This defeat is tough to take says Leitrim Ladies manager Garrity

In terms of defeats, this must be up there with the most painful from a Leitrim perspective. Although Leitrim still have plenty to play for this Summer in their provincial and All Ireland campaigns, they missed out on a seismic opportunity as they conceded a 67th minute goal that ensured they missed out on promotion to the Lidl LGFA Division 3 and a spot in the final

After their Lidl LGFA Division 4 league final last year, this year’s format presented a far greater opportunity. With two teams going up, Leitrim just needed to emerge triumphant in this semi final to climb up the league ladder.

It appeared they were well on their way to ending their series of hard luck stories when Muireann Devaney netted in the sixth minute of injury time to move her side ahead for the first time in the contest. However, there was a further sting in the tail as Leitrim coughed up possession before being caught by the cruellest of blows.

Manager Jonny Garrity cut a deflated figure afterwards as he admitted his side’s game management cost them down the stretch: “It is a tough one to digest. It is extremely disappointing in terms of our game management to see out the game when we had possession, and we had the lead. Time was on our side as time was up but somehow we contrived to give them one last chance and they took it so it is a hard one to take.”

Amidst the devastation, Garrity was proud of how his side battled following a poor start in which they fell 0-4 to no score after 10 minutes. They managed to reduce that deficit to the minimum early in the second period but Deborah Murphy’s goal and a pair of Iris Kennelly minors saw Leitrim trail by five points after 52 minutes. 

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Despite their struggles to carve open a Limerick rearguard which saw full back Yvonne Lee do an excellent marking job on Michelle Guckian and sweeper Ellie Woulfe excel in the final period, Leitrim kept plugging away and managed to find the lead.

However, the Leitrim manager admits the defeat makes it tougher to take solace from their battling spirit: “It was dramatic, and it was left very late. We were delighted at that stage but unfortunately it only lasted a matter of seconds. Looking at it we didn’t play a whole pile of football in the first 20 minutes. 

“We were very slow to start and because of that we were playing catch up. It wasn’t the shape of the game that we would have preferred to see but it was what it was. We were in a dogfight so credit to the girls, they put the shoulder to the wheel, and they battled hard.

“They got themselves back into the game and obviously when you are a couple of points behind and the game is up, you know that if you get one chance you have to take it and we did that. Nothing but full credit to the girls for that but it is just disappointing that we got caught after that.”

Despite the cruel nature of the defeat, Leitrim still have the Connacht Championship and All Ireland series to tackle as they will need to take learnings from this defeat.

Garrity is excited by the prospect of Championship after a league campaign where his side produced some scintillating displays before coming unstuck in Roscommon.

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“I think first and foremost that it is natural that the girls are disappointed. It is important that they are allowed to be. It has been a very positive league on the whole and this is such a disappointing way to end it but before we look forward, we must console ourselves with the disappointment of today and when the new week comes and we reconvene, it is fantastic that we will have the Championship to look forward to.”

“We will get ourselves ready for that and ensure that we are back. We know that when we are playing well, we are a very dangerous team.”