Leitrim Gaels goal scorer David intent on staying in the moment

Whether it is keeping the focus after scoring a game defining goal or simply staying in the moment to celebrate Leitrim Gaels’ historic Connacht Gold Leitrim SFC triumph, goal scorer David Regan was very much intent on staying in the moment last Sunday in Heartland Credit Union Pairc Sean Mac Diarmada.

David’s goal 12 minutes into the second half laid the groundwork for Leitrim Gaels’ late surge but his first thoughts were on the journey the next champions had taken to reach the point where they lifted the Fenagh Cup!

“Look, we’ve come a long way from when I started,” David recalled for the Observer, “togging out for Junior teams and pushing on for Intermediate. It is really great to be here on Senior Championship Final day and getting across the line.”

Asked to recollect his crucial goal, David used all his poacher’s instincts to give himself a chance of a goal: “I sorta felt I had a chance there at the back of the square when Aidan came through - you just have to be alert for any breaking ball or off the post and thankfully, it just fell straight to me and I was able to get it into the back of the net so delighted.”

It must have been difficult to keep the feet on the ground, adrenaline rushing through the veins after such a score but David reveals that the way in which Mal Guckian has drilled this team, losing focus was never going to happen! “With every phase of play we have, there is always a sequence and Mal is always straight away, defend the kickout, get back into your position - we were well set up so it is just next play, next ball really.

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“It is great now when we can look back on it and watch it tonight but in the moment, you just can’t get caught up in it too much, you just have to focus on the next phase of play and that is really what we did and we drove on in the last five, ten minutes.”

His focus on the here and now extended to contemplating the Connacht Club campaign but David’s focus was on enjoying the celebrations! “There’ll be a lot of celebrating back in Leitrim village, we’ve dreamt of this day for a long time so we will absolutely celebrate it for the week, regroup and then think about Connacht then. But for now, we will enjoy this moment.”