Fitzgerald relieved to see his side come out on top of a tense battle.

Laois faced their toughest test of their NHL Division 2 campaign so far with the arrival of Kerry to Portlaoise on Saturday, and Laois boss Tommy Fitzgerald was relieved to see his side come out on top of a tense battle.

This Kerry side is a huge improvement on the one that suffered a 19-point beating in O’Moore Park last May on their road to relegation to the Christy Ring Cup and they put up an impressive fight at the weekend before losing out to a last gasp point from Cormac Byrne.

When asked about the tougher test, Fitzgerald told us: “It was an up in pace, they’re a good side. Kerry have been very competitive the last 10 or 15 years, they were weak last year and there’s only six here from the team last year and we knew they had everyone that they wanted back.

“We watched them the last few days and they had some big wins. We had two relatively easier games so we knew today was going to be a big step up, and we’re just relieved to get out the other side of it, and we know we’ve a lot of work to do.”.

The weather was particularly brutal for the game and it made life tough for both sets of players, but Fitzgerald praised the ground staff for keeping the pitch playable.

“We were playing into a stiff breeze in the first half and the conditions were just horrendous between the rain, and Colin did a brilliant job getting the pitch ready, the underfoot was really good but there was water on the pitch. Between the wind, rain and water on the pitch it wasn’t exactly summer conditions.”.

Laois trailed by a point at half time, but Fitzgerald was quietly pleased with his side at the break.

“I actually thought we did quite well in the first half, we probably left a few chances behind us but with that wind we were reasonably happy at half time to be honest.

“Maybe there’s aspects of our play we need to certainly improve on from the second half. We struggled to break free and establish a good lead that would’ve made it more comfortable but the boys found a way in the end,” he said.

Fitzgerald went on to praise both the improved Kerry side, but also his own team in the manner in which they dealt with the opposition and the conditions.

“We looked at the fixtures at the start of the year, it lined up that we should be comfortable in Round 1 and 2 then 3 and 4 would get a lot tougher,” he added.

“We’d watched them and they’re a decent side, if they had all those players available they wouldn’t be Christy Ring this year. It was a really good test for us and you learn more about your players when you’re playing against tougher opposition.

“At the same time, we need to keep building as well because we need to get better. The application and attitude was good, there was real honesty in the performance and we’re pleased with how the lads applied themselves.

“The response when the goal went in at the death, we didn’t panic and worked the ball high up the field and got the score. We’re not naïve enough to think that we’re where we need to be.”.

Saturday was the first time in three weeks that Laois had a competitive game and Fitzgerald gave an update on how the panel will be shaping up towards the business end of the season.

“We picked up a couple of knocks over the last few weeks; Eoin Gaughan and Lee Cleere were actually injured, but made it back this week and Fionan Mahony made it back after an extended time out.

“Martin Phelan hurt his ankle in a challenge match last week and Jack Breen is out with concussion and he was going really well, actually. We saw Jordan Walshe back today, and Picky isn’t too far away, he’s getting very close and Diarmaid Conway is probably going to struggle to get back for the league.

“Gearoid Lynch and Ben Conroy will hopefully come back towards the end of the league.”