Penalties a toss of the coin says delighted Leitrim manager Olcan Conway

Delighted with the victory, Olcan Conway termed Leitrim’s penalty shootout victory over Monaghan in the All-Ireland U20 C Hurling Final as a “toss of a coin” as he termed the game a wonderful advertisement for the game of hurling.

“It is cruel to finish a game on penalties,” said Conway after the celebrations dimmed somewhat following the 1-17 apiece epic that went to extra-time and penalties, adding “When you get to penalties it is just a toss of a coin and we came out the right side of it. You have to give a hell of a lot of respect to Monaghan. They were fantastic this evening and our lads were very good as well.

“Leitrim and Monaghan really did give everything out on that field today. It was a wonderful advertisement for Under 20 hurling in the so-called weaker counties. It was top class hurling out there and it was a brilliant game.”

A devoted advocate for  hurling, Conway was thrilled by the action in Kingspan Breffni Park: “It was a pulsating game. We were in front; they were in front, two teams pegging each other back all the time and it was the same in extra time - such a game of hurling. 

“Honest to God it was a fabulous game, really good. Monaghan kept going; we kept going. In the last minute you had lads cramping up left, right and centre. It goes to show you how much it meant to both teams. Both sets of players really did give it everything.”

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Key to Leitrim’s victory was their ability to keep in the contest, with Conway praising Cian McManus and Dean Early for the great efforts they made late in the game to get winning points for Leitrim: “They were from the wrong side of the wind, which was getting up and the wind just sneaked the two outside the post.

“They were still making great efforts with Cian coming up from wing back and Dean coming from wing forward to get their shots close enough in the final minutes of extra time. Their efforts unfortunately didn't go over the bar but fortunately we came out on the right side of it at the end.

Commenting on Pearse Kenny's penalty that won the title for Leitrim, Olcan said “It was a great penalty by Pearse; he bounced it along the ground and pinged it into the corner.”