THE LAST POINT: Searching for hope on a grim day

Maybe it is the contrarian in me, or maybe I've come down with a case of “Tony McGowan-itis” in that I've developed a tendency for super optimism but even on a grim and chastening day in Ennis last Sunday, I still came away with flickers of hope, faint certainly, but flickers nonetheless.

I've always prided myself on practical realism - I dream as much as any sports fan but when it comes to the cold hard facts of sporting endeavours, realism has been my default position. I tend to search for reasons for hope but always come back to reality, at least I think I do, hopefully couching that realism in kind words.

Because without hope, what do we do? Bald figures tell us that Leitrim have no chance against a Galway or a Mayo, much less a Dublin or Kerry and even in Division 3, we're coming up against counties far better resourced, financially and in playing depth, than little old Leitrim but each and every year, the Green & Gold faithful gather for the first match of the League with guarded optimism.

In all honesty, that optimism is a tad light on the ground in 2024 when it comes to our County Senior team - Steven Poacher is a coach with a good reputation and has worked in a lot of counties but even Mick O'Dwyer or Jim Gavin will struggle with the hand dealt to the Down man, 14 players from last year's Division 4 Final no longer on the panel.

It is not just 14 players - I remember in Dessie Dolan's time and the reign of Mickey Moran, John Morrison and a few more that we shipped massive losses in playing numbers  in the off-season but this time, it is different - never can I recall so many first choice stalwarts being no longer available to a Leitrim manager.

THE LAST POINT: ONE STEP FORWARD, TWO STEPS BACK

When Dolan complained about being unable to build continuity, that Leitrim team still had 10-12 starters each and every year - they were unable to build the strength in depth they needed to make the breakthrough they threatened at Provincial level  but Poacher's team has had the heart ripped out of it before the season started, plain and simple, and it showed in Cusack Park.

I'd certainly can't fault the effort nor the organisation Leitrim showed in Ennis, they worked their socks off, never dropped their heads but the harsh reality is that Clare were just that bit more experienced, that bit bigger and that bit more clinical when it came to the game's big moments and, as hard as it is to write this, that's likely to be the story for the rest of the League.

I'm not writing off this Leitrim team by any means but they've been shorn of so much experience, physical heft and craft that it will be hard to cope with  teams who are going to target the Green & Gold for what they regard as easy points on the board.

Yet there is still hope - back in 2008, Leitrim started the League with their first round home game being postponed and then hit with a 10 point defeat on the road in their first outing. Seventeen years ago, it was a clash with Fermanagh that got called off and it was our Longford neighbours who thrashed us 2-10 to 0-6. Louth gave us a fair trimming the next day out in Dowdallshill  and loss number three came with a four point loss to Fermanagh.

But things changed - Sligo were comfortably beat, Wexford got the better of us down  despite a gargantuan display from Declan Maxwell (more about that later) before the Green & Gold pipped Down 2-7 to 1-9 to take the relegation battle to the final round.

I wasn't there but Leitrim needed a win that would relegate Limerick. After leading 0-7 to 0-4 at halftime, the home side roared back into the game. What stands out from the game was a controversy over the referee blowing the final whistle just as an injury time Leitrim point was about to sail between the posts, a score that would have kept the Green & Gold in Division 3.

So who knows what the future will bring? The 2008 Leitrim squad was a much more battle hardened unit that their present day incarnation and Steven Poacher's side have quite a bit of work to do yet, chief among them knowing when and where to take a shot on!

If there was one major frustration with Sunday's display in Ennis, it was the apparent reluctance to take on the Clare rearguard, a preference to hold onto possession outside the 45m arch, the ball going over and back, over and back without any real threat and one that Clare defended relatively easily. In fairness, that may be foisted upon a young and relatively light team but it probably goes against the nature of Leitrim's talented forwards who like to take on their man in direct fashion.

The one man with the physique and skills to do that was Barry McNulty and when you have the Clare press corp wondering if they might arrange a transfer for the Glencar Manorhamilton man, you know Leitrim have a special talent. Twice McNulty drove at the Clare defence and lobbed over a couple of monster points - he shaved the post with a long range free and was narrowly wide with another and, to me at least, it harkened back to the days of Declan Maxwell.

The Drumreilly man carried Leitrim on his back in 2008, popping up in midfield, full-forward and centre-forward, wherever he was needed, causing havoc for the opposition and scoring some wonder points and  making things happen for the Green & Gold and McNulty is certainly in that class, even at his tender age.

But that tender age is what is hindering Leitrim - it will be a strength in a year or two when Poacher's young guns mature and grow stronger but right now, with three 18 years old playing and a few more U20 and barely older, Leitrim's youth might not be able to match the battle hardened experience of our opponents.

Enthusiasm and fearlessness are brilliant but so much of gaelic football today is about physical strength, maturity and systems and on all three, Leitrim are behind our rivals in Division 3 right now. Like I said, in a few years, what is a weakness now will be a strength but enduring days like last Sunday is what is on the cards for Leitrim.

THE LAST POINT: A NEW WORLD FOR LEITRIM LADIES

But I still have hope - the young guns in action for Leitrim don't lack the skills or the commitment, they just lack experience and years in the game and there actually seems to be a supply line behind them, if we're looking at the performances of the U20, Minor and Leitrim Schools teams over the past 12 months.

The Schools team just didn't get to their normal pitch against St Colman's in the Connacht PPS Senior Semi-Final - the old game of inches came into play but here's the thing, this Leitrim team were competitive and didn't look an inch out of place against the biggest schools in the province. Of course it was disappointing they didn't win but quite a few players on that team strike me as future lynchpins of Leitrim Senior teams.

It was the same in Ennis last Sunday - Leitrim suffered in the here and now and it was grim stuff. At times, it looked like men against boys, for that is what it was in some cases, but given time, patience and support, these young lads will get better because the raw material is good - it just needs to be refined and polished. And that is what gives me hope for the future!