It has still been a campaign to remember for Laois

Roscommon defeated the Laois LGFA U/16 side in Wednesday evening’s AirNav U16 ‘B’ All-Ireland Final at Coralstown/Kinnegad GAA. But it has still been a 2026 campaign to remember for Laois, who were crowned Leinster champions after defeating Dublin before overcoming Tipperary in the All-Ireland semi-final.

Unfortunately, they came up short at the final hurdle, losing 4-14 to 0-10 against a ruthless Roscommon side.

Speaking after the game, Laois joint-manager Shane Hennessy spoke of the immense pride he has in his players and acknowledged that Roscommon were deserving winners on the day.

“It's a huge achievement. We've been going since mid-December; after our trials and 70-odd sessions later we end up in an All-Ireland Final. I'm very proud of the girls. They've given their all and we came up against a very good Roscommon side today. There probably are a lot of ifs, but we can't take anything away from them. They deserved the cup on the day,” he said.

Laois made the brighter start and established an early lead before Roscommon seized control of the contest. Hennessy pointed to the two first half goals as the defining moments while also admitting that fortune had favoured Laois at key stages during their run to the final.

“We went up four points to one and I thought we had set ourselves up with a good shape. Roscommon, in fairness, had very incisive runners. They managed to get the overlap a number of times and get a number of frees to bring them back into the game themselves. The killer blows were the two goals in that first half; they really put us back a bit. As I said, there were a lot of decisions and things like that, but that is football. We did get a penalty, we had four really good shots on goal as well. They're the ifs. Throughout the year, we've been very fortunate that we've got the rub of the green at those times,” Hennessy said.

Reflecting on the continued development of ladies football in Laois, Hennessy explained that the management team has worked with many of these players for several years and highlighted the huge interest in representing the county.

“We've been with these girls since they were under-13 PDP, the player development. Each time we've run trials, we've had over 130 girls coming to trials. There's a huge level of interest in Laois football. The minors also won their second Leinster title this year. Obviously, we're still intermediate now as well, so there is a lot of potential in and around Laois. It's just a matter of us all coming together now and pushing on,” he said.

Looking ahead to next season, Hennessy explained that many of the current panel will move up to the minor grade, while a strong group will remain eligible for U-16 football in 2027.

“A lot will be pushing up to minor. About two-thirds of the panel are 15 going 16, so they'll be eligible at least to go trial for minor. Then there is a good cohort of 14 going 15 girls here as well, who have really helped build this team into what they are this year. Throughout the early training sessions, they learned from some of the older girls and they have really come on. Some of them have broken their way into the team, you'll have seen that today. We have a number of younger girls on the team as well, but overall, I think they are a great bunch. We're all very proud of them, all the management team. From 1 to 35, it's very difficult sometimes having a panel of 35. It means that we have difficult decisions to make when it comes to a match day, because we can only have 30 on our panel, but in fairness, 35 girls come, they all show up and they all want to be part of this. That says something as well,” Hennessy added.

Finally, Hennessy was delighted to see such a large Laois support make the journey to Kinnegad and thanked everyone who got behind the team throughout their campaign.

“It's amazing and it's great for ladies football too. There's a serious buzz in Laois around our underage football for years now. It's not just the families and the friends of the girls here, but genuine Laois football fans here. Many of them have come up to me after the game.

No relatives, just here to support Laois and shout us all on, so it's huge,” he concluded.