Leitrim deserved that bit of luck against Laois believes Mark Plunkett

He might have thought Laois’ last equaliser was going over the bar but Mark Plunkett firmly believes Leitrim deserved every bit of luck they got in seeing off Laois in last Saturday’s dramatic Allianz NFL Division 4 clash in Laois Hire O’Moore Park.

Leitrim won 0-17 to 1-13 but the home side saw a late free hit the woodwork but it was close and when asked if his heart was in his mouth as Mark Barry’s kick struck the woodwork, Mark said “Ah, it was absolutely, no point lying about it. But you get this luck and you make your own luck.

“I think we deserved that all year, we came close in a lot of games and to get that result. We put in a lot of hard work behind the scenes, as does every team, but luck wasn’t with us for a lot of the year but to get that bit of luck in the last minute, I think we deserved it.”

Not that the victory was down to luck as Leitrim produced an exceptional second half performance to take the win, a win whose seeds were in the first half: “In the first half, the wind was against us but we created three goal chances and we knew in the second half that we had goal chances, we were creating those chances.

“Funny enough, we perform under pressure - it might sound weird but we perform better with our backs against the wall. We had a really good training session this week so we want to carry that into next week.”

JACK FOLEY ENJOYING EVERY MINUTE OF FIRST SEASON WITH LEITRIM SENIORS

Mark landed a spectacular point himself in the second half fightback after an intercepted Laois pass but the thought of trying to chip keeper Killian Roche was never on: “Some days the shooting boots are on - I wasn’t tempted to try the chip but very happy with the point.”

Now Leitrim face a huge game next weekend but this is where Mark and his teammates want to me: “This is why we play for Leitrim, for days like these but it is nothing if we don’t win next week so head back done, doing what we've been doing all year and looking forward to next week.

“This is where you want to be - it would be a different story if we lost today, it is another step in the process and we'll be looking forward to Tipperary now. Andy has us in great condition. It is testament to the strength and conditioning we’ve had for the last three years so we’re really happy.”