O’Dwyer works his magic on ‘nearly men’

AT LAST, Laois have shed the championship ‘nearly men’ moniker that has long haunted them, and Mick O’Dwyer can now add the Midlands county to his list of converts.

A posse of middleaged women were scrambling at the gates outside the Laois and Offaly dressing rooms after yesterday’s win, screaming for Micko in screeching tones more often associated with teenage girls at a Westlife concert.

Publican, hotelier, legendary player and manager. Now add Midlands pin-up to his remarkable CV after guiding the O’Moore County to their first win over one of Leinster’s ‘big four’ in championship football in a decade.

The idolising supporters left O’Connor Park with vocal chords close to breaking point and chests inflated with excess pride, but O’Dwyer and his men were remarkably sanguine about such a momentous win over their most bitter of rivals.

“It was enjoyable from my point of view,” said the Kerryman with a light chuckle. “Offaly have always been a thorn in many people’s sides, but it was a great game of football and I’m delighted we pulled it off. It was hard fought every single second of the way, but you’re never going to get anything different from Offaly. Their good, hard footballers and they’re going to be hard to beat in the back door.”

After the false start last weekend, this was more like the Laois side that cut such an impressive swagger through the league.

Ian Fitzgerald’s opening salvo of 1-2 lit the touch paper for what was to follow and O’Dwyer was delighted for his captain whose form had dipped alarmingly in the previous month’s action: “With a little bit of luck he could have got another one early on too. He was back to his real self today, but it’s amazing isn’t it? One Sunday a fella plays badly then he plays a blinder the next week, but that’s football. The fellas that played bad today could be the best players on the pitch next time.

“A lot of our moves didn’t work out the last day and you lads were very hard on us for it, but that’s part and parcel of the game I suppose. It’s good that ye can give us a touch up now and again.”

O’Dwyer was also keen to point out that not one of his side’s scores had come from a dead ball in a game not without it’s share of frees.

The manager made the statement as a kind of afterthought, but it would have been interesting to hear his opinions on the matter had the result been different.

“It was amazing that we didn’t get one free within 50 yards of the goal. We didn’t actually get a score from a free today. That must be a record in an hour and ten minutes of championship football. I can’t understand it. The law of averages says surely you should get one.”

Laois forward Michael Lawlor talked of the side’s determination to avoid another slow start, having spent the majority of last Sunday week chasing Offaly’s tails.

“We didn’t start the last day and a team like Laois just can’t afford not to be competitive for 70 minutes,” said Lawlor. “We can’t expect to win playing in fits and starts. We should have been buried last week after 35 minutes, but we weren’t. We got out of jail. We got the start we wanted today when Ian Fitzgerald got his goal and it set us up for the rest of the game.”

For Offaly, this was a crushing defeat.

Paul O’Kelly’s county have had the hex on their neighbours for longer than most people in Laois would care to remember and with that now gone, they face a difficult task in regaining the heights they scaled with 1997’s Leinster title.

“We’re very disappointed,” O’Kelly stated bluntly. “We thought we were in a good position at half-time to come out and take the game to Laois. Unfortunately, the goals came at the wrong time for us and that was the difference.

“Goals win championship matches and we just didn’t get them.”