Laois' fast start and McNulty absence too big of hurdles for Leitrim to overcome believes Poacher

Laois’ lightning fast start and the absence of Barry McNulty were two hurdles that were impossible to overcome for Leitrim footballers in Saturday’s Allianz NFL Division 3 clash in Ballinamore believes manager Steven Poacher.

An ashen faced Leitrim manager, speaking after the Green & Gold suffered a 3-20 to 0-6 reverse at the hands of Laois, Poacher reiterated his belief that his team knew the Division 3 campaign was going to be difficult but those difficulties were exacerbated by the three Laois goals conceded inside the first eight minutes.

“Listen, their first four attacks they get three goals,” Steven told the Observer, “Two of them actually came about from us having a goal opportunity at this end. Once that goes against you early in a game when you've got a young group, it's very, very difficult to get that back. The confidence then drains out of the group.”

That confidence was drained by Laois’ great start and the inexperienced Leitrim squad were left scrambling: “We were under no illusions, we knew how tough this division was going to be and obviously we felt we could be a lot more competitive than we were today but I think the start obviously gave us an awful, awful platform then to obviously try and claw back and then the longer the half goes on, the more the confidence drains out of lads.

“Football is a game of confidence, regardless of what anybody says, but particularly when you're a young player. We have a lot of young lads out there. I would love to actually look at the Laois team National League appearances in comparison to ours. They're probably up in the hundreds as a group. We're probably lucky to be breaking 50 or 60 National League appearances as a squad.”

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The spiralling effect saw the O’Moore county gained confidence just as it drained from left: “Shots dropped in short, missed an open goal early in the game and then it just becomes harder and harder then. Then obviously you know yourself, once a team is in front like that, they all look good.

“Even their goalkeeper coming off the pitch, Killian Roche obviously got a rest with 15 minutes to go because he's got the Sigerson Final on Wednesday night with Tom Prior and Paul Honeyman but Conor Brown comes on and even he popped forward with a point and you're thinking, Jesus, it just goes to show you when you're going well and your tails are up, everybody's flying.”

Even before a ball was kicked, Leitrim’s hopes took a major hit when Barry McNulty was ruled out of action after he picked up a hamstring injury in helping UCD reach the Sigerson Cup Final last Wednesday. It left the home side with a rallying ball winning presence around the middle of the field and it showed as Laois dominated the sector.

“Barry McNulty is a real leader and he is one of the top players in the province, if not the country for his age,” said Poacher, “Missing Barry is massive, it's absolutely massive and we're going to miss him for a sustained period of time now. You've heard managers coming out before about the injuries they're picking up with the demands of the game. We're talking about player welfare and we're talking about playing a second cup in the middle of a competition that for 95% of the counties in this country is the most important competition in the National League and I just can't get my head around it. 

Barry McNulty watches the action from the sideline last Sunday in Ballinamore Picture: Willie Donnellan

“We're talking about player welfare within the GAA and we're worried about three or four counties coming back to train in the middle of November when in fact, with the new rules and the dynamic of the game, teams should have been allowed to train a little bit earlier to get that base that's needed because the high intensity that these games are played at now, there's no hiding places.”

In fairness to Poacher, his primary concern was McNulty missing out on the Sigerson Final: “Forget about Leitrim for a second, Barry McNulty's missing out on an All-Ireland Final next Wednesday night and he's absolutely distraught and I feel for him because he was a major, major player in UCD getting to the final. He drove them on, he scored the equalising point that kept them in the competition.

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“He deserves to play next Wednesday night and the reason he's not playing is because of the load he's been exposed to, with having to play in National League games. He's the vice-captain of this county and that's the unfortunate thing. It's okay for some inter-county managers who can turn around and say you're not playing Sigerson and they'll listen to them because maybe they're in a position of power and maybe some of the more powerful counties can have that.

“We can't deny any young fella the opportunity to play Sigerson football. It's a real positive that so many Leitrim lads are playing Sigurdsson football. But that aside, it's a young group and obviously when you have a young group the likes of Barry who's seen in there as a real leader and a real talisman, it's obviously a massive loss psychologically as much as physically.”