Tommy Fitzgerald proud of honest Laois display after Tipperary defeat

Laois senior hurling manager Tommy Fitzgerald praised the honesty and commitment of his players after they bowed out of the All-Ireland series with a 3-32 to 0-18 defeat to Tipperary in Saturday’s preliminary quarter-final in Portlaoise. 

While the scoreline was emphatic in Tipperary’s favour, Fitzgerald felt the context of a six-day turnaround from the Joe McDonagh Cup final made Laois’ task almost impossible.

“Obviously disappointed with the final result but proud of the effort, application, and honesty in the performance. It was always going to be tough to react and respond after last Sunday, considering a six-day turnaround. Obviously, everything that goes with that, losing a final, was a big, big ask. A fresh Tipp team after being off for four weeks. Maybe today isn't the day to speak about my opinions on that particular fixture, but it is what it is.

“The boys came in Tuesday night, we had our recovery session, and we weren't even able to train, to be honest with you. Everyone was just in recovery mode, and bodies were sore or whatever else. But in fairness, they made a commitment Tuesday night to respect the fixture and just to give a real, honest performance, and I think we did that to be fair,” he said.

Fitzgerald admitted that the opening minutes were damaging, as Tipperary raced into a commanding 1-5 to 0-0 lead inside the first five minutes. However, he was proud of how his team battled back and competed with their illustrious opponents for large parts of the game.

“At times, we looked quite good out there. We looked comfortable at times. Yeah, 1-5 to no score down after, it wasn't even five minutes, it was four minutes fifty-something when I looked up at the scoreboard. They showed a good bit of resilience to come back and to fight back and to stay reasonably competitive for a long, long time,” he added.

Looking back on the 2025 season, Fitzgerald admitted that the wounds from last Sunday’s Joe McDonagh Cup final loss to Kildare were still fresh. Laois also suffered relegation from Division 1B of the National League earlier in the year.

“It was a real rollercoaster, to be honest with you, ups and downs. It's hard to assess the season as a whole right now. Look, we were all devastated after last Sunday. We put a lot of work into it, and the lads put a lot of effort and work into it.

“It's been a tough few days and a tough week, I won't lie to you. Ultimately, you're judged on results, and we came up short. That's just the reality. Maybe in a week or two, I'll be able to give you an overall assessment of how the year went. It's a bit raw and a bit too soon at the moment,” he reflected.

When asked about his own future as Laois manager, Fitzgerald kept things brief.

Q: Do you know what the future holds for you?

A: “No.”

Returning to last weekend’s Joe McDonagh Cup final, Fitzgerald gave his perspective on where things went wrong in that defeat to Kildare. He pointed to inefficiencies in front of goal and difficulties on their own restarts as key turning points.

“Where do you start, where do you stop? Very hard to pinpoint. Look, 11 wides in the first half, 2 or 3 dropping short, 1 or 2 missed goal chances or half chances, maybe it's a different game then.

“We obviously really struggled with our puck outs in the second half. They got on top of our puck outs, and we struggled as a result. So look, they’d be the two, I suppose, overriding factors for me at the moment. But again, next couple of weeks I'll get a chance to really reflect on it,” he explained.

As for whether any players will be stepping away from the inter-county scene, Fitzgerald said it’s too early for those conversations, though he acknowledged some may be thinking about it.

“No, not in the dressing room. But yeah, look, 1 or 2 fellas maybe have those thoughts in their head. But as we said to them, today is probably not the day to make decisions like that. They need to maybe reflect on them over a couple of weeks and see then, or a couple of months even,” he concluded.

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