in the table and face Rosenallis in a quarter-final in two weeks. That would also push Portlaoise into fourth and end The Town’s season. Abbeyleix have to pick up a result to steer clear of the relegation play-off against Ballyfin.

Rathdowney-Errill also come into the game with their season on the line. They currently sit fourth and know that they must beat Abbeyleix and hope that Rosenallis beat Borris-Kilcotton in the final game for them to progress. A win may even not be enough as they’d still finish fourth on six points if Borris-Kilcotton win and finish on seven points.

Abbeyleix have just two points to their name and that win came against Ballyfin, who are in the relegation play-off. They’ve been beaten by Clough/Ballacolla, The Harps and Borris-Kilcotton.

Rathdowney-Errill have two wins from their four games. If they aren’t to qualify, the game they’ll look back on and pinpoint where it all went wrong will be their loss to Rosenallis in Round 3. Captain Mark Kavanagh was sent off in that game and it came back to bite them as Charlie Friel scored a late point to see Rosenallis over the line by one point. Rathdowney-Errill’s other loss came against Camross by four points. They bounced back from that Rosenallis defeat last time out when they were big winners over Portlaoise. Their other win came against Ballinakill.

Prediction: Rathdowney-Errill

The game throws in at 2.30pm on Sunday, September 6.

Borris-Kilcotton v Rosenallis

The final game of this year’s group stages is Borris-Kilcotton versus Rosenallis. By the time this match throws-in, Borris-Kilcotton could be already through to the quarter-finals and will know who they’re up against. However, a win as predicted for Rathdowney-Errill in the game before would leave them with little margin for error as it would force them to go and get a result to prolong their season by at least two weeks.

Rosenallis can play with some freedom knowing that they’re assured of a second-placed finish in Group A and can look forward to a quarter-final against Portlaoise or else it could be Abbeyleix if they pick up any sort of a result against Rathdowney-Errill.

Borris-Kilcotton have five points from eight in the championship. They narrowly lost out to Camross in Round 4 after mounting a great comeback, but Camross found some late scores to scrape over the line. They would have been disappointed to only get a point against Portlaoise, a result that could yet come back to haunt them come half 5 on Sunday. Their two wins were against Abbeyleix and Ballinakill.

Rosenallis have two wins from four matches. They began with a slender loss to reigning champions Clough/Ballacolla. They recovered from that loss to pick up two crucial wins against Ballyfin and Rathdowney-Errill. They lost in Round 4 to The Harps. They’ll also be without captain and free-taker Conor Cosgrove after his red card three weeks ago.

Prediction: Borris-Kilcotton

The game throws in at 4pm on Sunday, September 6.