They conceded 1-3 without reply at the start of the second half to find themselves trailing by three points. Antrim’s goal felt like a six-point swing, coming as it did immediately after Laois’s Eoin Lowry had hit the bar.
And they were two points up when Evan O’Carroll was black carded in the 64th minute, meaning they’d finish the game with 14 men. Instead of retreating into their shell they hit a quickfire 1-1 which effectively sealed the victory.
“Thrilled by the manner of the performance, thrilled by the way the game ebbed and flowed, but at crucial moments our fellas really stood up,” McNulty said.
“Momentum changed big style, we hit the crossbar and they went down the pitch and got that almost sucker-punch goal and there was a couple of big turnovers.
“And you think it doesn’t look like our day but for the fellas to maintain their composure and dig out a result, they deserve huge credit for that, their resilience, mental toughness. They exhibited [that] in spades on the pitch.”
Laois led by a 1-7 to 0-7 at the break with Brian Byrne hitting the first of his two goals on the day. Kevin Swayne’s point attempt had been partially blocked and possession fell kindly to Lowry who fed Byrne. The Graiguecullen man, who picked up a serious knee injury last year, fired to the net.
Antrim were slightly hard done by with that half-time score. They had made much of the running with Patrick McBride in good point-scoring form.
It wasn’t until Byrne’s goal in the 28th minute that Laois hit the front for the first time.
Antrim called for Peter Healy at half-time and hit 1-3 without reply, with Patrick McAleer getting their goal.
Laois had to wait until the 52nd minute for a second-half score when the impressive Mark Barry grabbed his fourth. That was quickly followed by a Kevin Swayne goal.
Laois were never headed from there but there were just two points in the game when O’Carroll was black carded. Afterwards, Byrne grabbed his second goal and secured Laois’s place in the Tailteann Cup final.
“We went from three down to go three up and we had momentum and looked to be reasonably comfortable, but you’d have to say Laois dug in and got a couple of scores and obviously their second goal was a big turning point,” Antrim manager Andy McEntee said.
“It seemed to be like the second half followed a very similar pattern to the first half.
“We started well, we went two or three up – but every time Laois seemed to get it back down to one pretty easily, a little bit too easily. And then the goal comes which was a little bit unfortunate from our perspective – somebody gets a good block in and it just falls to somebody and it’s in the net,” added the former Meath manager.
“You’ve got to give Laois credit. They hung in there and used the ball well probably a lot better than we did. There were way too many turnovers in the first half for my liking, they were strong in the tackle.
“They might have conceded some areas of the pitch, they didn’t concede the important areas.
“There’s a fair contrast in the dressing-room compared to this weekend and last weekend – but that’s the way it goes,” said McEntee.
Laois head for the final on July 13 and following on from their Division 4 league title it keeps them on an upward trajectory since McNulty was reappointed as the O’Moore County’s manager.
They will, he says, be embracing every minute of the build-up to the final.
“Since you are knee-high you dream about Croke Park and if you are any of the four management teams [in the semi-finals] or the players from any of the four teams, what they want to achieve here, they want to go and win in Croke park number one. And two they want to win silverware in Croke Park.
“And any day you get a chance to do that it is a privilege and something to be excited about.”
SCORERS – Laois: B Byrne 2-0; M Barry 0-4 (1f); K Swayne 1-0; N Dunne (1m), E O’Carroll, J Kelly 0-2 each; K Roche, P Kingston 0-1 each. Antrim: P McBride 0-5; D McEnhill 0-3 (1f, 1m); P McAleer 1-0; C McLarnon 0-2; M Byrne (45), C Hand, R McCann (Creggan) 0-1 each.
LAOIS: K Roche 8; J Kelly 8, B Dempsey 7, M Timmons 8; S Lacey 7, B Byrne 8, S Fingleton 7; D Larkin 7, C Heffernan 7; M Barry 8, E O’Carroll 7, K Swayne 7; E Lowry 7, N Dunne 7, P Kingston 7. Subs: R Murphy 7 for Lowry (46), E Buggie 7 for Lacey (46), K Lillis for Swayne (68), S Fitzpatrick for Byrne (70), C Burke for Larkin (73).
ANTRIM: M Byrne 8; D Lynch 7, E Walsh 7, K Keenan 7; J McDonnell 7, J Finnegan 7, D McAleese 7; P McAleer 8, C Hynds 8; C McLarnon 7, P McBride 8, Ruairí McCann (Creggan) 7; D McEnhill 7, Ruairí McCann (Aghagallon) 7, M Jordan 7. Subs: P Healy 7 for McDonnell (h-t), E Hynds 7 for McAleer (57), C Hand 7 for McLarnon (57), R McQuillan 7 for McCann (Aghagallon) (60), N Burns 7 for Lynch (60).
REF: L Devenney (Mayo).
