We're outsiders but belief courses through Melvin Gaels says Kieran Clancy

Motivation comes in many forms but when Kieran Clancy describes his Melvin Gaels team as ‘outsiders’, he is not talking about underdogs or favourites but more of the geographic isolation that the community in Kinlough feels from the rest of the county, a feeling that gives his team a little extra when the going gets tough.

The Leitrim star was chatting with the Observer in the wake of Sunday’s 2-18 to 2-10 victory over Kiltubrid in the Smith Monumentals IFC Quarter-Final replay in Drumshanbo, talking about how the Gaels players would be heading to Atlantic for a recovery session to get ready for a fourth weekend of championship football on the trot!

“What we're hoping to do now is get the bodies rested, get into the sea, get well recovered now for this next game,” said Kieran who continually stressed the importance of mentality, even drawing inspiration from Melvin Gaels’ isolation from the rest of the county as they are nestled between Sligo and Donegal along the Atlantic coast!

“Down in north Leitrim, we're all isolated. We don't know any of these lads - we are our own bunch really. We're the outsiders. So, whenever we play a game, we always make sure that we're known after the game anyway,” said Kieran.

That mentality was evident as Melvin Gaels trailed by two points with ten minutes to go and were down a man thanks to a black card yet they fought back to take the game to extra-time. Asked if he was worried, Kieran simply stated “No” before elaborating “I'd say for any spectator watching the game, you'd think that we'd be on the losing side but I know playing a game that there's no point thinking like that.

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“You always have to think ‘next ball, next play’ so, there's no point thinking that it was looking bleak.  It's all about your mentality. If you're going into the game thinking that you're bet, there's no point even playing the game - we all knew as a group that we were going to come back and we were going to win.

“Obviously, the scoreline doesn't really reflect the game  because we won by a good bit in the end. It was a tough battle now and I'd say Kiltubrid would put it up to any team in this division.”

Kieran also highlighted the strength in depth of the Melvin Gaels bench: “The best thing for us is our bench, our whole panel. It's not just the starting 15, it's our whole group of players - they won us that game. There were a lot of lads there that came on that didn't start so kudos to them, they really helped us. It was a long game so obviously we were all getting taxed on the bodies and stuff but we just made sure to keep at it.”

Recovery is going to be key with Carrigallen next up for the Gaels but Kieran believes that he and his teammates can rise to the challenge of a fourth weekend of action on the trot: “It is cutting it tight but what I would say is if we just get our bodies right, we get into the sea and we get relaxed and ready for this, we'll have no bother putting it up to Carrigallen.

“Carrigallen are a strong defensive team but I fully believe that we can break them down. If we play like we did in that last half of extra time, we'll be able to beat any team in this division.”