Laois boss Brendan Fennelly says his side will not give up hope after being knocked out of the Leinster SHC by Antrim on Saturday evening.

The hosts suffered a somewhat of a surprise defeat to the Saffrons at Portlaoise, but Fennelly is now looking towards preparing his team for a run the All-Ireland SHC qualifiers.

The Kilkenny man told The Irish Examiner: "We have lost a championship game but we are still in the championship - I would be hoping the lads will keep their heads up. A lot of things can still happen and Antrim proved that last year by getting beaten in Leinster and going through the backdoor and into an All-Ireland quarter-final with Cork.

"There is a savage history in Antrim. They believed in themselves when it comes to championship hurling.

"We're devastated. We had hope coming in, hope we would get the win and hope we would have Wexford here in two weeks' time. But that is not to be, and we have to go the other route." Tweet

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