Cathal Vaughan not dwelling on Uibh Laoire's final loss last year: 'It's about building on the progress that we made'

Uibh Laoire were so close to winning the McCarthy Insurance Group PIFC last year, but they haven’t felt sorry for themselves.

They lost out to fellow Muskerry side Aghabullogue in the final by a single point, 2-12 to 2-11, despite the best efforts of Cathal Vaughan, who kicked 0-7 (2 2pt, 1 2pt f).

Uibh Laoire have made a great start to the McCarthy Insurance Group Division 2 Football League, after earning promotion from Division 3 last year, winning their first two games. 

Vaughan doesn’t want to dwell too much on 2025, but there were a lot of positives despite failing to reach the senior ranks for the first time.

“I suppose everything was going fine up until the final, and look, finals take on a life of their own, it could have gone either way on the day,” the forward says.

“We missed out, fair play to Aghabullogue, they deserved it. I suppose it was a good year in many ways last year for us, and we’re back at it now again.

“We’re just looking to try and have a good league campaign and see where that takes us.” 

The new rules definitely suited Uibh Laoire last year and it does help when you have quality forwards including the likes of Cork footballer Chris Óg Jones, Vaughan and Ian Jones.

“I guess with the three-up rule, it’s not 15 men behind the ball now,” Vaughan said.

“You have more space, and I guess that helps forwards. If you can shoot from range, that’s always a threat as well with the two-pointers a huge benefit.

“If you looked at the National Football League last year and this year, games are much more exciting and more high-scoring compared to a couple of years ago, when teams would just get everyone behind the ball.

“I think the game is more exciting. When the ball is turned over, it’s all out attack nearly.” 

Uibh Laoire have always taken the league seriously and 2026 is no different. John McNulty is back in charge after he guided the team to the County JAFC and IAFC titles in the 2020 and 2021 campaigns.

After losing the final last year, the Muskerry men know the importance of a strong start to the new season.

“Division 2 is very tough, the league is very serious, but it will be great preparation for the championship. We always take it game by game and work our way through the season. It’s all about keeping everyone fit and giving lads game time. You want to probably see as many players as you can.

“Giving younger players game time at a high-level is important then see how we’re fixed come July.

“It’s all about building on the progress that we made last year. Take it game by game, week by week and see where that brings us. Hopefully it’ll be a good outcome at the end of it.

“Hopefully we have a decent league campaign. We will never get too far ahead of ourselves anyway.” 

In their McCarthy Insurance Group PIFC group stage later this year, Uibh Laoire will face Glanmire, Bantry Blues and Rockchapel.