Disappointed McNulty hoping to learn from defeat
�/Presseye.com - 18th February 2012. Press Eye Ltd - Northern Ireland - Allianz GAA Football National League 2013 - Division 2 - Round 2. Derry V Laois. Laois' Peter O'Leary and Derry's Colin Devlin. Mandatory Credit Photo Lorcan Doherty / Presseye.com
In the wake of Laois’ three point defeat to Derry in Celtic Park on Sunday afternoon Laois manager Justin McNulty believes there are some hard questions that need to be asked if Laois are to rectify the problems, move forward and progress.
Speaking in Celtic Park after the game, Justin McNulty expressed his disappointment in the defeat: “I’m very disappointed. Disappointed for the lads. They put in a huge effort. I think it’s a game we can certainly learn from.
“We can search deep inside ourselves and ask ourselves hard questions and aim to rectify things.”
Another prominent issue on the Laois manager’s mind was that of Ross Munnelly’s controversial point that wasn’t given.
“Games are changed on little incidents and there was a hugely important incident in the second-half which was critical. It’s happening too often in the GAA and it’s not acceptable. Turning points in games happen around little incidents like that.”
“We were pretty much in the driving seat at half-time and the game turned on a critical incident. It was totally unacceptable for matches to be turned on critical incidents which were obvious scores.
That’s not the reason we lost the match, but it was a big element of the game. That was a turning point in the match. It shouldn’t have been a turning point. It was a positive for Derry.”
Following Emmett McGuckin’s crucial goal in the 53rd minute that drew the sides level, McNulty says the Derry aprroach to the game shifted.
“Derry played a very cute game at that point. They used short passes and held possession and our guys were chasing around after them trying to win back possession.
They played a very smart game. You have to give Brian and the boys great credit.
But we still created the opportunites to win the game and we didn’t take them. We did win back possession on many occasions, created opportunities but didn’t take them. We had enough opportunities to win the game. Simple as that.”
Speaking of Laois’ missed chances, McNulty believes ‘It was an even game in terms of howlers.’
“They had one in the first-half, we had one in the second-half but I still think we created enough chances to win that game but didn’t take them.”
Justin McNulty is well aware of what is expected of himself and the team during the break before the Louth test.
“We’ll look forward to coming together this week and seeing if we can learn from this game. That’s what today is about, learning from and improving. It’s a tough one in three weeks time.”
Laois now have a break until Saturday, March 2nd when they will welcome Louth to O’Moore Park in what will be a crucial game in Laois’ bid to make a return to the top tier of the National Football League next year.
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