Happy return to lovely Leitrim for Déise chief Owens

WATERFORD boss John Owens returned to his Leitrim roots to achieve success in Sunday’s NFL Division 4 opener but insisted that the impact of that win will be negated if the Déise fail to beat London next weekend.

Waterford got their season off to a terrific start with a 0-13 to 0-10 victory against Mickey Moran’s Leitrim in Ballinamore on Sunday. The match marked Owen’s league debut in charge of Waterford and the trip evoked pleasant memories for him as he previously lived in and played for Leitrim.

“Personally it was very nice to be going back to Leitrim in my first league game with Waterford. It was a long trip for us, 175 miles for some of our players, but it was beneficial as we got to stay overnight and bond as a squad. We used the facilities of my old club Allen Gaels in Drumshanbo on Saturday evening for a kick around and that helped. They’re a lovely bunch of people up there and they couldn’t do enough for us. I lived there for four years, playing minor for the county and I played senior for Leitrim in 1991 before moving to Tipperary.