John Sugrue hoping third time is a charm for Laois against Westmeath
Friday 24 May 2019 21:18, UK
John Sugrue and his Laois side are hoping to avoid a third defeat to Westmeath this year when the sides meet in Sunday's Leinster Championship quarter-final.
After meeting twice in the Allianz Football League, it was the Lake County that triumphed on both occasions.
"You really want to be steely determined going at them a third time," said Sugrue. "We are at the receiving end of two beatings from the same team.
"We've got a bit to do to be more competitive with Westmeath."
The Kerry native is keen to build on 2018, when the O'Moore County were among the last 12 teams standing in the championship, and they reached the Leinster final which they lost to Dublin.
Since then, they secured a second consecutive promotion in the Allianz Football League.
"Last year is last year, and this year we are in a slightly different space," he explained.
"[The Leinster final] was a big occasion that you either learn from or you don't. We're currently trying to find out whether we have learned from it or not. They are learning experiences.
"You can't play Division 4 football and win a Leinster final at present. The day might come when things turn around a bit, maybe a Division 4 team could win Leinster but at present it's impossible to do.
"We are trying to gather a bit of momentum, touch wood we have a little bit. This year hasn't been as good as last year was but in saying that we are still trying to move forward and it takes a lot of energy from a lot of people."
One year and a half into his reign, the team is beginning to adapt to his system.
"If you don't have structure, you will have chaos," he continued. "If you send people out in the morning to do a job in an office or on a farm and let all 15 people interpret what job needs to be done in their own way then you are going to have chaos.15 people will look at one job to do 10 different ways and you only get two or three people who share an opinion on it.
"You have to have structure and you have to have an expectation of how the team is going to play and how the team is going to do things as a group."
Westmeath encouraged by silverware
Sugrue knows that the current enthusiasm could disappear quickly if they are to lose on Sunday, and wants his side to build on the positive 18 months of his tenure so far:
"I don't think there is a big difference between Division 2 and Division 4 on any given day if any team has their house in order.
"Lots of teams down the divisions are making a bit of a surge now and teams up top are losing a little bit of traction. It's very easy slip between those divisions. We've got ourselves to the point where we got promoted with a little bit of luck this year to Division 2 but you can't pull the handbrake now, you have to push on and see how far you can go."
Sky Sports' live GAA coverage continues on Saturday, May 25 as Mayo face Roscommon in the Connacht Football Championship on Sky Sports Arena from 7pm, with build-up starting on the red button from 6pm.
You can also stay up to date with all the action by following us @SkySportsGAA and get all the latest news, previews and interviews www.skysports.com/gaa
