Wasteful Leitrim stroll to comfortable victory

A comfortable yet at times nervy victory for Leitrim as the County Minors secured their first win of the year when they outclassed a limited London in Sunday's Electric Ireland All-Ireland Minor C Championship clash in the Connacht Centre of Excellence.

Truth be told, London struggled to cope against a much superior Leitrim who just had too much skill and, more importantly, too many games under their belt to fall to a potential Exiles ambush in a game every bit as one sided as the scoreline suggests.

Yet, even though they never looked like losing, the game wasn't without worry for Leitrim as they had well over ten wides while keeper Sean Carolan Morris had to make three or four excellent saves to deny the Exiles from finding the net late on.

For all that, the win will be a relief to Karl Foley and his team who haven't had much luck this year and they will surely play better against better opposition.

Jack Kelly & Gearoid Curley had good days scoring, Daire McCabe was lively as was Bailey McBride and Luke Fitzsimons but Ruairi O'Rourke gets the nod as Leitrim’s most influential player while in a strange way, London's goal against the run of play finally shocked Leitrim into action as they took complete control after that!

LEITRIM MINORS TIER 3 ALL-IRELAND SEMI-FINAL CLASH FIXED FOR CAVAN VENUE ON SATURDAY

Leitrim face Down next Saturday in the semi final at Lavey GAA club in Cavan, 1 pm throw-in, but it will be a tough task. Down reached the Ulster Minor League Final earlier this year and put up some good displays in the championship.

Leitrim’s struggles throughout the game were reflected in the early action as Leitrim hit four wides to two points, one from a Kelly, the second from Luke Fitzsimons following a save from London keeper Hugh Keenan to deny Kelly a goal. Kelly would add a tenth minute point but the wides continued to mount for Leitrim.

Conor Reynolds pointed after Leitrim pounced on a terrible London sideline ball that went to an unmarked Leitrim player but Leitrim got a shock when, in their first shot on target, a charging  Lucia Cappuccini took the ball from Ryan Moran and blasted to the Leitrim net after 19 minutes.

It was a bolt from the blue but Leitrim hit back with points from Gallagher and Daire McCabe but a Thomas Lawless free left two points in it after 22 minutes. But Leitrim nerves were soothed when Daire McCabe combined with Jack Moolick to leave Gearoid Curley with an unmarked palmed ball to the net with six minutes left in the half.

Despite that boost, Karl Foley introduced Ruairi O’Rourke who had an immediate impact with a point that left Leitrim with a 1-7 to 0-1 halftime lead at the break. Leitrim again opened with a wide but two quick points from O’Rourke and McCabe settled Leitrim down somewhat, O’Rourke scoring from a mark six minutes into the half.

The Leitrim team who defeated London in the Electric Ireland All-Ireland Tier 3 MFC at the Connacht GAA Centre of Excellence Picture: Willie Donnellan

Sean Carolan Morris came up from this goal to thump over a fifty before returning to his usual duties by saving a shot from Cappuccini. Leitrim broke from that save with O’Rourke scoring a nice point on the run.

London got just their second point when Sean Gaynor fired over on 14 minutes but points from Kelly (free) and McCabe stretched the lead but O’Rourke took his tally to five points in less than 30 minutes since his introduction with a point on 48 minutes.

Leitrim were still missing chances but they finally made their dominance show on the scoreboard when the Green & Gold put together another intricate passing move that ended with Curley palming his second goal of the game. Almost immediately, sub Jack Prior drove a low shot to the bottom left hand corner and a game that was officially dead.

ANOTHER HEARTBREAKING ONE POINT DEFEAT FOR LEITRIM MINORS

Jack Kelly hit two more points before the finish, one from a free, while Jack Moolick also got in on the scoring act.

London finished with a flourish as they hit the last four points of the game, be it a result of Leitrim taking their foot off the pedal or the Exiles throwing caution to the wind. Carolan Morris made a good save from a low Gaynor not once but twice while Dylan Brady, Cappuccini, Lawless and sub Cameron Mulligan landed late points to finish the game.

LEITRIM

Scorers: Gerard Curley 2-0; Jack Kelly (3f) & Ruairi O’Rourke 0-5 each; Daire McCabe 0-3; Jack Prior 1-0; Sean Carolan Morris (50); Luke Fitzsimons, Jack Moolick, Gavin Gallagher & Conor Reynolds 0-1 each

Team: Sean Carolan Morris; Oran Foley, Luke Braam Farrell, Cillian McWeeney, Niall Torsney; Bailey McBride, Luke Fitzsimons, Gearoid Curley, Jack Moolick, Karl Gethins, Gavin Gallagher; Senan Bohan, Daire McCabe, Jack Kelly, Conor Reynolds. Subs: Ruairi O’Rourke for Reynolds (26); Jack Prior for Gethins (28); James Hughes for Torsney (40);  Ryan Gordon for Bohan (47); Frankie McManus for Curley (51)

LONDON

Scorers: Lucia Cappuccini 1-1, 50; Thomas Lawless 0-2; Dylan Brady, Sean Gaynor & Cameron Mulligan 0-1 each

Team: Hugh Keenan, Sean Hegarty, Matthew Cox, Ben Rossiter, Theo Richie, Robert Power, Tommie Logan, Finn Clough, Dylan Brady, Oisin Gammage, Thomas Lawless, Lucia Cappuccini, Ryan Moran, Sean Gaynor, Sean McGivney. Subs: Darragh O’Doherty for Gaynor (HT); Ryan Patterson for Gammage (37); Cameron Mulligan for Hegarty (40); Gaynor for McGivney (43); Ciaran McNevin for Gammage (51)

Referee: Paul Lydon (Mayo)