Justin McNulty hails Laois footballer's grit in narrow win over Wicklow

The Laois lads travelled to a sunny Aughrim on Sunday afternoon and secured a hard-fought one-point victory over Wicklow. Manager Justin McNulty praised his team's character and discipline following the win.

“By no means a swashbuckling performance, but we've talked to the fellas about character and demonstrating their character. I think they did that today, they dug deep. They had a disciplined performance, not the quality of performance we'd like to see, but still they were disciplined, and probably the most telling aspect of the performance was there were big tackles made at big moments, which probably was the difference between the two teams. Some of the bravery demonstrated by our fellas in those tackles, and the timing of those tackles, and the commitment and discipline of those tackles was enormous, and we can build off that, we can grow from that, and move forward from here.”

McNulty also noted the challenging breeze at Echelon Park, which influenced the game's dynamics.

“The breeze was a big factor in the game, probably it was one of the few games I've been involved with where I don't believe there was a goal chance for either team, or a half-goal chance for us, for Mark Barry. So it was tight for us throughout. Probably we had a chance to pull away from them, and we didn't, so we weren't as clinical and as ruthless up front as we should be, or as we need to be. That's something we can improve on.”

With Wicklow defending with 14 men behind the ball, Laois had to dig deep to secure the win.

“But fundamentally, this is not an easy place to come and win. Obviously, a well coached team who have taken a couple of big guns already this season, or had taken one big gun and had a lot of potential. So, we knew we had a tough, tough game today, and the fellas kept composed for the most part, and we dug out a victory.”

McNulty made three changes to the starting lineup but expressed confidence in his squad.

“We're confident in the players we started with, confident in the fellas who came in, and we know there's injuries now, and there's going to be a different team the next day again. We’ve talked about it; we're going into the squad for this Tailteann Cup. That's because we believe in the players we have, believe in their ability to perform in the weight of the battle, and we're confident that we can do that going forward. Now we know, obviously, there's an enormous test for us against the Fermanagh team, who are on the crest of the wave, and that's where we shift our focus now.”

Despite the win, McNulty stressed the need for improvement ahead of their clash with Fermanagh in round three.

“We're looking for a performance. Whilst we've got to win today, we can't be happy with our performance. There are aspects of it that need major improvements. The players know that, we know that and we'll sit down together and plot our course for the next couple of weeks and see where we go.”

McNulty concluded by addressing the fitness concerns after Eoin Buggie had to be subbed off after 21 minutes on Sunday.

“That's a worry for us, the hamstring, so that's a worry. But other than that, we're ok, and there's other fellas who are coming back now as well. So, the squad is strengthening, there's competition for places, and the toughest job we had this season was picking the team for today, which may even get harder for the next day.”