THE LAST POINT: Worn down on the rocky road to Dublin

That was a weekend I'd rather forget in a hurry - two long and traffic filled trips up the N4 to the capital to see Leitrim take on the formidable Dubs in the TG4 LGFA All-Ireland Senior Championship and at the end of it all, the sort of day we've become all too familiar with in Leitrim football during this trying year of 2025.

The journey back from Ennis, Corrigan Park and Cedral St Conleth's Park in Newbridge this year weren't particularly pleasant as the Men's Senior team suffered a series of heavy defeats and it wasn't any easier seeing the Minors and U20 side come out the wrong side of some unflattering scorelines but last weekend took the biscuit!

It wasn't that we were expecting to beat the 2023 All-Ireland Senior champions, far from it - but enduring two back to back trips to Dublin to see your team lose by 35 points isn't the sort of thing that anybody should be put through. But in a year of suffering and various indignities, Leitrim Ladies' troubles in north county Dublin last Sunday fit seamlessly into the lexicon of woe.

Saturday's postponement match was something you had to be there to believe, particularly since it didn't seem to rain much down this part of the country. Travelling up the M4, the rain started to come down in bucket loads and when we pulled into the carpark at Parnell Park, we were greeted by an open gate and a worrying lack of officials and spectators.

That was around 12.45 and as myself and Willie Donnellan went in search of a cuppa, we were greeted with the news that the match was off - unofficially, of course, as the decision had to be rubber-stamped by the referee who had yet to arrive at the north Dublin venue.

THE LAST POINT: A REMINDER OF THE ESSENCE OF SPORT

I've no beef about the postponement - Parnell Park’s surface was exceedingly wet and as the torrential showers that drowned Dublin continued to fall with a venom that you’d almost believe was personal, it would have been tantamount to criminally negligent to put two teams out to play in those conditions.

My only complaint was the entire procedure around calling the game off - one of the groundsmen at Parnell Park told me they knew at 10.30 am that morning that the game couldn't go ahead but no decision could be made without the referee's approval - had that been done, supporters, media and the Leitrim team themselves would have spared the trek to Parnell Park, or least turned around in good time.

An early call would have saved everyone a lot of time and effort but, unfortunately, it is the second time such a scenario has hit the Ladies this year, Leitrim arriving in Blessington for a game that was called off at an hour's notice despite a storm lashing the entire country. So pretty obvious that the LGFA needs a better system in place to avoid these heartaches.

Then followed protracted discussions as the teams tried to thrash out the rearranged fixture - Dublin players were committed to an event on Sunday while the alternative date of June 28, would have meant Leitrim playing three weekends in a row and with a few players unavailable. The Dubs were willing to travel on June 28, but that didn't suit Leitrim so the compromise saw Leitrim heading back up the N4 on Sunday for a game at Clann Mhuire's fantastic grounds in The Naul.

If you know The Naul, you'd be one of the few but it is about as different to the big city as you could get. The journey took us past fruit farms, solar farms, golf courses and field after field of potatoes and vegetables, this was the Dublin few people see, an area as rural and as tight knit as any part of Leitrim.

The good folk at Clann Mhuire could not have been more welcoming - a small club with a catchment area of around 300 people and about 100 metres from the Meath border, their facilities would put many clubs to shame - a fantastic sand based pitch and another full-length pitch, both adorned with match capable floodlights along with a clubhouse and facilities to boot.

Leitrim captain Michelle Guckian shakes hands with Dublin counterpart Carla Rowe with referee Gerard Canny present before the TG4 LGFA All-Ireland SFC clash at The Naul, Co Dublin Picture: Willie Donnellan

Unlike the oft-mentioned super clubs like Na Fianna, Cuala or Kilmacud Crokes, Clann Mhuire struggle for numbers and join up with neighbouring clubs Ballyboughal and Garristown to play underage up to the U20 grade. But that hasn't stopped them producing a gaggle of Dublin underage players but nobody shines brighter than Carla Rowe and, boy, are Clann Mhuire in awe of their Dublin star.

It's easy to see why given the way she performed on Sunday, twisting and turning the Leitrim defence inside out as she drove her team on, never taking the foot off the gas - so much so that as she was being taken off, she jokingly gave out to her manager with a smile. Stopping the Dublin captain was impossible but when you add in Hannah Tyrell, Eilish O'Dowd, Leah Caffrey, Sinead Goldrick, Kate Sullivan and Niamh Hetherton, the trouble for Leitrim was they didn't know who to stop, if they could.

O’Dowd was typical of the Dubs, never stopping and always looking for the ball. It can’t have been easy for Eilish to face her native county, sister Laura and cousin Dearbhaile Beirne but, like her teammates, she attacked the game with venom so that the Dubs could rack up a bit enough score that might beat Waterford to top the group.

O’Dowd was one of Dublin’s best performers but she seemed to fit the mould of a Dublin footballer. We talk about physicality and tend to see it in terms of strength but the Dubs' physicality was different, a relentless and searing pace that ran the legs off Leitrim, the effort of harrying and chasing a Dublin team, who moved the ball so quickly and effectively, that the wheels fell off the Leitrim wagon.

It would be easy, but wrong, to say that Dublin were simply fitter but the Jackies have been operating at this level for well over 15 years and it showed in the quality of their kick-passing and their intricate hand-passing, always on the front foot, that carved open an over-worked Leitrim defence.

THE LAST POINT: REGRETS AND THE BLOSSOMING OF HOPE

Galway did something similar to Leitrim in the Connacht series and there was a healthy debate after the game over which team is better - some of the Leitrim players felt Galway were quicker but the power of the Dubs and their intricate teamwork left an indelible impression on this writer, it may be recency bias admittedly but the Dubs were staggeringly impressive.

Trying to pick themselves up after Sunday is a gargantuan task for Leitrim and it can't have helped to hear from the Dublin players that they think Waterford are a far speedier team than the Dubs themselves - that's a scary thought indeed. Home comforts and the absence of long journeys will help Leitrim but thoughts are turning to a relegation dogfight and that is the big battle ahead.

One would hope that Leitrim fans will turn out on Saturday to cheer on the Ladies - there was a depressingly small turnout of Leitrim fans in The Naul and these Ladies, after all they've done for the county, certainly deserve better.

I’m not going to lecture anyone about who they should care about or support. But I will say that supporters, true supporters, are there through thick and thin. It was  the same with the men’s team, a contrast when both  teams graced Croke Park last year. It was easy to cheer  the Green & Gold then but the Ladies need support now and I certainly hope they get it!