Different vibe for Shane and Ballinamore Sean O'Heslins for this year's Connacht Gold Leitrim SFC Final

What a difference a year makes - Ballinamore Sean O’Heslins are appearing in back to back finals for the first time 1991, actually their fourth in a row at that stage, but Shane Moran admits that there is a different vibe about next Sunday’s Connacht Gold Leitrim SFC Final clash with Leitrim Gaels.

Maybe the fact that there was a replay with Fenagh to overcome first but mostly, as Shane admits, the fact the game is in Heartland Credit Union Pairc Sean Mac Diarmada makes a big difference! “Definitely will be a different vibe - we tried to play down last year, the whole having it in Ballinamore but you have to be looking forward to it, hopefully be able to go one step further this year.”

Overcoming Fenagh was no simple task with the semi-final going to a replay and Shane agrees that Ballinamore learned a lot from their first day: “I think we're making a habit of going to replays at the moment but it's a testament to the boys for digging in in such tough contests. Two very tough battles against Fenagh. 

“I think they had been the team to beat during the year, they really seemed to be going well earlier in the league and we're delighted to get the performance. I think we were kind of under pressure in the second half the last day but we took a lot from it and brought that forward today.

“Things probably didn't go right for Fenagh today when they were taking chances, things seemed to be going well for us but look, the boys worked hard and it's just a great team performance.”

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Interestingly, the fantastic condition of the new surface in Pairc Sean added to the difficulty! “It was very tough out there physically, the pitch was in immaculate shape so very sharp. You're not used to training on such a good pitch but we got a bit lucky, probably the last 5-10 minutes just trying to hold it.”

Leitrim Gaels are the opponents next Sunday but Shane hopes that Ballinamore can learn from their experiences last year: “I think you try to take a bit out of every year, as you do, but this year is going to be a completely new contest against Leitrim Gaels.  It's going to be very tough, they're absolutely flying at the moment.

“Leitrim Village have been there or thereabouts for the last few years, they’ve done great work for the last five, six years. It's good to see them finally breaking through the semi-final and now to the final but it's going to be a massive challenge.”

Much of that Gaels challenge has been boosted by the addition of the Jones brothers but Shane stresses that Leitrim Gaels are more than just three players: “Three lads don't win you a championship - they still have 15 quality players. We have our 15 boys, we could have 10, 11, 12 that have played county and have that experience and there's still quality footballers here in Leitrim.”

The planning for the Gaels started last Sunday as Shane reveals Ballinamore couldn’t take their eyes off Fenagh: “We didn't look past Fenagh, we honestly didn't. You can't take your eye off the ball at all, especially playing a team like Fenagh but I think we just have to do what we did in the last seven days and that's maximise recovery as you can but it's very tough.

“You can see there wasn't the intensity today there was last weekend in the game because of heavy legs on both teams so we're just going to have to try and do one better this week. Leitrim Gaels are going to come into it fresh and have had two weeks to watch us there but  all we can do is focus on ourselves. We'll do our homework on Leitrim Village this week and try to be as fresh as we can.”

Shane also agrees that there is nothing better to bring on a team than games: “Games are bringing us on. I think that's one thing for us is from the start of the championship to now we're a completely different team from all the intensity in the games that's brought us on a lot more than training could have.”

As for a prediction for next Sunday's Final, Shane keeps it simple: “You have to be confident, it is a final, they are there to be won. All that matters at the end of the day is who wins so you have to have that belief so hopefully you go one step further.”