It was an intense weekend for the footballers of Portlaoise. On Saturday evening, they picked up another Laois title when easily defeating Emo in a replay.
And then on Sunday afternoon, they showed real grit in overcoming a plucky Palatine outfit in the Leinster club preliminary round clash at Netwatch Dr Cullen Park.
Malachy McNulty's side can now look forward to a two-week break before they entertain Sarsfields of Kildare in the provincial quarter-final.
Reflecting on their busy schedule, Portlaoise captain Kieran Lillis told RTÉ Sport "We gave each team we played over the weekend the height of respect - in that we look at everything as a stand-alone fixture.
"My dad has been my biggest inspiration and influence all of my career" - Kieran Lillis
It was a very much a family affair at Cullen Park, with Lillis' father Mick, a former Portlaoise manager, in charge of Palatine.
And while the battle had to be won on the pitch, Lillis junior spoke about the familial intrigue in the build-up to the game.
"My dad has been my biggest inspiration and influence all of my career. It's been interesting in the last week trying to put it out of my head that we could be on opposite sides on Sunday," he explained.
"When we came through [against Emo] I decided to turn off the phone today. He'd normally ring me before every game. I'd had a look at the phone after the game and they were a few missed calls off him.
“At the end of the day he has his job to do and by talking to me he could be getting an insight into our tactics."
