Disappointed Moran says Leitrim fans have a team to be proud of

Disappointed, definitely but there was no mistaking the pride Andy Moran felt in his players after Sunday’s heartbreaking Allianz NFL Division 4 loss to Sligo as the Leitrim manager declared that Leitrim fans have a team to be proud of.

Sligo’s dramatic 1-15 to 2-11 victory ended Leitrim’s hopes of promotion before a raucous crowd in Avant Money Pairc Sean Mac Diarmada and there was no doubt that their manager was feeling the pain of defeat every bit as much as the players and the fans.

“It is hugely disappointing. At the end of the day, you knew what our aim was in Division 4, it was the same as everybody else,” said Andy to the assembled media, “I said ten points would get us up at the start of the League and it would have. Unfortunately, we go home with our tail between our legs.”

Sligo break Leitrim hearts after final quarter comeback falls just short

LEITRIM 2-11 SLIGO 1-15

Despite the defeat and not wanting to claim moral victories, Andy feels that Leitrim fans can take pride in their team’s performance: “I don’t think Leitrim want morale victories, they want to get promoted, they want to play in Croke Park, they want a team they can shout about.

“Now, we’re not going to get promoted, we’re not going to get to play in Croke Park but I firmly believe that there is a team there we can shout about, that we can be proud of and at least that is something we can take away from today.”

Ever the positive thinker, Andy believes Leitrim need to turn good displays into victories: “I think every game we’ve been in, we could have won it but we need to start winning them games. It wasn’t the same League as last year because Cavan were so far ahead and Tipperary were in that Munster Final and they won it, they had that bit of experience with Sweeney and those guys. 

“I did think ten points would get us up but there are huge positives and I think today the huge positive is that Keith today didn’t play as well as he usually does but played brilliantly around the middle of the field, I think he had five or six assists. 

“Other lads came in and played really well - Evan Sweeney last year, Tom Prior, Barry McNulty, Conor Farrell, Jack Heslin and that is what we need - if you get Donal Casey back into that, if you get Ryan O’Rourke back into that, Jordan Reynolds, all of a sudden you have a really strong team.”

If he did have one complaint last Sunday, it was his view that more added time should have been played as the Leitrim manager didn’t make any issue over any decisions on the field: “With the refereeing stuff, you’d have more of an idea than that about me and I’m not just saying that.

“I’d have an issue with the time because there was five minutes and we were supposed to have a minute and a half extra, that’s what the linesman told us and we had a good 30, 40 seconds left there after that last attack. Who knows, we might never have got the chance but you’d have liked to have got the chance.”

Murphy savours special atmosphere as Sligo prepare for busy few weeks

Neither was the Leitrim manager worried by Sligo’s dominance in the middle of the game that saw them outscore the home side 1-12 to 0-4: “I do think there was always going to be periods of dominance in it. We weren’t panicking at halftime at all. Last year, it was a really similar game in that we went 1-2 to no score up and they scored nine on the bounce so it was a really, really similar game. 

“We’ve got huge talent on our bench, we were going to use it so I know it sounds silly because we were nine down at one stage but we weren’t panicking at any stage because we knew Tom, Barry, James, Jack Heslin and Conor Farrell were coming on, Conor Farrell was amazing when he came on. We knew they were coming on so we weren’t panicking at any stage.”

Where Andy felt that Sligo do enjoy an advantage is in terms of experience of big occasions rather than the contrast in styles: “They’re a different team that us, they do that a lot, they’re a short passing team where we’re more of a kicking team. I do think they have experience if we think about it - they have the experience of winning, their U20s last year winning Connacht was huge, the Minor a few years ago.

“You see the guys coming through there in terms of the Summerhills, the St Attractas, they have huge experience of winning big games and I do think that makes a difference. Unfortunately we’re trying to turn something here that we haven’t turned since 2011 and we’ve got so close on two occasions and haven’t done it.”

Leitrim’s attention now turns to the Connacht SFC clash with New York on Saturday April 8, and Andy feels it won’t be hard to lift his players despite their disappointment against Sligo: “It is New York, the boys will be up for it. On top of the game itself, you get a really nice trip, you get a couple of days away with the lads which is lovely. There will be no problem with these lads, these boys get themselves up for everything.”

The Leitrim manager did see one silver lining on the cloud of defeat in that no playing a League Final gives them more time to prepare for the trip to the Big Apple: “It is a strange one really - we wanted to win today, let's make no bones or anything about it, we were prioritising the League, we wanted to win the League, we wanted to play in Croke Park.

“All the Leitrim guys wanted to play in Croke Park so we were prioritising that but the fact that we lost makes it easier. It gives you a week now where you have some down time, a week where you can prepare and can get yourself right. So it actually makes it easier. The team I really feel sorry for is Sligo because they now need to go play a League Final.

Fans treated to another Leitrim Sligo thriller in Pairc Sean sunshine - GALLERY

Another thrilling if heartbreaking chapter in the Leitrim and Sligo saga was written before a packed Avant Money Pairc Sean Mac Diarmada on Sunday as the Yeatsmen held off a furious Green & Gold rally to secure promotion to Division 3 at the end of a thrilling 1-15 to 2-11 encounter. Observer photographer Willie Donnellan was a busy man snapping photos of fans engrossed in the action ..... see who you can spot!

“Of course Sligo want to go and lift a League trophy in Croke Park, it’d be the same if we got there, and then they have to go to London a week after. I do feel sorry for them and it is really hard for them to prepare for it as a whole.”

On the injury front, Andy is hopeful of seeing Jordan Reynolds back in Leitrim colours soon but the news is not so good about Donal Casey and Ryan O’Rourke: “The likes of Ryan and Donal, they’re long term injuries - we’ve barely had them this year, it has been very unusual. Jordan is the real one we’re really trying to get back, Conor Dwyer is the real one we’re trying to get back - all them guys. Ryan & Donal are long term injuries and there is a good chance we won’t see them this year.”