‘Three wins, a draw and a loss, so we're happy, onwards and upwards’ - Collier

THE Laois camogie team ended their Division 2 league campaign with a victory over Westmeath in Laois Hire O’Moore Park on Saturday.

Speaking after the two-point win in Portlaoise, joint-manager Pat Collier reflected on their campaign as a whole with only a late Meath point against Carlow denying them a spot in the league final.

“We're thrilled with the campaign. I think Meath scored a levelling point there near the end against Carlow to knock us out of the final. We'd have taken this at the start. Three wins, a draw and a loss, so we're happy, onwards and upwards,” he said.

Laois finished third in Division 2 and will now set their sights on the Leinster Intermediate Championship, a competition where they’ve reached the final in 2024 and 2025.

“We play Wicklow on the third of May in the first round. We'll be focusing on that now going forward. We've a grand six-week break, and we've a good few practice matches arranged. As you’ve seen today, we have a few girls back from injury, and they got in there near the end, and they helped. So, you know, we're thrilled,” Collier said.

Meath finished above Laois in the standings on scoring difference with their big win over Laois proving crucial. However, Collier reckons Laois’ draw to Kerry in the first game was the one that they left behind.

“Exactly, if, buts, and maybes. We played a lot of the panel in that game, especially in the second half. The Kerry game was the game we left behind. Kerry were there for the taking, and we should have beaten them on the day. We're happy we have six weeks now to prepare for the Leinster Championship,” he added.

Collier admitted that their goal at the start of the league was to stay up and they did so comfortably.

“When we met at the start of the year, the main thing was to stay up in Division Two in the league. Then give the Leinster Championship a rattle and the All-Ireland Series will take care of itself,” Collier concluded.