Leitrim will probably be favourites against Laois believes Conor Reynolds

In the GAA world, being anointed favourites is a definite no-no but when it comes to next Saturday’s Allianz NFL Division 4 Final, Conor Reynolds has no qualms in proclaiming Leitrim favourites ahead of their Croke Park rematch with Laois.

Reynolds typifies the growing confidence in this Leitrim team when he talks about a rematch with Laois: “We will probably be going into it favourites after what we did in Portlaoise so we’re really looking forward to it.”

It is a mindset that Leitrim embraced this year according to the Annaduff man: “ It was what we set out to do at the start of the year - we sat down in October November time and our goal was to get promoted to Division 3, get to Croke Park and try and do the job. We probably left it behind us in 2019 so the goal is to bring a Cup back to Leitrim in God knows how many years.”

But after the defeat in Longford, Conor admitted that the defeat in Pearse Park hit Leitrim’s players hard: “There is no point denying, we were down in the dumps after the Longford game. We thought that could be our year over.”

So what changed between Longford and Laois to transform Andy Moran’s team? “What changed in Laois? It is kind of hard to put your finger on it - we went down there with nothing to lose, nobody was giving us a chance anyway and Laois were going to win every game in the division.

LEITRIM TO FACE LAOIS IN ALLIANZ NFL DIVISION 4 FINAL IN CROKE PARK

“I suppose we played to our potential for the first time this year for the 70 minutes, we played in patches, the second half against Carlow, patches against Longford but we played the full 70 minutes and we probably should have won it by a lot more.”

Sunday’s win over Tipperary was a strange affair with a lot of nerves in the stand but Conor felt that Leitrim were always in control: “There was always going to be a nervousness around. We were a wee bit cagey in the first half, I suppose we didn’t want to push too many men forward in case we got caught on the break as we did last week against Laois but I think we controlled the game from start to finish.

“I don’t think there was ever a doubt we were going to win the game to be honest with you. They didn’t create too many goal chances, we were very solid at the back and when you have Ryan on form and you get good ball in there, there is not a defender in the country who will mark him one on one. Brilliant performance I thought.”

It now means a very busy couple of weeks with a League Final followed eight days later by a Connacht Championship clash with Sligo. It is a problem Conor enjoys: “It is a massive couple of weeks, trying to keep lads fresh and staying injury free. We have only a six day turnaround now so this week will be trying to stay fresh. 

LEITRIM FANS CELEBRATE PROMOTION IN WILLIE DONNELLAN'S PHOTO GALLERY

“We have the work done, it is a good problem to have and I feel we are coming good towards the end of the league. We had a few patchy performances but the last two were very good. “