THE LAST POINT: Looking for reasons, not excuses

Depression, anger, acceptance, bewilderment and understanding - fair to say the emotions have been as diverse and as polarising as the weather conditions we've been enduring over recent weeks but Sunday's Connacht SFC  loss to Sligo has left me wondering exactly how much do we read into what can only be described as a deeply demoralising defeat.

It's easy to make excuses, just as easy to cast blame on all and sundry, but the last two weekends have been rough on those with the Green & Gold in their hearts, even if it was interspersed by a truly wonderful victory for the U20 side over Mayo in the Connacht Championship in Ballinamore, a victory that would have you dreaming of the glory days of the early nineties once more.

Bluntly put, Sunday wasn't a nice day  - even before a ball was kicked, there was a general air that the home side were on a hiding to nothing and that's tough to digest -  even if you can understand it. The fact that Donal Casey, Jack Foley and Barry McNulty wouldn't be involved was a body blow and then we arrived into Avant Money Pairc Sean Mac Diarmada to discover that Mark Plunkett would miss the game through illness.

I don't know any team, be it Kerry, Dublin or Derry, who could absorb the loss of four players who were key starters in a successful League campaign. The two U20 stars & Casey started every single one of the eight League games this term and once Plunkett recovered from injury, the Aughawillan man saw action in every game he was available for. That's almost a third of your team for starters.

THE LAST POINT: LAOIS CRUSH LEITRIM'S EASTER RISING

Then you add  that players like Cathal McHugh, Niall Walsh and Jamie McGrail, earmarked as replacements, weren't even in the squad and it gives you some sense of why we felt  that it was going to be a tough day for Leitrim.

I suppose the interesting aspect of the whole thing was the decision to play Barry McNulty and Jack Foley with the U20s the previous Wednesday, a decision I wholeheartedly agree with (on an aside the Glencar Manorhamilton man should have been released last year for the Galway game) but one that left the Senior team in a massive hole come Sunday.

It certainly wasn't that Andy Moran and his backroom team were throwing the game but there are times you've got to make a calculation - field the Senior duo with the U20s and score a first Connacht Championship win over Mayo at any grade since 1998 (for clarity, I'm not including the Junior grade because the playing requirements are different for the competing counties, not the same criteria at all) or reduce the U20s' chances by holding  them for action against Sligo last Sunday.

The Senior Championship is the big one, the most prestigious and the one everyone judges you by, but if we're being brutally honest, amidst a lot of brutally harsh assessments of last Sunday, would we have beaten Sligo with McNulty & Foley on board? Sligo were missing their own key players and adapted much better, their season of Division 3 ball clearly widening the gap between the counties.

The prize for winning last Sunday sees Sligo take on Galway and, again reflecting brutal honesty, the Yeatsmen will probably end up in the Tailteann Cup along with Leitrim at the end of it all. So I agree that, as Moran admitted himself, the raison d'etre for removing the U20 duo from the fray is sound, if a little defeatist.

You can't put a price on what beating Mayo meant last Wednesday, the spring in the step leaving Pairc Sheain Ui Eslin for Leitrim supporters downcast from what we witnessed in Croke Park four days previously, a sort of metaphysical lift for the entire county that one of the giants had finally been slayed by those wearing Green & Gold.

Not only that, but the manner in which the U20s carved out that victory, playing some wonderful football that has Leitrim fans dreaming of Provincial glory once more. Now, there's a long way to go yet and the win over Mayo has raised expectations exponentially  but the shot in the arm to Leitrim football was almost beyond comprehension.

But, and I suppose there is always a but, what we witnessed in Pairc Sean gives pause for thought - I'm not fond  of tossing out excuses and missing four key starters is an enormous body blow but I've got to say I was pretty depressed with what we witnessed and that was allowing for the missing players and the unrelenting toll of the condensed inter-county season.

The fact that Leitrim rely on a much smaller band of players than nearly everyone in Division 4, let alone the other grades, illustrates the challenges facing Andy Moran and his backroom team and the price of going flat out for three previous weekends in a row was paid in full last Sunday.

So, injuries, absentees and plain old fatigue had Leitrim behind the eight-ball before a ball was even kicked last Sunday but acknowledging and understanding  all that doesn't make it easier to digest what we witnessed Sunday afternoon as a litany of misplaced passes, possession lost in the tackle, and an inability to get out of our own half was devastating.

Again, you've got to take into account  the outrageously strong wind blowing straight down the field in Pairc Sean in the first half  but the contrast in how Sligo managed to do just that, actually outscoring the home side in the second half despite playing against that wind is chilling to think of.

THE LAST POINT: A THREE YEAR OVERNIGHT SUCCESS

Tony McEntee complained of his players resorting to aimless long range shooting in the first half with the wind at their back but the stats of 17 shots to one in  that period was staggering, leaving me thankful that the Yeatsmen had left their shooting boots at home. It didn't get much better in the second half as Sligo drove two gilt edged goal chances over the bar and it was hard to escape the feeling that we were lucky to get away with a nine point defeat!

That's difficult to accept after Leitrim have gone toe to toe with Sligo in recent years - we can offer all the reasons we want, and  they are genuine explanations, but Tony McEntee's side were missing a few key players themselves and they adapted and overcame. Losing isn't the problem, unfortunately that's nothing new, but the manner of the defeat was chastening.

But hope springs eternal - maybe a reset for the Tailteann Cup will lead to  another adventure and hopefully the U20s will continue where they left off last Wednesday. Hoping and dreaming is nothing new  for Leitrim fans so here's hoping we have plenty more excitement in 2024! 

A WONDERFUL GESTURE FOR WILLIE

Finally, a few words of thanks on behalf of the Observer staff, past and present, to Enda Stenson and Leitrim GAA for their presentation to Willie Donnellan at halftime last Sunday. He wasn't expecting it so the surprised look on his face when Declan Bohan began reading out the tribute was priceless and the warmth of the applause of the crowd was  a lovely reflection of Willie's place in our community.

We in the Observer think very highly of Willie  -  a  man of boundless good humour and energy, a teller of stories, a  joker, and, most importantly, the best of friends. Apparently that's the way Leitrim  sees our intrepid Willie who, on Monday, April 8, marked his 50th year covering Gaelic games in Leitrim.

That's a remarkable feat of endurance, and given some of the tough days we've had in those years, it certainly is an endurance but there have also been some truly wonderful days  that Willie has chronicled through his lens from Leitrim teams winning Connacht and All-Ireland titles in Men's and Ladies football and hurling along with countless days covering club games from U8 up to Masters.

Willie doesn't like being the centre of attention but on this occasion, we're glad he was because he certainly deserves it. Thanks again to Leitrim GAA, on behalf of everyone who has worked at the Observer, for this wonderful gesture in honouring the legend that is Willie Donnellan.