Garrity pleased to get Leitrim's season up and running with victory over Derry

A win over what could have been an awkward Derry team has helped put some of the frustration of the first few weeks of the season to bed for Johnny Garrity’s Leitrim side.

“We've had a couple of false dawns in recent weeks especially with the cancellation of last week's fixture so it's just nice to get back into winning ways and it gives us a foothold now that we can build on,” Garrity told the Observer.

Transition out of defence was an area in which Leitrim struggled  against Fermanagh but on Sunday they played with a renewed energy and flare on the break: “It was a case of being a little bit braver.  I think last week we played with that apprehension and a little bit of reservation. It's kind of like a ‘what-if mindset.  What if this doesn't work or what if the ball does get turned over?

"Today we asked for a little bit more bravery and getting forward and pushing them back. I felt that it worked in the main. It was a good improvement in that element of our game.”

Leitrim presented a largely rejigged team as competition is fierce in camp and Garrity says he is happy to try girls out and give them their chance: “We have so much value placed on these players who are committing and sacrificing so much to be a part of this. So it's really important that they get the reward of game time and the reward of us having a proper look at them before we settle on teams maybe down the line in the Championship where we've players established in their positions.

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“If you don't do that in the league, you're not going to do it … At the moment, it's more fluid than that and it's an opportunity and a lot of them are putting their hands up and making our life difficult and that's exactly what we want.”

It was a patchy display from Leitrim at times, Garrity admits, however, he feels it was a positive one and that greater consistency is something that will come but right now it is about developing the team: “More important today was to get game time into legs and to give, especially some of the newer players, some exposure to our tactics and that game plan and action,” he said.

Next week they will head to Bray to play their postponed match against Wicklow which will be one of the steepest tests of the league but Garrity feels the team is in a good place at the moment and they are still set to see the return of Leah Fox, Michelle Guckian and Vivienne Egan.