Leitrim manager Steven Poacher wants Sigerson Cup played before Christmas

The new rules are the talk of the gaelic football world at the moment but Leitrim manager Steven Poacher took time to call for the Sigerson Cup to be played before Christmas to ease the burden on young players

Quizzed after Sunday’s loss in Ennis about the performance of Barry McNulty, who drew much admiration from the Clare football public, Steven had high praise for the Glencar Manorhamilton man but insisted he and players like Tom Prior and Paul Honeyman, in action this week in the Sigerson Cup, need to be looked after.

“Barry's a generational talent,” Steven told the Observer, “He's a fine footballer, and Barry's one of these guys that... He's a big future ahead of him. You can see even in the Interprovincial Series that Barry obviously has a huge, huge talent. Barry, he's a great kid as well. He's an intelligent boy, and he's up in UCD and he's got a big game this week.”

Poacher went on to call for the Sigerson Cup to be played before Christmas with three Leitrim players involved in the competition’s semi-finals this week with the final scheduled for next Wednesday February 12.

Barry McNulty and Paul Honeyman are involved with UCD tonight (Wednesday) against a TU Dublin featuring former Leitrim star Darragh Rooney at the GAA’s site at the Sports Ireland Campus in Abbotstown while Thursday sees Tom Prior’s DCU take on University of Ulster at Kingspan Breffni Park. Both games will be streamed on the TG4 Sport YouTube Channel.

POACHER CALLS ON LEITRIM FANS TO GET BEHIND YOUNG TEAM AHEAD OF LAOIS CLASH

“Again, it's not fair on the likes of Barry McNulty,” said the Leitrim manager, “He has to play a Sigerson game on Wednesday night and we've Tom out on Thursday, and you've got another league game next Saturday. We have to look at the calendar and we have to look at the Sigerson, we have to look at where it is. 

“It should be played before Christmas. Let these lads enjoy the National League. At the minute these lads feel as if they've been pulled from pillar to post. I can tell you now, we've looked after these boys, and we've given them the week off that they've had the Sigerson on and that's important to do that because Sigerson is important to these guys.”

As for the new rules, Steven felt the impact of the two-pointer hit Leitrim hard against Clare: “The two-pointers, the four two-pointers in a row killed us. They really killed us and what it does is it knocks the confidence out of you. When you're working with a young group, you're trying to give them hope and you're hoping that they feed off confidence.

“When you get those two-pointers, it's hard then to claw that lead back. But the second half, six scores all and we left a lot of scores behind us. We're a bit disappointed, obviously, with the two goals conceded, but, look, it's a project. 

Interestingly, the manager also had a message for those criticising the Leitrim team on social media: “Life is just full of negativity. You turn on the news, it's just negative, negative, negative. You have eejits writing ... I don't know, I hear stories about boys on social media. I don't pay any attention to it.

“Listen, if that's the way you fulfil your life, so be it but these are a young bunch of men who are representing Leitrim, and long may continue because you know what? They'll grow, they'll develop, and hopefully, in the next few weeks, we'll have better results.”