Laois Ladies' manager Stephen Duff urges Laois to be braver after loss to Cork

In the aftermath of Laois Ladies' defeat to Cork in the opening game of this year's All-Ireland Championship, manager Stephen Duff offered a candid assessment of his team's performance and the challenges they faced.

"We weren't good enough and what we'd set out to do during the week wasn't delivered on in the first half," Duff admitted. "Maybe a little bit more in the second half, but it's clear we have a lot to work on."

Duff shared a poignant moment he had with player Aoife Gorman, emphasising resilience and growth. "I just had a conversation with Aoife and I said, don't let these be days that she remembers going forward as a player because they're as hard as they're going to get."

He elaborated on the tactical missteps that hampered their efforts. "First half, we started running towards Eimear on the kick-outs and clogging up the 45’ on ourselves. They were pressing, and we were more concerned about what might go wrong. The message at half-time was, look, when we have the ball, let them worry about us."

Highlighting individual performances, Duff noted, "We tried to get (Lauren) Kearney on the ball going forward, and she caused problems when she did. Be brave, and the same with Katie (Donoghue). It's about being a bit more brave. That's the result of the year that we've had; it's natural enough to be kind of afraid, but we're just trying to push the girls to be a little bit braver. It might mean we concede a few more goals in the second half because of it, but we're just trying to push forward for future time."

Addressing the difficulties with execution, Duff explained, "The first half, we didn't win enough kickouts. There could have been 24 players inside of our own 45’ because our players just stood in there, and they weren't given proper options. Second half, we asked Katie and Kearney to pull back up the field, and if we did, we'd get them to try and find them. But the girls didn't really get their heads up either, and it was passes, players coming back around the loop, and it all broke down."

Despite the setbacks, Duff praised the dedication of his players. "Unfortunately, it's happened a bit too much for us at this group now, but look, the girls are giving it everything they can. To have a panel of 33 still in the days that we're having shows that there's character within this group, and they're giving it everything for their county. So, we're going to keep driving on, and hopefully the next day against Galway will show a bit more improvement again."

Looking ahead, Duff maintained a positive outlook. "We're not talking about good days being too far away. We still think that we can compete here. We're not showing it right now; we need to find a way that we can show it. We've banned the relegation word within the group because once you start looking over your shoulder and start talking about it, the trap door gets closer."

He underscored the team's objective. "We're looking to pick up wins. We hoped it would be today; we thought we had a chance if we got close up in the first half or with 10 minutes to go. But that didn't play out the way it was, and we didn't execute the plan. So, we need to understand why we didn't do that during the week, and we'll go again."

Injury concerns were also on Duff's mind. "Ciara's badly concussed there; I think she's been taken away by the Order of Malta. Clodagh's actually finished up with the group now anyway; she's gone travelling, so unfortunately, that's not a worry that we need to be worried about when it comes to injuries. We’ll hopefully get Orla Hennessy back, and we'll hopefully get one or two more back that we've had out, but we haven't had our full team once this year yet."

Reflecting on the match's strategy, Duff noted the challenges faced. "It's desperately demoralising from the sideline, but you have to remember the girls are going through that on the pitch as well. Our principle is that we have a hard centre and three lines down the middle of the pitch, and we block up the middle as much as we can and let them take us on down the sideline. We didn't execute that today, and we need to understand why."

Acknowledging Cork's performance, Duff said, "Melissa Duggan causes problems driving on, and she always causes every team that problem. But yeah, it's massively demoralising. You just have to remember the girls are going through the same problems out there. They're giving it their everything, God love them. They're really giving it their everything, and we just have to get behind them, work with them, and give what we can."

Duff concluded with a perspective on the road ahead. 

"I think that's earned. We can't complain that Cork earned getting to a provincial final, and they earned their seeding. We were the seed we were because of how we performed, so that's fine. But from playing Dublin, Meath, Kildare—now Kildare we should be competing, but that was a bad game. So, Dublin and Meath and then Cork, and now we face Galway. Like, there's no easy day about it. You would love to pick up someone in a game along the way where we can compete with a team again and try to look to see if we get a result. But look, that's not the way it is. So, we just have to focus on what we have in front of us, and that's Galway. We'll go and we'll give it a go up there, and we're looking forward to it."

As Laois Ladies prepare for their next challenge, the team's resolve remains strong, driven by Duff's unwavering commitment and the players' determination to improve and succeed.