LAOIS 0-15 DIT 0-07
LAOIS may have advanced to the O’Byrne Cup Shield semi-final but manager Justin McNulty was not very happy with the performance in Portarlington on Sunday.
He did not mince his words when he described it as “haphazard, chaotic, messy and disorganised”.
And it was hardly surprising the manager was not overly happy as his side had played a game of the proverbial two halves when accounting for DIT.
To say the very least of it, their first half display was lacklustre in the extreme.
They lacked direction, played into DIT’s hand too often but even should have been well ahead at the break instead of being level on four points apiece.
It is not acceptable for a team at this level to record just four points in a half, while at the same time kicking seven unacceptable wides.
And that was when the forwards did go for a score.
Making use of the hand pass, the ball was moved at pace from defence, most impressively it has to be said, but when it got to the final third, that’s where the problems arose.
Over the past number of years there has been a tendency in Laois for team, at both club and county level, to want to walk the ball over the bar.
This was again the case on Sunday and the sooner forwards take on the personal responsibility of going for a score the better.
Laois could hardly have had a better start.
Gary Walsh and Darren Strong struck in the opening minutes but DIT were ahead after 18 minutes thanks to a brace from Harry Dawson and a single from John McGrath.
It was during this period that Laois were to shoot four wides in the space of about seven minutes.
Walsh and McGrath swapped points before Ross Munnelly levelled affairs right on the pip of half time.
On the restart Laois were far more emphatic in their play.
They rattled off five unanswered points in as many minutes from Walsh, Munnelly, Paul Cahillane, Darren Maher and Conor Boyle to put them firmly in the driving seat. Laois were really motoring, moving at pace, swiftly turning defence into attack.
McGrath stopped the landslide for DIT, but only momentarily, as a brace from M.J. Tierney put Laois further ahead.
There was no stopping the O’Moores now with Cahillane and Strong also finding the target to put eight between them with five minutes remaining.
The students’ plight was not helped during this period when David Hughes received his second yellow card and was dismissed.
However, they continued to battle and were rewarded by two late points from Paul Cunningham and Paul Maguire.
But Laois were to have the last say as David Conway and Munnelly recorded the last two scores of the game.
Laois now travel to Wexford on Sunday next to take on the local side in the final.
Whatever the result Justin McNulty will be content as Laois, he believes, need to get as many competitive games under their collective belts before the league commences on Saturday week, 4 February with a home game against Mayo.