LAOIS have the luxury of home advantage for round three of the All-Ireland qualifiers when they face Offaly tonight in Portlaoise at 7pm.
The third round has thrown up a local tie which will take place in Laois’ O'Moore Park.
Results have been mixed for Laois so far in this Championship campaign.
They eked out a two point victory over Westmeath in the quarter-final of the Leinster Championship.
In the semi-final they conceded 3-13 in a defeat to a Meath side who could only put a mere four points past Dublin in the Leinster final.
Laois were then forced into round two of the qualifiers, where they came up against a stoic Derry team who pushed them all the way.
An Eoin Lowry goal six minutes from time finally put day light between the teams in what was a very nip-and-tuck affair in Owenbeg.
Meanwhile, Offaly also fell foul of Meath in the Leinster Championship.
However, they conceded two goals fewer than did Laois against the same team.
Offaly faced a potential banana skin when they hosted London in the first round of All-Ireland qualifiers.
London surprised many when they pushed the then-reigning Connacht champions Galway all the way in Ruislip.
However, Offaly were able to overcome London with relative ease, pulling off a ten point victory.
This victory over London earned Offaly a place in the second round of qualifiers.
A stellar performance from Niall McNamee, in which he scored 2-2, helped see the Faithful County run out comfortable 11 point victors over Sligo.
McNamee’s prowess secured him a place on the GAA’s ‘Team of the Week’, and Offaly will be looking for another big performance from him in tonight’s fixture.
Offaly will also be hoping for another calm and composed showing from keeper Paddy Dunican, who was also named alongside McNamee in the official GAA Team of the Week.
Offaly manager John Maughan, in his first season as the boss of the Faithful County, will indeed keep the faith with the team who dismantled Sligo in the second round.
Recent tussles between Laois and Offaly indicate that this could be a cagey affair.
There was just three points between the two when they met in the National League earlier in the year, with Laois going on to gain promotion to Division Two.
Ahead of the game, Offaly boss Maughan told the Irish Times: “They’re coming in on the bounce, an impressive win over Derry in Owenbeg. I honestly thought Derry would win that game, I was wrong, and Laois have moved on as well. I don’t expect there will be much between us.”
The victors will be one game away from claiming a spot in the Super 8s, and Maughan concedes that the route to the Super 8’s has been “kind” to Offaly so far.
“No disrespect whatsoever to the opposition, but Sligo from Division Three and London at home, that certainly helped,” said Maughan of the draw.
“We avoided the big guns, the Ulster teams that were lurking there. Look, we’d consider it huge progress if we get through Saturday, we’re quite pleased with the draw, let’s see that happens.”
