McNulty surprised by Laois margin of victory as changes made difference after Leitrim defeat

Laois manager Justin McNulty was in a joyous mood on Saturday evening as his Laois side put in a super scoring showing to claim the Allianz NFL Division 4 title against Leitrim in Croke Park.

McNulty was as surprised as most people at the gap that separated the two sides at the end considering Leitrim had beaten Laois by a point two weeks’ previous which was ‘a hammer blow’ for his side: “Unexpectedly so, given how close it was two weeks ago. Obviously, it was a big turnaround for the team. 

“The last day out here, conceded eight goals, it was a tough day out for them and a bit of a hammer blow two weeks ago as well with the performance against Leitrim which we knew wasn't good enough. Leitrim probably should have scored five or six goals with the gilt-edged opportunities against us. 

“We knew we had to batten down the hatches in defence, we knew we had to up our work rate and our organisation across the pitch and the fellas did that very effectively, so all credit to the players,” he said.

The Laois manager felt that the loss to Leitrim in Laois Hire O’Moore Park was probably due to the fact that Laois had started the league so well and that complacency crept in on the day: “I think there was an element of that. I think probably five wins on the track in the league breeds a little bit of comfort and the fellas maybe got into a comfort zone but they fairly quickly were jumped out of that by the performance against Leitrim. 

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“So that was a huge learning opportunity for us. Thankfully the fellas stuck together, didn't point fingers, accepted responsibility and turned it around and were able to deliver a performance like we did today, which we're pleased with,” McNulty said.

Laois’ scoring return of 3-14 would be capable of winning most football matches but they could and should have more considering they kicked seven first-half wides. McNulty says that’s an area Laois needs to work on but it’s good to see his side create so many chances.

“We created an enormous amount of opportunities. Our efficiency from the goal wasn't where it needed to be. We know we need to improve that. There's major room for improvement and we need to improve that for two weeks from this evening when we've the Leinster Championship against Offaly and we know we need to do better but the exciting part is we created opportunities and if we're not creating opportunities then that would be more worrying.”

When the sides met two weeks ago in Portlaoise, Leitrim could have scored five or six goals and were running through Laois. On this occasion, Leitrim had one single goal chance which was well saved by Killian Roche which showed Laois had done a lot of work in training to be able to deal with the Leitrim attack this time around.

“It's all credit to Ross Munnelly and Diarmuid Carroll, our coaches, who orchestrated the performance today and they re-organised, re-jigged our defence effectively and put a lot of thinking time into that. We got it right this evening. We know in the opposite changing room, there's fellas hurting and we know they're putting in the same time and the same effort so I feel for them. 

Laois captain Evan O'Carroll lifts the Allianz NFL Division 4 trophy Picture: Sportsfile

“Leitrim came here with huge hopes and nobody comes today to Croke Park to expect not to perform and get turned over like they were this evening but things fell into place for us. There's a stage in the match where they're back to two points where if they got a score at that time it could have been a very different outcome. We got big scores at big moments and we're just grateful for that,” he said.

As McNulty describes it, ‘it was almost deja vu’ as Laois had led by four points at the break  in Portlaoise before Leitrim came out and put in a superb second-half performance to take the victory: “It was almost deja vu but, listen, we picked the best players, experienced or otherwise, best players for the day and the fellas stood up and were counted throughout. The fellas that came in made a mark as well and we just put our emphasis on keeping composure and creating chances, keep popping away the chances. Thankfully, a few of them went over,” the Laois manager said.

James Kelly returned to the Laois team having gotten injured in the warm-up of their fifth round game against London. He was tasked with man-marking Leitrim’s Ryan O’Rourke and although the Leitrim player caused problems early on, Kelly won the battle in the end.

“Ryan was causing problems in the first half, big style, but James curtailed him pretty effectively in the quiet second half. So we just got control of the game totally in the second half so it snubbed out his threat totally,” he said.

McNulty was quick to credit his entire panel for this performance as he says that from the start, the players have bought into his system and that’s what they need going forward: “The thing I'm most pleased about was the team performance. It wasn't about the individuals, it was about the team performance. The squad, the whole group were collectively focused and helped deliver this performance. 

“It wasn't about the starting 15, it wasn't about the boys who came in, it was about the whole group, the 35 players, who were all very much bought into building the team-ship and building the attitude and the culture that we need to be able to proceed and move forward and be better. That's what we need to be seeking to be every day we go out there. We know there are huge elements of our performance we need to improve on and we'll work on those for the next day.”

McNulty, unlike his counterpart Andy Moran, is a fan of the condensed season where the league runs into the championship as he feels that playing games week after week can only be of benefit to players: “It's fantastic. This is where you want to be, playing games week in, week out. That's the joyous part of it. I love this new set-up. There's no five-week window where you have to try and balance your recovery, balance your motivation. It's just wonderful that there's games coming week in, week out.”

One feature of McNulty’s league campaign has been his ability to give younger players a chance to establish themselves in the team. That was shown in Laois’ first goal as Shaun Fitzpatrick and Ben Dempsey linked up. Those two players were on the Laois U-20 team last year. Apart from them, you’ve the likes of Niall Dunne, Simon Fingleton, Rioghan Murphy, Conor Heffernan and Mikey Dempsey.

“They're great, great fellas. It's great for them to get a taste of the Croke Park experience. It's something we dealt with a lot during the week, talking about Croke Park and what it actually means because Croke Park is different, O’Moore Park is different. This is HQ, this is Mecca for Gaels. It's somewhere we dream about performing and being involved in. Even for me, I'm so excited walking out of the changing room, up the steps, onto the pitch.

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“It's just a wonderful experience. It's a stadium of dreams. It feels very special for me and for all the players and for the whole coaching staff and for the whole management team.

We just love being here. It's great to be able to be here and be successful on this day. We know some more days might not work out as well as that but we're just thrilled for this evening. We're not getting carried away, we know this is a Division 4 trophy. This isn't Sam but still, it's a win in Croke Park and we're thrilled about that,” McNulty said.

Laois now have a two week break before facing neighbours Offaly in the quarter-finals of the Leinster Championship: “They'll be waiting rubbing their hands for a shot at us. We know they've got their U20 team, an All-Ireland winning team coming through and coming of age. They’re starting to show real senior potential and we know we're going to be really up against it but we're excited about that challenge,” McNulty ended.