A weight off the shoulders for Ailbhe Clancy as Leitrim claim Connacht title

For a team contesting League Finals and winning Connacht titles fairly regularly, last Sunday’s TG4 Connacht LGFA Intermediate Final triumph should have been fairly routine but joint top scorer Ailbhe Clancy revealed that winning the Gift of Life Cup was a weight off the Leitrim’s players shoulders.

Leitrim triumphed 3-12 to 0-19 to regain the Provincial crown but it was the heartbreaks of the last 12 months that sprung first to mind for the Glencar Manorhamilton woman: “I think it is nearly a weight off our shoulders just to get over the line. Losing against Limerick was really tough for us, especially after the last few years not being able to get out of division 4.

“So it was really good to bounce back in a positive way. Ups and downs during the season but days like this, it is brilliant and just delighted for all the girls, Jonny and the lads, great to get another Connacht title.”

With a small squad, Ailbhe nevertheless believes in the talent in the Leitrim ranks: “I think the talent in Leitrim is amazing, even at club level it is quite competitive and there are a lot of brilliant girls out there. We have a small enough squad but we have 26 brilliant players and I wouldn’t swap them for anyone else.”

Roscommon threatened on more than one occasion to derail Leitrim’s dreams but Ailbhe said she always had confidence, particularly with the defensive unit being so outstanding: “I suppose they drew level in the second half and we went down and got the goal which was a sigh of relief but I thought our defence was really good.

LEITRIM LET THE SHACKLES OFF BELIEVES CAPTAIN MICHELLE GUCKIAN

“I don’t think Roscommon ever got through on goal and we were quickly breaking out. I wasn’t worried - we were moving the ball well and I was confident in the team. It was great to see all the hard work paying off and that was probably our best performance of the year.”

Next up is Tyrone and Wicklow in the All-Ireland series and Ailbhe is looking forward to the challenge: “Not sure when those matches will be but definitely looking forward to it and always nice to go into those matches with a trophy and a bit of confidence going in.”