'It'd be very hard to walk away after a defeat like that'- Laois senior football manager Justin McNulty

Laois senior football manager Justin McNulty offered an honest and sobering assessment of his side’s 3-26 to 1-15 loss to Westmeath in Saturday’s Tailteann Cup preliminary quarter-final at TEG Cusack Park.

“A tough day at the office for Laois. Full credit to Westmeath, they outplayed us in every area of the pitch for most of the game and were fully deserving of their victory. They were fiendishly hungry in the tackle, they were physical, they were powerful. They played great ball across the day and scored great scores. We just weren't able to get up to the pace of the game. We got close to them just before half-time, and then they got two killer-blow goals before half-time, which was a huge body blow, and we weren't able to recover from that. Our confidence was down, and we just didn't get up to the pace of the game in the manner that we needed to do today. Those things happen, and the game got away from us,” he said.

McNulty revealed what his message was to the players in the immediate aftermath of such a punishing defeat.

“The players are hurting, they're hurting hard. It feels like a humiliation for us all, every one of us involved. We don't think we did ourselves justice, but sometimes that happens in sports. I said to the fellas that they're more than footballers, they've all got careers, and they've all got other responsibilities. To keep that balance and it's healthy, and to know that they can bounce back from this. They've got to summon that hurt to make sure that they have the desire to improve. I hope that never happens again, and work towards it never happening again like it did today,” he said.

Despite the manner of the loss, McNulty made it clear that he remains committed to the project and intends to see out the final year of his current term in charge.

“It'd be very hard to walk away after a defeat like that and say that's as good as it is. We're all taking stock, the players are hurting, and the backroom team are hurting. We all need to think about how we address this and with the county board, and say, can we improve this, and can we come back fighting stronger and more determined to get there again next year,” he said.

The concession of two goals and a point in quick succession before the break saw Laois go from four down to 11 behind at half-time, and McNulty explained what the focus was in the dressing room.

“The message was very much focused on trying to get control of our kick-outs, trying to disrupt their kick-outs, which we did relatively effectively for phases. But I guess our turnovers cost us very dearly, and our possession efficiency cost us dearly. As was our shot efficiency, they were much more accurate than us. They had more shots, better accuracy. So with all those things compounded against you, it's hard to win games. They out-physicaled us and outplayed us in most areas of the pitch today. That just happens on certain days, and the Laois team by no means did themselves, none of us did ourselves justice today. We have to look at that and study what happens and come back stronger and more determined,” he said.

READ NEXT: Laois bow out of Tailteann Cup after heavy Westmeath defeat in Mullingar

Laois had gone into the game buoyed by their win over Offaly, but McNulty said the intensity Westmeath brought was on another level.

“We thought there would have been huge confidence after last week, but Westmeath were a different level, they were at a different pitch and we didn't get to that pitch today,” he said.

Those two goals before the break proved crucial, and McNulty said Laois missed chances to get something themselves before Westmeath ruthlessly punished them.

“The goals were crucial, we probably had a couple of half-chances before that where we coughed up possession cheaply. Then they got those chances and they punished us and got ahead of us that we weren't able to claw back,” he said.

The second half brought no relief, as Westmeath kicked on with 1-5 unanswered shortly after the break. McNulty acknowledged their ability to seize the big moments.

“They seemed to get the momentum all through the game at the key times, and that comes from experience, and I talked to the players about that. We have a lot of debutants this season, so that comes from experience. It comes from having the conditioning in the bank as well. They are superior to us in that regard, and they dominated us for most of the game,” he said.

The Laois boss was keen to focus on the future, particularly the younger players in the squad and their potential to rebound from this.

“It's a question of how much they are determined to fight back and say this is not as good as Laois gets. I told them about my experience as a footballer, as a county player with Armagh, having hard, tough days. We got headlights from Down and Derry, and we came back more determined and stronger. I'm very hungry to put things right, and I hope that the characters in that group say this is not good enough for us. We need to come back and show that we can be a whole lot better than that,” he said.

Looking back on the 2025 campaign as a whole, McNulty said there were ups and downs, but insisted the performance against Westmeath isn’t a true reflection of the group.

“It's probably premature to do that. I think Ross described it probably before the season started. This is going to be a season of snakes and ladders, and that's how it turned out to be. The league was as such, and so was the championship as it played out. We had some positive days and probably more tougher days, today is the toughest of them all. I don't think it's a fair reflection on the calibre and quality of the footballers we have. But that's what we produced today and we need to figure out why that was. And know that we have to come back stronger and more determined. We have to check things and do things differently, otherwise that will happen again,” he ended.

READ NEXT: Aimee Collier fires in a hat-trick as the Laois Camogie team make it two wins from two