One of best displays I’ve seen from any team in Croker, says Micko

THE beam is back. A couple of weeks ago, you found Micko in the corridors of Croker, pleading larceny and talking about how much his team had to improve.

Yesterday, that improvement he sought blew away the Lilywhites. Laois played like a team on a mission - a mission to remind people they are still around and aren’t finished yet.

“That was one of the best displays I saw from any team in Croke Park,” O’Dwyer, who has being involved in a few wonderful performances, said afterwards. “Everyone kept their concentration and worked very hard for each other.”

It was easy to pick out individuals. Ross Munnelly was superb, again, while Barry Brennan resembled a player who had been playing championship for the past 10 years. Behind them, Noel Garvan and Tom Kelly stood out. Of course, O’Dwyer is not into picking out favourites.

“It’s a 15-man team and it was a 15-man victory. Some individuals played exceptionally well, but this was a team win.”

Among those individuals that played exceptionally well was Brennan. The changes he wrought from the Offaly game had the desired effect.

“All the players that came in played bloody well. But that’s the way it goes sometimes. Some days, you make changes and they don’t work at all. This afternoon, they worked. We had been going well in training, and played a lot of football among ourselves so I knew this performance was in our fellas,” he said.

Across the corridor, Pauric Nolan is attempting to put rhyme and reason on Kildare’s barren afternoon. They had arrived in Croker, sure of themselves after dethroning Westmeath, but this week will require a visit to the drawing-board.

“No excuses. We were comprehensively beaten in every sector of the field. It was just one of those days. They happen. I am just disappointed for all the lads in there.”

Nolan was at a loss to explain the contrast in performance from the Westmeath match. “I don’t know. Everything was going well. We had prepared well. We had a couple of games under our belt. Nobody saw this coming,” he said. He did recognise the sheer brilliance of the Laois display, though.

“That was as good a performance as you will see all year from any team. They were excellent, but Laois were always capable of a display like that. For ourselves, we have no choice but to pull ourselves together and get ready for the qualifiers.”