Laois senior football manager Justin McNulty praises character as Laois claim crucial first win

The Laois senior footballers delivered an impressive display in Portlaoise on Saturday night, overcoming Sligo to record their first victory of this year's Division 3 campaign.

Weather played a significant role throughout, with a powerful wind sweeping the pitch from the Abbeyleix end toward The Town end and making handling and kicking particularly difficult.

After the final whistle, Laois manager Justin McNulty praised the response from his squad following the loss to Wexford and the draw with Limerick, saying the group showed the resilience required to turn their form around.

“I think we said before the match that the weather is with us, and it turned out so. The players deserve all the credit here. After two performances that we weren't happy with, and things went wrong on so many fronts, for them to have dug deep in the manner they did. They demonstrated guts, demonstrated manliness, demonstrated a huge fight, and they should be very proud of themselves,” he said.

Laois were slow to settle early on despite having the wind at their backs, and Sligo built a three-point lead before the home side found their rhythm. From that point, Laois seized control and reeled off 12 unanswered points to put themselves firmly in charge.

“In the conditions, with the wind, to have done that was extraordinary and just controlled possession football, working their scores, backing themselves. It was phenomenal in terms of the belief the fellas demonstrated in themselves and each other and given how big a blow they took last week, it was a huge indicator of the character of the fellas, which was phenomenal,” McNulty said.

Simon Fingleton made his first competitive appearance for Laois since suffering a shoulder injury against Louth in the Leinster Championship in April 2025, and McNulty paid tribute to his contribution as part of a determined team effort.

“Simon, credit to him, massive injury and took a huge effort to get back playing at all and to play like that on his first day back, it's phenomenal, and we just know Simon's a warrior, there were 15 warriors, 20 warriors tonight. Great performance from the boys in the squad who were here already training before the match, they were giving it their all and brought a huge energy and a huge fight to the whole environment and that's what delivered that performance because it was a combined effort from the whole group and they should all be very proud of that,” he added.

The seven-point success provides a welcome lift for Laois heading into the next round, though McNulty stressed that the team must quickly refocus with a demanding trip to Ennis on the horizon.

“There’s nothing automatic in football; you have to go out and fight and prove it every day. We know Clare are a tough, tough opposition and we know there's major elements of our performance we have to improve upon, if we're going to be even competitive next weekend. That’s where we’re going to focus towards now, being better, because we have to be better to take on Clare away from home and that's going to be one hell of a challenge for us,” McNulty said.

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When questioned about the mood in the camp at the first training session after the defeat to Wexford, McNulty said the players themselves drove the response and were determined to make amends.

“All credit to the lads, they took ownership of it, they knuckled down, kept their heads down and worked diligently and collectively and showed the fight inside them,” he concluded.