Laois manager Séamus ‘Cheddar’ Plunkett hailed his players as “fantastic” and said their relentless approach had been key to seeing off neighbours Offaly for the first time in the Leinster SHC since 1972.
Laois were 0-29 to 0-21 winners in the Leinster SHC quarter-final at O’Moore Park, and will now go on to play Galway in the semi-final on 20 June.
Speaking to RTÉ Sport after the game, Plunkett was full of praise for his players’ approach, after they bounced back from being 0-10 to 0-06 behind after 24 minutes to come out on top.
“We spoke about being relentless against Westmeath a fortnight ago, and it was the same again today,” Plunkett said. “We just stuck to our task, and, [we have] a fantastic, fantastic bunch of players. [I’m] incredibly proud of them.
“We’re just delighted with it. At least, we’re back into a Leinster championship next year, and it’s nothing more than this team deserve.
"It’s up to ourselves to get ourselves right here to push on and get success" - Seamus 'Cheddar' Plunkett
“If everybody knew the depth of work that these guys do to get themselves to where they want to get to, I think they’d be surprised, so we’re delighted with the result, and hopefully we can push on from here.”
It was Plunkett’s first game in charge since returning to the county set-up, after he left the set-up over a conflict involving two players lining out for their a senior club hurling challenge. He returned to the set-up last week, but not before an online campaign had urged him to, a sign that many Laois GAA supporters feel the county is experiencing something special at the moment.
Back to reality. #framingtobedone pic.twitter.com/vjoK8OXwu9
— zane keenan (@KeenanZane) June 7, 2015Plunkett, though, dismissed any notion that he had more passion than the wider Laois GAA community.
“It’s no more part of my fibre than a whole load of people standing around me here. All these people love the game,” he said.
“We were always here. People mightn’t have took notice of us, but if we keep performances like that, maybe people will take some notice of us.
“But that’s up to ourselves. I keep saying that to the team themselves and the people in the county here: it’s up to ourselves to get ourselves right here to push on and get success here.”
Plunkett also urged his team and supporters to keep their feet on the ground and concentrate on the preparation that allowed them to enjoy success.
“If Laois supporters and ourselves think that this is the height of our ambition, we’re going to go nowhere anyway," said Plunkett. "We need to go back and get our feet on the ground here and get back to doing the things that got us here in the first place.”
Next up for Laois are Galway, who were dominant in their dismissal of Dublin on Saturday. Plunkett suggested the Tribesmen might be favourites not just for Leinster but the entire All-Ireland championship after that win, and said Laois would enjoy their win over Offaly before re-grouping to consider how they might approach the challenge of Galway.
“We’ll enjoy the day and we’ll think about Galway tomorrow,” he said.
