Leitrim players showed exactly how good they are - Karl Foley

Friday’s Electric Ireland Connacht Minor Shield Final was one of those bittersweet experiences for manager Karl Foley, a game that showed exactly the level Leitrim can perform at but a game that also ended in defeat, writes John Connolly.

A perplexed but proud Karl told the Observer after the 1-9 to 0-11 loss: “It was the best performance that group of players have put in for me and probably the best performance I’ve seen from a Leitrim Minor team in the two years I’ve been involved with them. To come out and take on Sligo in the way that they did, they’re a credit, they’re an absolute credit.”

Yet it was a pride tinged with regret: “If only we could have got a few more performances like that. They showed exactly how good they are and I thought some of the football we played was brilliant throughout the game.

“I remember talking to you this time last year, we’re missing that killer instinct but the one thing is that we fell away last year in the Shield Final in the second half. This year, we kept going to the bitter end.

“But it is a hard one to take, another one point defeat, very hard to take. Bottom line though is I’m here for two years and I haven’t got a win in this competition and I’m gutted, disappointed but we’ve done everything we can to try and improve them, improve the set-up and what we’ve done.”

ANOTHER HEARTBREAKING ONE POINT DEFEAT FOR LEITRIM MINORS

What Karl will take from the Shield Final is the progress that has been made: “It shows how strong we have got as a group over the course of the season, they’re fit. There were a couple of chances we missed, we squandered but there has been a huge amount of progress made.

“I know there were a couple of games earlier this year where that wasn’t probably justifiable against Roscommon and Galway in particular. But the performance was there against Sligo the first day, against Mayo they put up a brilliant performance over there and to come here today, I thought we controlled the game, we went at them, we attacked them and on another day, a couple more bodies, we probably would have got over the line.”

Now Leitrim face into an All-Ireland C series and Karl wants Leitrim to really attack it despite their disappointment: “It will be hard in one sense but in another sense, we gave a few lads a run today and they did very well. The lads that came out there and performed were excellent.

“So no reason to believe we can’t give it a shot and get something out of the year for them - all we need is a win and if we get a win, we’ll drive on. It is heartbreaking, I’m gutted for them but immensely proud, the effort they have put in was outstanding. They’re gutted, they’re absolutely gutted but again, you have to think they’ll learn from this.

“Cormac Moran was immense in the middle of the field, Jack Kelly brilliant, skinning his man time and time again. Scott Kerr very assured performance between the sticks - you can go right through the team where there has been positives the whole way throughout the team. Not to be today but they can hold their heads up.”