Job done for Leitrim Ladies as manager Jonny Garrity sets sights on League Final

Job done, proclaimed Jonny Garrity after Sunday's 7-20 to 2-14 destruction of Longford in the Lidl NFL Division 4 curtain raiser in Glennon Brothers Pearse Park but what pleased the Leitrim manager most was his team’s performance and how they went about this job.

Put to him that Leitrim were right were they wanted to be after the end of the group stages, Jonny agreed, saying “Job done” before adding “We knew coming into today that we were over the line so to speak but we wanted to go over the line in the fashion we would have liked. 

“We spoke during the week about what kind of performance we wanted, what kind of team we wanted to be and I think probably for that spell after halftime, we showed what we’re after. Really happy with that and the workrate in turning the ball over, that was the foothold we needed at the start of the second half to put a bit of daylight between the teams.

“We felt at halftime that we weren’t doing that enough, we had one score from their kickout and it was one of the areas where we felt there was low hanging fruit for us if we made the effort and we certainly did that early in the second half, we were camped in there and got a load of scores from it.”

Ever the perfectionist, the Leitrim manager was not pleased with the concession of two late goals: “We did cough up very few chances but we try to set really high standards for ourselves so we’d be a wee bit disappointed with those goals. Up until that point, we had conceded three goals in six and three quarter matches. 

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“Even at that, if you concede an odd goal and you have plenty of daylight, you can accept that to a degree especially with the changes that were made and that probably affected the structure of the team a wee bit. But by and large, we were really good in limiting their chances, made them work really hard for it and on the other end, we filled our boots when the opportunity arose.”

Another thing that brought a smile to his face was the return of Muireann Devaney   after a two year absence: “I think Muireann is a special talent and coming back into the group was something we had earmarked for quite a while. We couldn’t quite make it happen last year and we’re delighted to be in a position where she is back in county colours and I think everybody in the county will be delighted that that is the case.

 “Ironically, I think outside the county, in the county game, not the club game, there is probably limited knowledge of her there and I think in the weeks and months to come, they’re going to know her name.”

Now Leitrim face into a winner takes all situation in the semi-final with the two winners guaranteed promotion - a strange twist in Division 4 as the top two teams in the other Divisions are automatically promoted and one that leaves the Green & Gold facing a bit of jeopardy as they take on Limerick in the Semi-Final!

“I never actually thought of it that way,” admitted Johnny when told that Leitrim would have been promoted if they finished in the top two in any other division, “I don’t know why there is the difference. Maybe it is because we complained about not having enough matches last year; they threw us an extra one with the semi-final. 

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“I suppose had we finished third or fourth, we’d have been delighted that it was there for us but I’m not going to complain about it now. When you’ve got four divisions of eight teams, it is a bit strange it isn’t the same regulations but with saying that, we absolutely overjoyed with getting the football we've been getting in.

“ It is much better than last season, it has been a brilliant campaign, not just for us but the quality of the games and the excitement of the finish to see who comes second, third, fourth. There are so many teams in the mix, that shows you it has been a really competitive and enjoyable league and now we have to go out and make sure there are no slip ups in the semi-final.”