THE LAST POINT: A momentary pause for breath

We had Storm Amy just two weekends ago but right now, it feels like I’m stuck in the vortex of a hurricane of championship finals, games coming at you so fast that actually pausing to take a breath, to reflect on what we’ve witnessed and savour what is to come seems like a revolutionary act all by itself.

I had it relatively easy last weekend - Friday night saw a remarkable Drumkeerin performance under lights in the Sweeney Oil LGFA Intermediate Final as they banished the ghosts of their club’s heartbreaks in Intermediate Finals to brush aside their neighbours Dromahair, a performance that set the tone for the rest of the weekend to come.

Saturday wasn’t too bad, starting with the Ladies Final in Heartland Credit Union Pairc Sean Mac Diarmada followed by dash out the road to  Shane McGettigan Park for a thoroughly exciting and entertaining Smith Monumentals IFC Semi Final that St Patrick’s Dromahair won with two extraordinary pressure filled frees  from Adam Gethins against a heartbroken Drumkeerin, extracting a modicum of revenge for their Ladies defeat.

Truth be told, I had it easy - Willie Donnellan was in and out the road from Leitrim Gaels to Pairc Sean to Drumshanbo, arriving late for the Intermediate game because the post match ceremonies and Glencar Manorhamilton celebrations went on for so long - don’t tell me they’re getting tired of winning!

A hectic day also had the   SFC Relegation Final replay thrown  into the mix, really dividing the attention so updates from Sean McGoldrick and Michelle Reynolds in Pairc Sean kept myself, and more than a few others, up to date with the goings on in Manorhamilton.

THE LAST POINT: SWEPT AWAY BY A WINDY WEEKEND

Thankfully, Eoin Gallagher was on duty in Boggaun, his day no less zany as  he made the journey from Leitrim  Community Field and the Sweeney Oil Ladies Junior Final up the R280 to catch Melvin Gaels unfortunately make the drop back to the Intermediate ranks. I say unfortunately because, and  no ill to anyone in the Senior grade, Leitrim football can’t afford to Melvin Gaels not in the Senior ranks.

The common refrain I heard after the result was confirmed,  not from St Mary’s folk mind you, was that it was a good result for Leitrim football, that a club with St Mary’s resources and population needs to be operating at the top table. That’s all true but it is also true that the same applies to Melvin Gaels.

Kinlough  has the guts of 1,500 people and the county’s largest or second largest primary school, depending on yearly changes, and we haven’t even hit the rest of the parish that stretches from halfway down the road to Manorhamilton and takes in Tullaghan and a nice swathe of land.

In Leitrim terms, Melvin Gaels is right up there in population so as much as Leitrim football needs a strong St Mary’s, it needs a strong Melvin Gaels and Dromahair, another area with a burgeoning population on the border with another county, often dismissed by people not familiar with the area.

But the work is obviously being done in Dromahair as they won their way to another Intermediate Final last Saturday  with a heroic effort to come from seven points down against a luckless Drumkeerin - I say luckless because if there is one team that deserves a breakthrough at Intermediate level, it is Drumkeerin who must wonder if they ever came across a Mayo funeral, such is their misfortune.

That ill-luck struck again on Saturday as they lost three players to injury and for a club with small playing numbers, they simply couldn’t absorb those losses and Dromahair finished like a train and young Adam Gethins the talk of Shane McGettigan Park after a wonder goal and some equally wondrous points.

Sunday was a bit more ordered - a double header in Pairc Sean was  easier to navigate but it was action filled with report, interviews for County Final previews and picture galleries to compile and that was all without contemplating the action on the field  that was both fascinating and frustrating. 

The frustration came from witnessing Annaduff butcher a couple of goal chances that might have caused the sensation of the year - I’ve no allegiance to Annaduff but, as a fan, you pray for drama,  excitement and tension  and had they found the net at least once , it would have made a thrilling game even more exciting, but maybe I'm being greedy.

The fascination came from witnessing the evolution of a young Allen Gaels team almost burdened with potential - they suffered one of the most catastrophic defeats you could imagine in last year’s Intermediate Final and this was probably the first time all year the Drumshanbo men have had their feet held to the fire!

Boy, did they pass the test - they had a stroke of luck but I’ve yet to see a winning team that didn’t get the rub of the green, the bounce of the ball at some stage. It was literally the bounce of the ball when Arek Oberwan’s mishit 50 ended up in the net but here’s the salient point, Allen Gaels had the wherewithal to take advantage.

The Drumshanbo men will feel they didn’t perform as they wanted but Allen Gaels 2025 have been forged in the fire of 2024 and it is clear they’ve heeded the lesson. Dromahair won’t be a pushover in the final, by no means and they're starting to see the fruits of a  strong underage development policy, but Dromahair have nothing to lose and that is encounter that  I am eagerly looking forward to.

That leaves me with a nice segue into next Sunday’s Senior Final and Ballinamore Sean O’Heslins’ semi-final victory over Fenagh St Caillins left me even more conflicted as to who I think will lift the Fenagh Cup next Sunday. All I know is that I haven’t seen the excitement levels about a match among neutrals for quite some time and that’s before we even consider the hype within the  two clubs themselves.

Fenagh St Caillins will have a lot of regrets from 2024  - ill-timed injuries stalled their momentum at just the wrong time this season and they were a few seconds from reaching the final the first day out. If anyone deserves a bit of luck to go their way, it is men in red & black. To some, that will come across as condescending but truth is, I don’t think anyone in Leitrim would begrudge seeing Fenagh in a County Final after five semi-final losses in a row.

Ballinamore remain the quintessential Ballinamore - when I first landed down in Leitrim, the word was County teams needed Ballinamore forwards and Aughawillan defenders. Well, O’Heslins are still producing forwards and over the last two games, Michael McKiernan has added his name to the mix of Honeyman & Prior as Ballinamore’s danger men.

THE LAST POINT: BUBBLING UNDER AND OVER THE SURFACE

I'll write elsewhere in these pages about how I think the game is going but all I can ask for is that it lives up to the anticipation building around the county. Oftentimes, the big day doesn't live up to the billing but every now and again, it does as yet another meeting between Glencar Manorhamilton and St Joseph's in the Sweeney Oil LGFA SFC Final did last Saturday.

A seven point Manor win seems pretty clear cut but St Joseph's played with a warrior's spirit, two quick fire goals either side of halftime and a missed penalty were decisive moments but in a game that changed in a  moment,  it is easy to overlook a contest of outstanding quality, tremendous spirit and a never say die resilience - from both teams.

St Joseph's manager Brian Doyle gently chided me after the game for asking about the impact of Muireann Devaney. Brian's point, and he is right,  was that Glencar Manor are far from a one woman show with Dearbhla Rooney, Anna Devaney, Cammie McPartland and so many others playing key roles in a sixth title in a row for Manor. 

But, and it is hard to escape this point, had Muireann been in the colours of St Joseph's, they'd be champions - no more than David Clifford with Kerry, Manor aren't a one-woman team but when you have a player like Muireann or Clifford on your team, your chances of success are infinitely greater!