Leitrim definitely did it the hard way against Tyrone says Garrity

Eight points down after  five minutes and trailing by nine after ten minutes into the second half, when Jonny Garrity says “We definitely did it the hard way”, the Leitrim manager is not exaggerating one little bit after the Green & Gold’s famous victory over Tyrone last Sunday in Ballinamore.

The Ulster side hit 2-2 in the first five minutes of Sunday’s TG4 All-Ireland Intermediate championship clash and again stretched their lead to 5-5 to 1-8 ten minutes into the second half, seemingly putting the game well beyond Leitrim’s reach before a remarkable comeback sealed a famous 4-12 to 5-8 victory.

Understandably,  Jonny  revelled in the focus and game management his players showed under huge pressure: “We definitely did it the hard way today - to give a team of Tyrone’s calibre an eight point head start probably wasn’t the wisest thing to do but look, we played very well thereafter. 

“It was a real ding-dong battle and thankfully we were able to have our noses in front when the final whistle went. We’ll look at the goals we conceded, obviously five is too many. I don’t think we coughed up a goal chance in our last two matches, never mind a goal so that would be a worry but tip of the hat to Tyrone’s calibre of forwards that eked out those chances.”

Key to Leitrim’s ability to ride out the Tyrone storm was the work they’ve done on their mental processes with the mantra ‘next ball up’ the most important: “These girls are conditioned to forget about the past and concentrate on the present. Very much the focus was on what we could do to affect the next play and not the fact that we may have conceded a goal. Nevertheless our ability to concentrate on the next ball and play some smashing football was really pleasing.”

LEITRIM STUN TYRONE WITH COMEBACK FOR THE AGES - REPORT

Much of that comes down to the belief the players have in the system implemented by Jonny and his management team: “You are talking about faith and having faith in what we’re doing and the process and us telling the girls we have faith in them, that we believe in them as players. 

“Sometimes it is really good to look back and say we can do this, we have done it. The last two matches can only help in that respect, how can it not only improve our performances and confidence and put us in a really good place going into the Wicklow game.”

After the trauma of missing out on promotion in the League, Leitrim have bounced back in spectacular fashion, winning the Provincial title and defeating a team who will be playing Division 1 football next year with Jonny paying tribute to the work being put in by his squad: “You’d like to think come championship, you will peak but if you get it slightly wrong over the course of your  League or Provincial championship, you could be dealing with a tired group or a team that doesn't have the miles on the clock. 

“Thankfully  we’re in a good place in that respect, it showed today and it showed against Roscommon so we’re delighted about that, we’re seeing out games very strongly.”

Next up is Wicklow on Sunday week, June 15, and in the form they showed against Tyrone, Leitrim have got to be confident of making a splash in this year’s championship: “We’re confident, absolutely. We’re always confident because we know what we’ve got in terms of the characters in the group, the footballers in the group and that can only lead you to be confident. 

“Against Wicklow, we’ll see what happens next week with Wicklow playing Tyrone, that’ll be really interesting. Tyrone will have a part to play in this competition going forward, I have no doubts. We will have a job to do against Wicklow and it is really important for us to go out and do that.”

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One of the interesting subplots of last Sunday's game was the fact that  Jonny Garrity was coming up against his native Tyrone but the Leitrim manager was feeling pretty good after the game. Asked how it felt to inflict a defeat on his native county, Jonny said “It felt alright because I had a job to do. 

“My job was to get this group of girls ready and to try to affect the game if needed during the course of the 60 minutes. I didn’t think about the opposition in terms of where they came from so it felt ok and it feels good now I have to say.”

But his heart will always be with the Red Hand County: “After this year, with respect to the Ladies, I’ll be back to being a Tyrone supporter. This Summer, I’ll be a Tyrone supporter when the men are playing but I have a job to do and my allegiance is to the girls who are putting in everything for me, we’re committed to each other.”