Laois manager John Surgue took issue with criticism levelled at his team after a progressive season ended with defeat to Monaghan yesterday. 

Last month, Meath great Graham Geraghty described the O'Moore's as 'the worst team to ever reach a Leinster final', something that clearly irked the Kerryman. 

"Lots of people out there have written and spoken a lot of verbal diarrhea about this team - even throughout the year and while we have been making progress," he is quoted as saying on the Laois Today website.

"They haven't respected us for what we are trying to do. Some people ranked us 12 out of 12 of the teams competing. So I think some of those individuals need to look at themselves. They need to look at how interested they are in football and how much football are they watching.

"How much knowledge do they have about the current set up of football in the country? Our boys are able to play football.

"As it stood going into this weekend, we are definitely not last of the 12 that were remaining."

Surgue felt he and his management team erred by going with a sweeper against Monaghan.

"Maybe our set-up adding one to the backs drew them on a small bit. That is a decision we took and it didn't work," he admitted.

"Maybe if we had played a bit more orthodox and gone 15 on 15 we'd have done a bit better. We've come up against teams of our own ability and then you have a big step up. You have to recognise that there is a step up there but maybe it is a lack of bravery on our behalf as a management team.

"Maybe we should go toe-to-toe with teams. But we decided to be a small bit more conservative and play a sweeper at the back. It just didn't seem to add to our intensity.

"So it was a disappointing first half but the boys played the game out and you have to give them credit for that."

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