‘Still huge quality’ in Ballinamore despite disappointing Connacht Gold Leitrim SFC Final loss says Henry

It was another tough Connacht Gold Leitrim SFC Ffinal day for Ballinamore as they fell short of claiming the Fenagh Cup for a second year in a row, this time losing to first-time winners Leitrim Gaels

“Devastated” was the word Ballinamore manager Mark Henry used to describe not winning on the day. He admitted that his team weren’t at their best, which was the most difficult part.

“We really felt that we were in a good place, and we thought we would get a good performance today. Even at halftime, things still looked okay. But we just didn’t bring enough energy in the second half.”

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The game was in the balance until the last fifteen minutes, with Ballinamore having a good foothold. However, Leitrim Village scored a poacher’s goal through David Regan, followed by a flurry of points in the third quarter to pull away. “Credit to Leitrim Gaels,” said Henry. “They pushed on, and they deservedly won the game.”

Central to Leitrim’s victory was gaining control of the midfield battle, which allowed them to launch quick counterattacks and secure vital scores.

“When they opened up a bit of a gap and we started to try and push and force things, they punished us — which we would have expected a good team to do. We just hoped we wouldn’t find ourselves in that position, but unfortunately, we did.”

One of the main subplots going into the match was how Ballinamore would deal with the threat posed by the three Jones brothers. Having coached the Joneses in the past at secondary school level and with the Fermanagh minor intercounty team, Henry was well aware of what they brought to the table.

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“We were just hoping that we’d be able to combat them, and I think for long periods we did. But obviously, when they got that wee gap, Ryan was very influential — and when he’s influential, he brings the others into play and makes things happen for them.”

“We did manage to deal fairly effectively with the three lads. I think what’s often overlooked about the Leitrim Gaels team is that they have good players outside of the three Joneses. I suppose to some extent you understand why the focus is there, but again, we were mindful of the various threats.”

Henry has led Ballinamore to the Leitrim final for the past two years and guided them through some almighty battles and replays. Whether or not he will stay on for another season is something he will now have to consider.

“It’s always a good idea at a time like this to take a day or two to reflect and then make a decision. So that’s what I’ll do. I’ll take a day or two, chat to the people that are important, and decide at some stage in the middle or later part of the week.”

Despite the disappointment of not reaching their full potential against a powerful Leitrim Village side, Henry believes Ballinamore are still a force to be reckoned with and will be back again.

“There’s still huge quality in that Ballinamore dressing room — make no mistake about that. They just weren’t able to bring that to the fore today, unfortunately. Hopefully, whatever learnings there have to be made will be made.”