'It was just pure heart, pure desire' - Ravenous Laois back at hurling's top table

And what sort of performance did manger Tommy Fitzgerald get? A 'crappy' one, no less.

CATCHING UP: Laois players finally get to savour Joe McDonagh Cup final success with their victory over Carlow at Croke Park on Saturday. Pic: Tom O’Hanlon, Inpho

Joe McDonagh Cup final: Laois 1-27 Carlow 1-18

WHEN it came to fine tuning the Laois hurlers in the run up to the Joe McDonagh Cup final, Tommy Fitzgerald didn't go after any of the fancy stuff.

"No, nothing too scientific, to be honest," maintained the Laois manager. "It was just pure heart, pure desire, and maybe the bit of hurt from the last two years."

The 'bit of hurt' is fairly self explanatory. Laois lost the 2024 and 2025 tier two finals, to Offaly and Kildare, blowing the opportunity on both occasions with a lengthy list of wides.

This time around, it was Carlow that left Croke Park with the trailer load of regrets. Pat Bennett's crew struck 22 wides and wasted four decent goal chances.

And the need to go back to brass tacks and to appeal to the basic emotions of guts and determination? That was a response to Laois' heavy defeat to Carlow when they met in their group opener.

So what sort of performance did Fitzgerald get at the end of it all? A 'crappy' one, no less.

"It wasn't the best performance ever now," he said. "I think the hurling was crappy. It was just that pure desire and want. And just a massive work rate.

"There was a lot of handling errors and mistakes, but in terms of just pure desire and work rate and want, it was top class. The first day against Carlow, we felt we were outworked, there's no doubt about that. All the numbers backed that up."

The numbers made for intriguing reading again. Like the 1-6 that Cillian Dunne struck for Laois, capping off a fine debut season. The nine points scored by Stephen 'Picky' Maher, who missed the 2025 season entirely. The impact of subs Jack Kelly and James Keyes who scored 0-4 between them, along with Mark Dowling who set up Dunne's game-hinging 55th minute goal. The two sweepers that Carlow manager Bennett said Laois played with or, glaringly, the 48 scoring attempts that he said Carlow conjured.

It was rookie Dunne's numbers in particular that impressed Fitzgerald.

"I said it to him on Friday night, I sent him a message, 'Look, you were made for days like this', and he bloody backed it up," said Fitzgerald. "I'm so happy for him because he came at the start of the year and his attitude has been fantastic from day one."

Fitzgerald was a bit tough on his players with the 'crappy' comment. For all their steel and sweepers, there was silk too. Fiachra C Fennell's catch off a Carlow puck-out in the 47th minute was monstrous and he still had the wherewithal to turn and strike it over the bar from downtown. Aaron Dunphy and Dunne nailed a couple of beauties earlier on.

Yet Carlow can equally feel frustrated, firstly that Laois led 0-13 to 1-7 at half time and, of course, that Laois eventually won by nine.

"I didn't think it was the (correct) scoreline," argued Bennett, who felt it flattered Laois. "They tagged on four or five points at the end, everything they seemed to hit went over the bar. Everything we hit didn't. You get days like that."

Bennett was aghast at the amount of goals and points that Carlow left behind them.

"If you're having 48 shots at goal...like, you watch the Munster final, if either of those teams has 48 shots at goal, I guarantee you the other team won't beat them," said the Ballysaggart man.

And so Laois are heading back to the Leinster SHC in 2027. Offaly, who beat Laois in the 2024 final, managed to stay up and to push on. Kildare, who beat Laois in last year's final, came straight back down.

Without the likes of Cha Dwyer and retired duo Paddy Purcell and Willie Dunphy, it's a different Laois that will return to the MacCarthy Cup race.

"They deserve it, because they've worked so hard," argued Fitzgerald. "They experienced the hurt, a lot of them, in the last two seasons, and it's a horrible place to be so to come back, I think they've earned this one and the right to celebrate it."

Laois scorers: C Dunne (1-6); S Maher (0-9, 6 frees); A Dunphy, J Kelly (0-3 each); T Keyes, M Phelan, B Conroy, FC Fennell, D Dooley, J Keyes (0-1 each).

Carlow scorers: M Kavanagh (0-7, 4 frees, 1 65); J Doyle (1-1); J Treacy (0-3); F Fitzpatrick, C Nolan (0-2 each); E Kealy, K McDonald (1 free), D Murphy (0-1 each).

LAOIS: E Reilly; C Comerford, I Shanahan, P Delaney; L Cleere, FC Fennell, R Mullaney; D Dooley, A Corby; M Phelan, S Maher, A Dunphy; C Dunne, B Conroy, T Keyes.

Subs: M Dowling for T Keyes (51); J Kelly for Conroy (54); F Mahoney for Corby (58); J Keyes for Phelan (65); G Lynch for Dunphy (69).

CARLOW: B Tracey; J McCullagh, D Wall, P Doyle; J Nolan, K McDonald, E Kealy; F Fitzpatrick, C Whelan; C Kehoe, J Treacy, D Murphy; J Doyle, C Nolan, M Kavanagh.

Subs: P Boland for Kehoe (39); J Nolan for Murphy (53); JM Nolan for Whelan (62-65); JM Nolan for Kealy (66); F O'Toole for J Treacy (73).

Referee: E Furlong (Wexford).