‘Are we happy with the performance? No’ – McNulty

Kildare will not be quaking in their boots 

LOOKING at the result in isolation, you’d think that after a nine-point win over Offaly, Laois senior football manager Justin McNulty would be delighted to leave Tullamore with such a margin.

However, it was quite the opposite. The Laois manager stated he wasn’t best pleased with his side’s performance on Saturday evening.

“I wouldn't describe it as being really thrilled. I think it's good to go away from home, it's good to beat your neighbours in a derby game on the first day out in the championship. We were misfiring in various parts of our performance, and so were Offaly, thankfully- a sub-par Offaly team. We've defeated them away from home. Are we happy getting the Championship win? Yes, but are we happy with the performance? No,” he said.

McNulty admitted that if Kildare watched the game ahead of next weekend’s quarter-final clash, they won’t be too concerned by what Laois produced.

“We weren't clinical in possession as a team, and we weren't clinical up front for sure. The Kildare management team will have been there watching that game and watching it on video; they certainly will not be quaking in their boots. We have a major, major battle and challenge ahead of us next week, and we have huge, huge improvements to do if we're going to be even competitive in that game,” McNulty said.

Laois may have gotten the match-ups right in terms of keeping Offaly’s main threats at bay, but McNulty believes Offaly simply had an off day and that his side didn’t need to do much to secure the win.

“I think Offaly just didn't get going today in the game. They probably had a couple of chances which they left behind them, and then their confidence dropped. We had some win-backs as well, which probably didn't let them get any momentum in the game. So we can't be too pleased about getting match-ups right. I think just Offaly were probably a bit subpar; they weren't firing on all cylinders, and we didn't have to be too good to beat them,” the Laois manager said.

McNulty was frustrated with Laois’ inability to capitalise on possession. They failed to score for 10 minutes in the first half and 21 minutes in the second.

“Our work rate was high; we won the ball with pure grunt and grind and then coughed it up cheaply. We just weren't clinical in possession, we weren't clinical up front, and we need to rectify that before next week. Kick-outs wise, we lost the kick-out battle, and that's just not good enough for us. I think Offaly had more shots than us, so that tells its own story,” he said.

McNulty also confirmed that Laois have no fresh injury concerns ahead of next Sunday’s clash with Kildare.

“I think we've a clean bill of health for next week, and we need it because Kildare are a serious, serious outfit and we need to be so much better than we were today to even be competitive against them,” McNulty said.

He is well aware of the challenge his side faces, with the Lilywhites having hammered Laois in the league in 2025.

“Kildare ran riot against us last year in Newbridge and were much superior. We've just got huge improvements to do to be able to compete with them away from home, but can we do that? We're capable of doing that if we knuckle down and shift our focus onto that. We're capable of going up there and giving them a game,” he added.

Laois got plenty of joy from playing fast, long balls into their full-forward line. McNulty is a fan of that approach, but only when conditions allow.

“I'm all for a fast, long ball game when it's on. The conditions today were actually difficult for that because the wind was swirling, and it was not a great kick-passing evening, but listen, when the ball is on long, get it long and fast, absolutely,” McNulty concluded.