Realism unfortunately trumps romance as Mayo heavyweights roll into town

The romance of the championship at inter county level looks to be a thing of the past, certainly if we're judging the build-up to next Saturday's Connacht SFC Semi-Final in Avant Money Pairc Sean Mac Diarmada as Leitrim host a formidable Mayo (4.30 pm throw-in).

Leitrim's torrid struggles in this year's Allianz League have been well documented, six losses with a cumulative scoring difference of minus 99 and the game against Fermanagh conceded means it was a spring to forget for the Green & Gold. Unfortunately, there is little respite as a Mayo team who reached the Division 1 Final rolls into town  with ominous intent of bulldozing their way back to the Connacht Final and regaining the Nestor Cup for the first time since 2021.

Two teams operating in completely different orbits come face to face and while the romance of the championship tells us  there is always the hope of an underdog victory, harsh realism sets us straight - the betting odds would mean a tenner placed on the Green & Gold would land a windfall of €810 if Leitrim pulled off a shock. But the same tenner placed on Mayo would only return five cents!

Truth be told, I've never seen it as low-key in the run-up to a championship match as this year and that's for good reason with a litany of heavy defeats as a young Leitrim team have struggled with inexperience and injuries.

But it is not as if we are unfamiliar with heavy defeats at the hands of the Mayo men - we've only ever beaten them three times in the history of the Connacht Championship, the last time in 1994! Our other two wins came in 1959 and 1976 and both after replays so safe to say, even without the travails of the past five months, the odds are firmly against Leitrim adding to their meagre total of victories.

POACHER SETS TARGETS FOR MAYO BUT KNOWS THE SCALE OF THE TASK FACING LEITRIM

The formbook suggests an easy Mayo win  - they accounted for a stubborn Sligo in the first round of the championship, 2-20 to 2-17, but that came just a week after an underwhelming display in the Division 1 Final. Sligo, if you care to remember, put 22 points on Leitrim in the final round of the ill-fated Division 3 campaign.

The new rules are also combining to magnify the scoring power of a team like Mayo - apart from two pointers, which they are well capable of swatting over the bar, their physical power is vastly ahead of  this  Leitrim. It was far, far ahead of the Green & Gold in 2020 and 2021 and those Leitrim teams were much  more battle hardened.

Aidan O'Shea encapsulates the challenge Leitrim  face - a physical and powerful ball-winner who can take and create scores at will. Focusing too much on the Breaffy clubman risks his teammates like Ryan O'Donoghue running completely amok and that leaves Leitrim with an extra dilemma.

Under the old rules, Leitrim would simply flood their entire team behind the 45 and make it is as difficult as possible for Mayo to score - the new three-man-up rule means closing up shop is a much more difficult prospect for any team.

Searching for crumbs of comfort, one might hope that Mayo will train through Saturday's game with an eye on a Connacht Final clash against Galway or Roscommon. Indeed, from reading reports in the Mayo media, many felt their players were sluggish against Sligo as they are undoubtedly aiming for a late-season peak at the moment.

For a Leitrim team battered and bruised by their League experiences, there is a faint hope that the injury crisis may finally be relieving. Barry McNulty is expected to play some part against Mayo, having lined out for Glencar Manorhamilton in the League last weekend and that is quite simply an enormous boost.

In a sort of throwback to past days, McNulty is a talismanic figure that makes him seem worth two players - his presence alone lifts all those around him and his physicality and ability to score from distance is sorely needed. Yet I am reluctant to place too much on the young Glencar Manor player’s shoulder - he is only back from a long layoff and one man can only do so much.

LEITRIM BID SORRY FAREWELL TO DIVISION 3

It mightn't seem like it but there have been successes in this year's League - Eanna McNamara, Darren Cox, Paul Honeyman and Brian Cull have all stepped up from the U20 squad and while that campaign hasn't gone the way fans have hoped, they have gained great experience.

In short, Leitrim have endured some terrible short term pain in the hope of long term gain. That pain promises to continue against Mayo, a team blessed with a physicality and class that Leitrim simply didn't face in Division 3. But if Leitrim can endure the harsh lessons of the present, we hope that it pays off in the future.

That future takes a step forward with the first game on the new Prunty Pitch in Avant Money Pairc Sean Mac Diarmada, a pitch suited to fast and skillful footballers and whatever about the result next Saturday, Leitrim are actually producing quality young players at the moment, players who can make an impact in the years to come.

That will  take time and if Leitrim can come through Saturday somewhat intact and build in this year's Tailteann Cup, maybe the romance will return to the championship in the future for Leitrim.