Conway praises Leitrim players but feels Green & Gold didn't get what they were due from referee

Olcan Conway had nothing but praise for the effort Leitrim hurlers displayed in Saturday’s Allianz NHL Division 3B Final against Cavan but it was different when it came to the referee with the Leitrim manager go so far as to say it felt as if his team were playing against 16 men at times.

Speaking after Saturday’s 0-17 to 0-16 loss at the hands of Cavan at the GAA National Centre of Excellence, Olcan said “I don’t normally complain too much about referees but let's be honest, that referee, we couldn’t get a free for love nor money and I just felt that we weren’t getting what we were due out of him. 

“You’re not supposed to give out about referees or shout at them and all this nonsense but God almighty, I’d like to see that game reviewed again on the video to see how they got so many easy frees and we didn’t. Look, sometimes you’re looking at it through rose tinted glasses or in this case, Leitrim glasses, but I just felt that sometimes we were playing 16 men out there and I have no qualms about saying it. But it is what it is, we just have to push on now.”

Leitrim rue missed chances as late surge denied by injury time Cavan winner

LEITRIM 0-16 CAVAN 0-17

What was most frustrating for Olcan is that Leitrim didn’t perform near their capabilities: “They made such an effort but they know they’re sitting in the dressing room there, we had a chat there and they know they still never performed anywhere near how they can today. That is what we talked about in there and I would be hopeful that we would pick them up.

“It is tough to take, we had our chances there, especially towards the end we had a lot of chances to put the ball over the bar. We probably had four or five wides there the last four or five minutes - we never seem to have the luck we need in these tight games that we need but I can’t fault the effort from the lads, they kept going all the way to the end.”

Conditions didn’t help with the rain impeding handling but Olcan wondered if the occasion got to his players: “We created the chances, the ball was very slippery for a couple of those chances, it just skidded off the hurl a bit - we were sort of hoping that coming this far down south to Abbotstown, you’d avoid the rain but unfortunately, it was showery and slippery, the pitch was perfect, we can’t complain about that.

“We seemed to be very nervous, especially in the first half. Even in the second half, we were just missing pick-ups and dropping balls, we just seemed to be nervous and very tight about it and I don’t know if the occasion possibly got to them a bit. 

“It was hard to understand on the sideline when you’re seeing so many balls that you normally see secured by lads all the time, fall out of their hand, hit the ground and when they go down to pick it up, not securing it. That cost us a lot and Cavan swarm in on top of us.”

Leitrim rue missed chances as Cavan celebrate Division 3B victory - GALLERY

Leitrim hurlers saw their dream of promotion from the Allianz NHL Division 3B shattered at the GAA National Centre of Excellence on Saturday as Cavan hit an injury time winner to snatch a 0-17 to 0-16. Observer photographer Willie Donnellan was a busy man with his camera, snapping fans enjoying the action .... see who you can spot!

Injuries and missing players hit Leitrim’s challenge but Olcan was full of praise for those who donned the county’s colours in Abbotstown: “It does stretch the resources but any of the boys who came on today did well, they worked fierce hard in fairness to them. Delaney and Hackett and a few lads like that are losses, there is no point in saying otherwise, they were starting 15 players but I can’t fault the effort and the workrate of the lads who came in and the lads who came on. What can you do, you just have to keep ploughing on.”

Leitrim now have to pick themselves up for the first round of the Lory Meagher Cup on the weekend of April 15-16, and Olcan says they have no option but to get back to work: “We told them we’d take tonight and we just have to get back it on Tuesday night, such a quick turnaround with the championship just around the corner. We have no choice, we just have to get back training, have to get the heads down and start preparing for Monaghan.”