Laois look better equipped

Down v Laois: ALTHOUGH DOWN have home advantage, it’s going to require some considerable improvement from last week’s win over…

Down v Laois:ALTHOUGH DOWN have home advantage, it's going to require some considerable improvement from last week's win over London for them to beat Laois.

Ambrose Rodgers returns to the starting team, the only change from last week, while Laois arrive more thoroughly redesigned from the side that fell to Kildare in the Leinster semi-final, with Colm Coss, Aidan Fennelly, Craig Rogers, Niall Donoher and Peter O’Leary all given starting positions.

DOWN: B McVeigh; C McGovern, K McKernan, D Rafferty; T Hanna, P Murphy, C Garvey; D Gordon, S Kearney; A Rodgers, C Maginn, B McArdle; B Coulter, P McCumiskey, D Hughes.

LAOIS: M Nolan; C Ryan, M Timmons, R Stapleton; A Fennelly, J O’Loughlin, N Donoher; P Clancy, K Meaney; B Quigley, C Rogers, R Munnelly; MJ Tierney, C Coss, P O’Leary.

Ian O'Riordan

Ian O'Riordan

Ian O'Riordan is an Irish Times sports journalist writing on athletics