Justin McNulty rues missed opportunity as Laois bow out of Leinster Championship

Laois senior football manager Justin McNulty cut a frustrated, but proud figure after watching his side fall to a 2-16 to 0-17 defeat to Louth in Newbridge on Sunday.

The result brought an end to Laois’ Leinster Championship run and leaves them with a four-week break before the start of their Tailteann Cup campaign.

McNulty felt his side let a golden opportunity slip through their fingers.

"One we left behind, no doubt about it. I know that, the players know that, Louth knows that, and the supporters know that. We have just got to learn from these, you have to recognise the importance of completions at the crucial times of the game and come back hungrier and stronger and more determined," McNulty said.

Despite the loss, McNulty was full of praise for the effort and application shown by his players, particularly in a game where they defied expectations and were the better team for long spells.

"Immensely proud of the players and their effort and their intensity and their work rate because we forced those turnovers in the first half and not just the first half, the second half as well. We were largely in control in the second half, and just for a couple of little turnovers, which played them into the game really, and they punished us, and that's where it's at.

"The effort from the guys was immense, and they kept going right to the end, and a few near things for us and could have been a very different outcome. We had goal chances in the first half, which if we would have scored one or two of them, we could have been totally in control at half-time, but we weren't, so we left them in the game and they punished us for it," he said.

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McNulty acknowledged that Louth’s goals, including a penalty, stemmed from Laois errors and that the new rules around quick transitions hurt his side on the day.

"I think the penalty came from us in possession as well, so it cost us. The new rules, the way they are, if you don't complete and you don't get the ball dead, you can be punished, and they punished us on several occasions, and that hurts. It's hard to take, but that's football, that's sport," he said.

The Laois boss also reserved special mention for Simon Fingleton, who was forced off with injury but had shown huge courage in a goal-saving moment.

"His bravery is extraordinary. Great defender, great fella and he was missed. Testament to his bravery to put his body in the line to make sure that goal didn't happen and he was a loss. He's one of our best defenders and you don't replace a player that easily."

Fingleton’s absence meant a reshuffle, but McNulty still took heart from the level of performance across the team and the belief they showed against a more fancied Louth outfit.

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"I think our players, for the most part, had very competent performances across the park, bar a few little slip-ups which we were punished for, but they can all be proud of their effort. They're immensely proud of how they played as a team, and for us to come in today as no-hopers and to really control large parts of that game. The players deserve and the management team deserve huge credit for that," McNulty said.

With the Leinster campaign now over, Laois will turn their attention to the Tailteann Cup, but McNulty admitted the coming weeks will be telling in terms of the squad’s appetite to reset and go again.

"I don't see it as a moral victory. We were beaten today when we should have won, and we're not happy with that, not for a second. Now, can we dust ourselves off and get prepared for a Tailteann Cup campaign with the spacing that there is?

"There’s a gap now where players have the opportunity to go back and play club games. Can we come and make an assault on it? I don't know. That's a decision that the players have to make, and we'll discuss that now and see where their heads are at and see how we go," he ended.