We earned that one says Leitrim manager Jonny Garrity after Connacht triumph

Leitrim went out and earned their Connacht title last Sunday according to manager Jonny Garrity who admitted his relief that the Green & Gold Ladies had finally got over the line in a big game!

After heartbreaking defeats in the League Final and Semi-Final during his tenure and a loss in last year’s decider, Garrity finally managed to taste glory with the Green & Gold as Leitrim held off a dogged Roscommon challenge 3-12 to 0-19 in Kiltoom with the manager admitting it was a sweet victory!

“I think we’re owed one!” replied Garrity when asked what it felt like to finally come out the right side of a scoreline, adding “It feels sweet to get over the line. We believed we were due one, we were owed one and there’s been a lack of luck visited upon us but as I said to the girls before the match, that doesn’t matter.

“Football doesn’t work like that, we have to go out and earn it and they did! They went out and earned it, they died with their boots on today and I’m just thrilled for them, they just richly, richly deserve it.”

Following in the footsteps of Hugh Donnelly who led Leitrim to back to back Connacht titles, Jonny admitted personal satisfaction in seeing his team lift the trophy: “It is why you are involved in the game for days like this. I’m delighted but my first thought goes back to the players because I know the work they’ve put in. 

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“My overriding feeling is of course there is relief and there is elation but just a deep satisfaction that the girls have got something for the work they have put in. That’s brilliant but the important thing from here is that, of course we will enjoy tonight but let's make it a springboard for the championship.”

That ability to immediately refocus and set sights on another target means that Garrity is already looking forward to the All-Ireland series, due to start over the June Bank Holiday weekend: “We’ve shown today that we can beat one of the best teams in Intermediate football so we have nobody to fear if we go out and put ourselves forward like that. Let us use it as a springboard and see where we can improve further.”

The win means  Garrity will come face to face with his native Tyrone in the group stages and it is a clash he is relishing: “That’s a mouthwatering clash for me and I’ll look forward to that one. Wicklow are a really good team as well, they put it right up to us in the League in Ballinamore and that’s going to be a tough game. 

“I didn’t compare the two prospective groups before today but I remember thinking to myself that if we were to lose, we’re not getting a particularly harder group, both of them are on par but this is going to be a shot in the arm in terms of belief and confidence.”

On a day when a lot of players stood out, the performance of Ailbhe Clancy was immense: “Ailbhe was winning kickouts, she was finishing moves and doing everything in between, it was an all action performance from her. She is probably one of the top scorers over the League season and has a tremendous season so far. I couldn’t pick one out either but it is just a continuation of her form this year.”

Just as important as getting goals was the fact that Leitrim didn’t concede a goal according to their manager: “That was the important thing because the concession of a goal today would have killed us. They were kicking points today and they were extremely accurate and sometimes you have to hold your hands up and say there is very little we can do about that. 

“But the important thing was we didn’t concede a goal - I don’t think we even conceded a goal chance and that was massively important because it looked as if we could open up Roscommon and we did open them up on a fair few occasions and took three of those chances and that was the difference today.”

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And the Leitrim manager stressed that getting bodies back to stop Roscommon was one thing, being able to exploit it was another: “Getting bodies behind the ball is the easy thing to do, anybody can set a team up to get bodies behind the ball but what do you do when you turn it over? 

“First you need the conditioning but you also need the game intelligence and pass selection and the right people on the ball at the right time and I thought we worked it extremely well today. We used every bit of width that was on the field, we moved the ball when it was on and kept possession and showed composure when it wasn’t.”