Garrity promises Leitrim won't lie down in relegation clash with Mayo

Leitrim may be favourites to make a quick return to the Intermediate ranks ahead of Saturday’s TG4 LGFA All-Ireland SFC relegation semi-finals but manager Jonny Garrity insists that the Green & Gold have no intention of going down easily.

Last year’s All-Ireland Intermediate champions face Mayo in Tubbercurry’s Kilcoyne Park next Saturday, July 5, in the relegation battle but Garrity insists retaining their Senior status would be a massive achievement for Leitrim: “I think it would be absolutely massive and I think it would be a real statement if we were to do it. 

“Even when you look at the calibre of the teams in the relegation to the other three teams, you've got Donegal, Armagh and Mayo - those are senior royalty. We're undoubtedly favourites to go down but that suits us just fine. We've got no intention of going down easily.”

The Leitrim boss believes that if his players knit together the good elements from their outings against Dublin, Waterford and Galway, they will have every chance of surviving the relegation battle: “There's a real determination and clarity about what we're doing. There's elements of our performances that we've done really well with even in the last three matches, and certainly before that. 

“I have full belief that we're on course to do that if we can produce the performance and keep learning. If we can put them all together into one performance, I think we're going to have every chance.”

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Leitrim lost to Mayo in the first round of the Connacht campaign at the end of April, 2-11 to 1-11 in Swinford, before going on to suffer heavy defeats at the hands of Galway, Dublin and Waterford while Mayo have lost against Galway, Kerry and Cork.

The winners of Saturday's relegation semi-final will retain their Senior status for 2026 with the loser going on to face the loser of the Armagh and Donegal relegation semi-final a week later on Saturday July 12.

Leitrim’s 2-11 to 1-11 loss to Mayo in the Connacht Championship will certainly get a reference according to manager Jonny Garrity who feels if his team can improve on that performance, they give themselves a great chance of avoiding the drop.

Looking back on that game in Swinford, Jonny said “It's a reference point that can give us encouragement and as much as we put together a good performance that day, when you look at the footage back or you look at the statistical breakdown, it's a game that we produced enough chances to win.

“We had 14 wides, we missed three one-on-ones with the keeper and there was only a goal in it at the end. If we can reproduce a similar kind of performance, then we're going to give ourselves a great chance but far  from trying to reproduce the same performance, we're looking to  produce a better performance and it'll probably take that. 

“When you talk about a team with a proud history in senior football like Mayo, if they're going to be put down into a relegation final, they'll be done kicking and screaming. We'll have to be really, really good to get the result but I believe that we've got the capabilities to go and do just that.”

The Leitrim boss agrees that Mayo have probably been in better form in the All-Ireland series but points to the calibre of opposition Leitrim have faced: “You could make the argument that Mayo are in a better place in terms of the types of defeats they’ve had and the type of defeats we’ve had.

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“What I would say is that the standard of teams that we had in our group was extremely high. You're talking about two of the favourites to win the All-Ireland and with respect to Mayo or most teams, even in senior, they're not at that elite level at the moment. We feel that we can compete with Mayo or with anybody that we would come up against in a relegation pathway.”

Neither does Jonny believe that Mayo will take his team for granted: “It'll all come down to the day itself, much like the last day and if there was any element of them taking us for granted, I'm sure that they won't this time round. It's very much up to us now to go and get that performance out of ourselves.”