Chastening defeat for new look Leitrim as Clare rule the roost in Ennis

A new look Leitrim under the direction of new manager Steven Poacher got a rough introduction to life in the Allianz NFL Division 3 in Cusack Park, Ennis as a dominant Clare cruised to a comprehensive 13 point victory in the Green & Gold’s opening game in this year’s League.

Leitrim were organised, fiercely committed and gave it their all and in Barry McNulty, the Green & Gold had a player that even the Clare faithful were admiring but for most of this game, the visitors were forced to play second fiddle to a Clare team operating on a much higher level.

Clare’s years in higher divisions, contesting Provincial finals and the All-Ireland series showed as they picked apart defiant Leitrim resistance with cool method, drawing Leitrim over and back across the field and then striking for crucial scores.

With the game’s new rules offering a faster paced contest, Clare made great use of the new two-point arc, scoring three in the first half to leave them with a commanding and somewhat intimidating nine point lead at the interval, a lead that went out to ten points early in the second half.

Poacher’s men dug in and reeled off three unanswered points in a five minute spell to give the dedicated Leitrim supporters that made the long journey south something to cheer about but then Clare struck for two goals in five minutes to completely kill off any hope Poacher’s side had.

REPORT: LEITRIM LADIES GETS THE BALL ROLLING AGAIN WITH WIN OVER DERRY

Leitrim started the game with five players seeing their first ever Senior start for Leitrim - Daire O’Shea in goals, Eoin McLoughlin, Sean Harkin and Mark Keegan in defence with Paul Honeyman in attack while they were joined by Eanna McNamara, who featured for the Leitrim Schools team last Wednesday, as a debutant.

Shorn of so much experience and the years of physical training that the likes of Pearse Dolan, Mark Plunkett, Donal Wrynn, Conor Reynolds, etc, etc had put in, it left a willing Leitrim at a huge disadvantage compared to a physically strong and mobile Clare outfit that former Kerry boss Peter Keane has well drilled.

It wasn’t that the Banner men did anything spectacular - if anything their own devotion to structure and game plan meant they never truly cut loose at Leitrim but given their experience playing at a higher level, their ability to make the most of the chances that came their way was telling.

The defeat, and scale of it, is certainly chastening for a Leitrim side manager Steven Poacher admits is up against it and leaves with an imperative to get a result against Laois next Saturday in Ballinamore, the O’Moore County losing to Offaly in their midland derby on Sunday.

The first shot in anger came when Keith Beirne’s effort was gathered by the keeper and the home side opened the scoring from an Emmet McMahon free following a Jordan Reynolds foul. Keelan Sexton put Clare fifty wide before a McNulty shot was batted out and a poor Clare clearance allowed Beirne to tap over on six minutes.

Beirne then saw a difficult free in the corner fielded by the Clare keeper and then came the game’s first two pointer, McMahon blasting over to open up a gap 11 minutes in. Iken Ugweruru’s pace saw him burst through the Leitrim defence to set up Aaron Griffin for a point.

Barry McNulty took matters into his own hands as he charged forward to score on 15 minutes after after both sides hit wides, Clare went into overdrive as Eoin Cleary hit a two points, Daniel Walsh pounced when a Leitrim kickout was turned over and a further loss of possession saw Eoin Cleary point after a good run.

The Leitrim team who were defeated by Clare in Ennis last Sunday Picture: Willie Donnellan

Jordan Reynolds made a timely block on Cleary but Keith Keegan saw his shot smothered before McNulty ended a ten minute spell without a score with a fine effort. But that was wiped out almost instantaneously when Cleary lobbed over his second two pointer of the game.

Riordan O’Rourke pointed from a tight angle after good work from Paul Honeyman while McNulty was desperately unlucky to see a 48 yard free hit the woodwork before being cleared.

Clare made the most of those misses, adding three points before the break - Leitrim lost the ball in attack, Eoin Cleary setting up Griffin for a good point under pressure. Cleary went for his third three pointer and almost got it only for Leitrim keeper Daire O’Shea to get a hand on the ball, reducing it to a single point.

Ciaran Downes, who had a bad wide earlier, then curled a lovely effort over the Leitrim posts in added time to give Clare a commanding 0-13 to 0-4 halftime lead, one that looked insurmountable.

Manager Steven Poacher brought on Stephen McLoughlin, to add to Eanna McNamara’s introduction late in the first half, after the break but patient Clare play ended with Sean McAllister pointing after breaking a tackle.

Both teams had wides but a quick ball to Keith Keegan and an offload allowed Barry McNulty to fire over eight minutes into the second half. Good work from Keegan and Tom Prior two minutes later allowed Keith Beirne loft over from the middle of the park before Jack Flynn hit a fine curling effort on 48 minutes.

It was Leitrim’s most productive run of the game, three points in five minutes to cut the gap back to seven points but after Keegan saw an effort block after an interception from sub Darren Cox, Clare killed off the game completely when Ikem Ugweuru broke from the middle of the park, brushing aside a few challenges before firing a rocket to the Leitrim net.

That undid all of Leitrim’s good work and Keelan Sexton fired over after a goal was briefly on for the home side. Darren Cox provided a wonderful chip on 56 minutes while a Keith Beirne two pointer was stopped by Clare keeper Eamon Tubridy when he reached above the crossbar to haul the ball in.

THE LAST POINT: BEST LAID PLANS BLOWN AWAY

Clare confirmed their victory with just over 11 minutes left - sub Evan Cahill made a good catch and run from the middle, bearing down on goal before offloading to wing-back Alan Sweeney whose powerful and precise finish rattled the Leitrim net.

Aaron Griffin completed the Clare score on 63 minutes with Leitrim managing two injury time frees from Beirne and McNulty to bring the game to a close.

CLARE

Scorers: Eoin Cleary 0-6, 2tp; Emmet McMahon 0-4, 1tp, 1f; Aaron Griffin 0-3; Alan Sweeney & Ikem Ugwueru 1-0 each; Ciaran Downes,Keelan Sexton, Sean McAllister & Daniel Walsh 0-1 each

Team: Eamon Tubridy; Manus Doherty, Cillian Brennan, Cillian Rouine; Cillian McGroary, Fionn Kelleher, Alan Sweeney, Ikem Ugwueru, Sean McAllister; Daniel Walsh, Emmet McMahon, Ciaran Downes; Keelan Sexton, Aaron Griffin, Eoin Cleary. Subs: Evan Cahill for McAllister (55), Shane Griffin for Cleary (61), Rory McMahon for McGroary (62), Cormac Murray for Sexton (63), Connor Meaney for Sweeney (67)

LEITRIM

Scorers: Barry McNulty 0-4, 1f; Keith Beirne 0-3; Jack Flynn, Riordan O’Rourke & Darren Cox 0-1 each

Team: Daire O’Shea; Eoin McLoughlin, Kieran Clancy, Cathal McHugh; Sean Harkin, Mark Diffley, Mark Keegan; Barry McNulty, Keith Keegan; Jordan Reynolds, Jack Flynn, Tom Prior; Paul Honeyman, Riordan O’Rourke, Keith Beirne. Subs: Eanna McNamara for McHugh (29), Stephen McLoughlin for Keegan (HT), Darren Cox for Reynolds (46), Conor Quinn for Prior (57), Diarmuid Kelleher for Flynn (67)

Referee: James Molloy (Galway)