Evergreen Munnelly preparing for county final with Arles-Kilcruise

Ross Munnelly is just 60 minutes away from winning a Laois IFC title with his beloved Arles-Kilcruise.

The former Laois star, who turns 43 in December, was to the fore as Arles-Kilcruise scored the last seven points to edge out Kilcavan by 0-11 to 1-7 in a dramatic semi-final in Annanough last Sunday. The Carlow-border club looked a beaten docket when they trailed by 0-4 to 1-7 with 20 minutes remaining, but despite playing against a strong wind, fought back to set up a final showdown with Park-Ratheniska.

Callum McElroy was the scoring hero for Arles-Kilcruise who also had former county players David Conway and Kevin Meaney in their ranks.

Lining out at corner forward, Munnelly is still going strong, 22 years after helping Laois to their first Leinster SFC title in 57 years in a brilliant breakthrough season. He went on to play 20 seasons for the O’Moore County, playing in further provincial finals in 2004, ’05, ’07 and ’18, and also representing Ireland in the International Rules series in 2005 and ’13.

He announced his inter-county retirement on the eve of his 40th birthday in 2022.