'It was squeaky bum time for a bit of the second-half'- Laois GAA's Justin McNulty
McNulty began his first league campaign since taking over Laois for the second time
Saturday night marked a new era for Laois football as Justin McNulty began his second term as Laois manager under the lights of Laois Hire O’Moore Park.
His side recorded a two-point victory with a late Longford goal reducing Laois’ five-point advantage late on. McNulty spoke to the media after the game to give his thoughts on the contest.
“I think you’d have to be satisfied with the courage that the fellas demonstrated in the second-half. At half-time, I wasn’t confident at all. I didn’t think five points was enough in the conditions with the wind. For them to have dug out the result in the way that they did, big scores, big turnovers at big moments in the game. That’s testament to the character of the fellas and at the same time, we know there's a major area for improvement. We made it difficult for ourselves and Longford could have won it at the end. We need to rectify a few of our defensive frailties and we’ve a lot of work to do ahead of next week,” McNulty said.
Laois goalkeeper Killian Roche was outstanding on the night with him raising five white flags, three from play. McNulty feels that the role of a shot-stopper has definitely changed.
“The role of a goalkeeper has changed in our game and it’s not going to change back. Killian stepped up and only for him it might have been a different result, hats off to Killian. Now we know we’ve got to really hone in and focus on improving the areas where we feel this evening and focus on Wexford for next weekend,” he said.
A Longford penalty in the 46th minute cut Laois’ lead to a single point before the O’Moore County replied with 1-2 unanswered to take control of the contest. McNulty also knows that his side must stop giving up goal chances so easily.
“We kept getting scores at vital times and that was down to patience, down to controlling the ball, down to maintaining possession and down to making the runs at the right time from the fellas who showed real pace and power. Those lads showed conviction and determination to get on the ball and get on the end of things so that was very encouraging. It’s positive and let’s be optimistic about how this team can develop and grow.
“It was squeaky bum time for a bit of the second-half. I think they had other goal chances and so did we. It was neck and neck in terms of missed opportunities in front of the net. It’s something that we need to address how they were able to get in on goal so regularly throughout the match and we can’t have that going forward.
It was huge. It would have been very easy to panic and lose our composure but the fellas showed tremendous composure, tremendous resilience and dug out scores in big moments,” McNulty said.
McNulty says it’ll be a big week of training as he looks to shore up his defence as well as having the chance to welcome players back from injury.
“We’ve huge work to do and we’ve to rectify the areas where there are deficiencies. The fellas know that, we've got lads coming back from injuries too so there’ll be a huge competition for places and that’s positive but we know we’re in for one hell of a battle on Saturday evening against Wexford,” he said.
Laois had five players making their league debuts; Killian Roche, Ben Dempsey, Conor Heffernan, Niall Dunne and Shaun Fitzpatrick. The Laois manager was keen to give those lads credit for their workrate and determination.
“Credit to those fellas and credit to the coaching that those fellas have experienced with their clubs, colleges and schools. They stood up and were counted. To have a debut performance like that, it’s really big and I said well done. They should enjoy it because they deserve it. Only for the debutantes, we could have had a different result here tonight, so fair play to them,” he said.
Evan O’Carroll was recently named as the new Laois captain with his manager full of praise for the Crettyard forward who fired over three points on the night.
“Evan knows we have high expectations of him and that there are high standards expected from the captain at inter-county level. He’s got the capacity to be a big player and a big leader for us. He knows he has got to improve and grow. He has to lift his own game and lift everyone else's game around him by how he leads and the standards he sets for everybody,” he said.
Laois midfielder Damon Larkin was tasked with a huge job before the game as he had to mark Longford’s Darren Gallagher. The Portlaoise star held Gallagher scoreless from play while chipping in with 1-2 of his own. His goal came at a time when Laois needed it the most.
“Damon is an exceptional player. He has huge power and pace to break through the gain line at every play. He has room for improvement, he knows he needs to get better and we want to see him develop and grow every game so he becomes a real midfield force for us, which he has the capacity and the capability to do,” he ended.
Laois travel to Wexford Park next Saturday evening from 6pm.