Journey’s end a bitter pill for Laois

THE morning after the night before and reality was already starting to bite for the Laois footballers after the county’s most successful season in 57 years.

The gap of 24 hours hadn’t softened the blow of losing to Armagh in the quarter-finals and, if anything, the fact that they were so close to sealing a semi-final slot made it all the harder to deal with.

“That’s why we’re so disappointed, the fact that we were so close,” admitted forward Brian McDonald. “The difference in the end was probably that we didn’t play to our full potential out there. They’re not All-Ireland champions for nothing and we wish them all the best for the rest of the year. Hopefully, they’ll go on and win it now.”