“If you have 26 chances you should be scoring more than 10 points and that was ultimately the difference.” - Laois Boss Mike Quirke

Laois were beaten by seven points last weekend against Clare and beaten by eight on Saturday night at the hands of Cork and while to the naked eye, that might paint a bleak picture, the performance levels from both days showed no comparison.

Laois were much improved on Saturday night but just hadn't that sharpness of killer instinct in front of goals.

The finishing touches were missing but manager Mike Quirke agreed that it was a much better showing from his troops.

“I would say it was better than last week. We had 26 shots at the goal, Cork had 20 but we scored 10 points out of 26 shots and therein lies the problem. We just didn’t get enough scores from our play.

“I thought we defended really well, got the ball forward really well but we just weren’t clinical enough and they took the two goal chances very well and ultimately we were always chasing that six-point gap.”

There was a noticeable improvement in the rate of turnovers and all round ability to mix it out the field and while the radar was off up front, they actually created more scoring opportunities than the Cork men.

“Last week were very disappointed with our performance and our lack of energy and effort but I thought we had an abundance of energy and effort and everybody did everything they could but we weren’t clinical enough when the chances presented themselves.

“If you have 26 chances you should be scoring more than 10 points and that was ultimately the difference.”

Laois were stung badly by two Cork goals in the opening half, one was the opening score of the game and the second a result of some loose play from Mark Timmons and Gareth Dillon as they attempted to work the ball out of defence.

“They were from chances that we should have scored at the other end. Gareth (Dillon)and Timmo (Mark Timmons), I thought had two brilliant games. There was one ball that went to ground and suddenly they were in and capitalised on out of nothing.

“Not out of any great play but just mistakes out of us. It was disappointing," explained Quirke.

Laois had two penalty shouts of their own with the one in the opening half where Evan O'Carroll appeared to be dragged down inside the 21m line a real sticking point. Not only did they not get the penalty, but the 21m free they were awarded was also taken off them for dissent, the ball was thrown up and Cork came down the field and got a score.

“I thought he was fouled inside the 21 heading for the goals. He seemed to be upended and I thought it was a goal scoring threat but our view wasn’t great.

“He obviously argued with the referee and the referee then hopped the ball so you don’t get a penalty, you don’t even get a free and they scored on the next play.”

While a relegation playoff against Westmeath or Down now looks the most likely outcome in terms of the league, the fact remains that Laois improved on their showing against Clare and now the challenge will be to raise it again for the visit of Kildare to O'Moore Park next Sunday.

“I still thought it was a huge improvement. I know we got beat by seven last week and eight today and it sounds ridiculous to say it was a huge improvement.

“But for us what we were most disappointed that we didn’t have the energy or effort around the field and I don’t think there was any question that we had that in spades today.”

Laois are also the walking wounded with a number of knocks picked up in the game including Colm Begley who had to come off after only two minutes while Donie Kingston also limped off the field near the end of the game. It will be a big challenge now to get the bodies right for the Kildare game on Sunday.

"When you’ve three games in three weeks, you’re going to accumulate knocks and bangs so we’ll have to assess the lads and see where they are", said the Laois boss.

READ ALSO: Cork the more clinical as Laois suffer second defeat in two weeks.