Previews and predictions for Sunday's Laois GAA Senior Hurling semi-finals

And then there was four. This weekend sees the championship semi-finals of the top three grades of Laois hurling take place across Saturday and Sunday.

The two Senior semi-finals are a repeat of last year's as county champions Camross face Clough-Ballacolla while Rathdowney-Errill will take on Abbeyleix St Lazarian's hoping to reverse the result from their last four clash in 2023.

First up on Sunday afternoon is the Abbeyleix and Rathdowney-Errill game. As mentioned, these two teams played out a cracker in last year's championship that required extra-time to separate them. Abbeyleix won by two points in the end to secure their place in a county final for the first time in 74 years.

In terms of this year's championship, Rathdowney-Errill topped their group to seal an automatic semi-final place while Abbeyleix had to come through the a quarter-final with Portlaoise to get to this stage having finished second in the group. Rathdowney-Errill cruised to victory over Camross and Castletown but were made to work for a hard-earned point against Portlaoise in the second group game. They'll be hoping that they can peak at the right time and reach a first county final since they last won the competition in 2019.

Abbeyleix have gotten better as the championship has progressed having lost their opening game to Clough-Ballacolla by 11 points. Wins against Rosenallis and The Harps followed which set up a meeting with Portlaoise. Nine points was the margin of victory for PJ Peacock's men to secure a second successive semi-final place. Enda Rowland and Eoghan Fennelly have been superb from placed balls along with plenty of scoring prowess from the likes of the three Byrnes; Ciaran, Colin and Cormac, Colm Walsh and Fionan Mahony. Their defence has also been immense with Lawson Obular and captain Oisin Carroll making up the spine of the team.

Rathdowney-Errill v Abbeyleix St Lazarian's at 2.15pm in Laois Hire O'Moore Park on Sunday September 21

Odds: Rathdowney-Errill 1/2. Draw 9/1. Abbeyleix 7/4

Prediction: Rathdowney-Errill by four points

The second semi-final between Clough-Ballacolla and Camross sees the winners of the last four Senior Hurling Championships go up against one another. Camross defeated Abbeyleix in last year's final after a magical hat-trick from Mossy Keyes sent them well on their way to victory. Clough-Ballacolla won three championships in a row from 2020-2022 and it was Camross who ended their hopes of four-in-a-row in last year's semi-final. That game went all the way to penalties with eventual county champions Camross getting over the line.

Clough-Ballacolla eased through Group A of the 2024 championship with comfortable wins over Abbeyleix and The Harps. Rosenallis gave a walkover in the final group game with Clough-Ballacolla already assured of a semi-final place and Rosenallis not able to climb off the foot of the table. It means that Clough-Ballacolla haven't played a competitive match since Friday, August 2. Will that have a part to play in the result, who knows?

County champions Camross got off to a shaky start in Group B as Rathdowney-Errill had 10 points to spare over them in the opening game. Camross bounced back in true champions style to defeat Castletown and Portlaoise to finish second in the group. They played The Harps in the quarter-final and got off to a flying start as they scored 2-1 in the first five minutes. They eventually won 2-18 to 1-16. 

Clough-Ballacolla v Camross at 4pm in Laois Hire O'Moore Park on Sunday September 21

Odds: Clough-Ballacolla 8/13. Draw 8/1. Camross 6/4

Prediction: Clough-Ballacolla to win by two points

Tickets for the double header can be purchased here.