THE LAST POINT: Swept away by a windy weekend

Storm Amy arrived with all the subtlety and grace of a ten ton elephant last Friday, throwing the lives of hundreds of thousands of people all over the west coast into disarray, not least in the sporting arena where games were cancelled, races postponed and plans  thrown all up the air - unless you are a windsurfer and then, you were simply thrown up in the air!

My brother and his mates were due to use my gaff as their base for an off-road cycling event in Fermanagh on Saturday but word came through on Thursday that Amy had put paid to that. Fixtures fell like trees in a strong wind and while we were inconvenienced by our sporting passions being temporarily postponed, it pales into insignificance to the damage caused to the  pitches in Kinlough, Ballinamore and Eslin.

All three clubs have spent heavily on improving their facilities in recent years, the pride of their community reflected in their facilities  and it must have been soul destroying to see those precious playing fields turned almost into swimming pools and my thoughts go out to the hard working club executives who are looking at yet another expense on top of all the usual expenses.

I've written about the folly of extending the club championship season deep into the Autumn, not just from a comfort point of view for spectators and players, but also from the undeniable fact that the wind can turn games into lotteries - a lottery where the prize is who gets to use the wind first!

Mohill folk know what I mean - Leitrim Gaels were the superior outfit, undoubtedly, and justified their favouritism with style but how much did the wind decide this contest, the Gaels using the gale to build up an insurmountable 22 point lead at the midway point? Ten, 12 points down at the break, Mohill had a chance of launching an epic comeback - maybe 14 or 15 if they got a bagful of quick goals but 22 points took the game beyond their reach before the ball was ever thrown in for the second half. 

THE LAST POINT: BUBBLING UNDER AND OVER THE SURFACE

Not because Mohill couldn't pull it off, nobody underestimates the back to back winners, but because Leitrim Gaels are too good of a team to let their opponents back into it. Jordan Reynolds scored an extraordinary hat-trick in the second half to give his team a glimmer of hope, goals that were extraordinary not just because of the quality of the finishes but the fact that Jordy broke his ankle in February and to see him do what he did last Saturday was simply that, extraordinary.

Trouble for Mohill was  their goals came at almost ten minute intervals - there were one or two other opportunities but the truth of it  was that last year's champions didn't miss much, it was that Leitrim Gaels grabbed the ball  and simply held onto it for extended periods of time, treating it as if it were a precious jewel, not to be let out of their grasp.

Extraordinary too that Mohill failed to score in the first half - by my count, they only had five shots but that was an accurate reflection of just how much the Gaels pinned the champions back in their own half. Kickout after kickout was won by the men in purple & green and that pressure, building with each passing seconds, eventually burst the Mohill dam.

Interestingly, compared to Sunday's game when the gale was much weaker, the Gaels and Mohill contest didn't feature as much long range scores, a case of the wind actually being too strong for accurate long range  kicking and it was more Leitrim's clever inter- change play and getting in behind the Mohill defence that did all the damage.

Like I said, the wind was that bit weaker on Sunday and both teams took advantage - the quality of long range kicking was superb, Oisin McLoughlin and Paul Honeyman launching some howitzers that would defy belief, even with the wind that was blowing, and the drama at the end of normal time and extra-time was mind-blowing as both teams were unable to capitalise on chances to win it all.

So what did we learn? Maybe Ballinamore needed a stern test after two trouble-free victories over St Mary's & Aughawillan but we did see their resolve to dig the game out of the fire. A few times, Fenagh had them on the rack, most especially during added time when three unanswered points looked to spell their doom, but O'Heslins answered in style and are probably kicking themselves that they didn't finish the job in extra time.

As for Fenagh, you can dispel the notion going around the county that there is a soft-centre at the heart of this team because only a team with self belief and bottle can produce what they did last Sunday. I'll agree they were passive in the first half against the wind, surprising me, but whatever Bobby O'Rourke said at halftime, they were transformed in the second half. To my mind, Fenagh are at their best when they throw caution to the wind and they certainly did that in the second half. 

Who will win the replay? That's anybody's guess but the decision to do away with penalties to decide drawn quarter and semi-finals and the incredibly tight scheduling of the knock out games  could come back to haunt whoever from Ballinamore or Fenagh prevail in Sunday's replay. 

Members of the St Mary's Kiltoghert team who won the 1995 Leitrim Senior Football Championship title, their first since 1958, gathered last Saturday in Tipsy Tailors for a 30th anniversary reunion dinner. (Back, from left) Ray McMahon, John Crowe, Fergal Reynolds, James Doran, Ollie McGuinness, Tom McGuinness, Jimmy Guckian, Paul Comerton, Darren Glancy, Ivan Keaney, Alan O'Shea, Donal Smith, James Keane, Sean McGoldrick (Selector). (Front) Tom Crowe, Michael Martin, Michael Tunney (Manager), Brendan Guckian (Captain), Gene Bohan, Kevin McKenna, Kevin Glancy, Dermot Reynolds. Missing from photo: Ciaran Reynolds, Gary Flynn, Brian Duignan and Martin Coles Picture: Willie Donnellan

Finally, I finish with a few asides because I can't let the column pass without mentioning these titbits!

Aside number 1 - When Leitrim GAA got Prunty Pitches to redo the pitch in Heartland Credit Union Pairc Sean Mac Diarmada, boy did they make the right decision. Walking out of the ground on Saturday, Aidan Flynn remarked to me that he forgot to remark on the quality of the pitch, he couldn't believe it and walking on it on Sunday afternoon, I couldn't believe it either. Well done to all concerned - it really is a carpet!

Aside number 2 - Time flies but it is hard to believe from the picture  at the top of this page that 30 years has passed since St Mary's Kiltoghert won what was then only their second ever Fenagh Cup. It seems like it was only a blink of an eye ago but there they were, celebrating their first triumph since 1958 - a lot of familiar faces and we hope they enjoyed their evening!

Aside number 3 - I hope clubs take heed of the wishes of players and fans when thinking about how they schedule club championships in the future. There's not a lot of wiggle room if the weather causes havoc with the schedule as happened last weekend and suddenly we're stuffing games into crammed time-frames. It is players and their clubs who may see their dreams shattered simply due to scheduling - something to consider when Convention time comes around later this year?