THE LAST POINT: Living up to the occasion not so easy

Maybe we're all guilty of hyping the occasion up to much but in recent weeks, I've been witness to the aftermath of more than a few County Finals where the celebrations were that bit muted, a big explosion of joy certainly when the final whistle sounded but, overall, it was that bit quieter than I expected and I'm not exactly sure why that is!

Perhaps the current  generation are that bit more mature and probably the fact that the  favourites won the three main titles in the Leitrim men's championships with a degree of comfort added to what I thought were subdued post match scenes. And I’ve absolutely no doubt that serious celebrations got underway once  the Cups arrived back at their respective clubs; but I have to say it seemed somewhat odd to me.

Hard to know what qualifies as the wildest post-match scenes I've witnessed down through the years - Mohill are always good for sheer exuberance but that's a trait of their club from the flags and buntings, signs and banners and even the odd statue decoration ahead of County Finals, the good folk in Mohill know how to celebrate their achievements.

Honestly, the maddest I think I've witnessed was just four years ago when Ballinamore Sean O'Heslins ended a 30 plus year wait for the Fenagh Cup - the remarkable scenes afterwards on the pitch that continued for well over an hour and never seemed to let up, bringing home that for all the titles the County’s most successful club had won, ending a long barren spell is truly something special.

Don't get me wrong, I know for a fact that Leitrim Gaels, Allen Gaels, Aughavas and Cluainin marked their County Final victories in the proper fashion but once the initial explosion of joy faded, it was quiet satisfaction rather than loud emotion that was conveyed, a sense of having achieved something truly special that had to be savoured with family and friends.

THE LAST POINT: GAELS HEED THEIR HARSH LESSON

Maybe today's generation are that bit more mature and grounded but the wildest celebrations I saw this Championship season came from Drumkeerin when their Ladies team ended the club's purgatory in Intermediate Finals, beating their Dromahair neighbours to add to the occasion!

Aughavas had an explosion of joy once the final whistle sounded in Ballinamore last Sunday but the celebrations were complicated by a few unnecessary clashes between rival players - nothing as bad as what occurred after the Wexford Senior Football Final last weekend and maybe we're all better off if post match scenes are a tad bit muted with Gardai now investigating alleged assaults in Chadwick's Wexford Park.

Most of the time, it is the respect between rivals that shines through - Cluainin hurlers ended a run of sickening defeats against Carrick in Saturday's Connacht Gold Leitrim Senior Hurling Final but there wasn't an ounce of triumphalism among the Manorhamilton lads, a quiet satisfaction that the job had been done and done well as they were the better team for most of a scrappy contest.

The fact that so many of both teams rub shoulders with each other on the County Hurling squad and that the Hurling community in both clubs probably feel a greater kinship with each other than they with their own footballing clubmates thanks to their devotion to the small ball game, a devotion that saw them perform in front of a virtual handful of spectators, probably explains that.

Maybe the anti-climax of the celebrations after the football finals came down to the fact that the favourites all won fairly comfortably and while the games were all played with dogged intensity, the unfortunate Ballinamore Sean O'Heslins, St Patrick's Dromahair, Drumreilly teams all knew long before the final whistle that it wasn't going to be their day.

That didn't make the games any less meaningful  - Mike Wall and his Leitrim management team were interested spectators at the hurling final and watching the Junior Final on Sunday had me wondering if Drumreilly's Archie O'Connor could make a leap to Steven Poacher's Leitrim set-up while you'd also have to wonder if Conor Gaffney might ever be persuaded back into a County set up. The Drumreilly man was cursed by injuries for years but he certainly has the raw ingredients to make a go of it again. 

That leads nicely into the next topic of discussion for football fans as the return of County fare looms large on the horizon. Fixtures for the Leagues haven't been released yet and teams have yet to return to formalised training but you can't go anywhere without hearing names bandied about, who may be joining the panel, who may be stepping away - all I'll say that if Steven Poacher picks up half the players that are being mentioned, the Leitrim manager will have a much stronger hand at his disposal.

But there are also losses and the news that Leitrim Gaels' Donal Casey faces a significant spell on the sidelines after a serious injury in the County Final is a kick in the teeth for player, club and county. Donal is one of those rare players blessed with the X factor that marks him out as a special talent, in the same way as Barry McNulty.

But Donal must feel that he has been cursed by the footballing Gods with a succession of injuries over the last three or four seasons that would have broken many an athlete. Casey's potential absence for the County is big but for Leitrim Gaels in their Connacht Club campaign, it feels like a disaster. 

Add in the fact that David Bruen and Stephen McDermott, both starters in the County Final, have returned to Australia after they came back home to help their teammates to the Fenagh Cup and it adds to the difficulty of the challenge facing the Gaels when they come up against either Moycullen or Shamrock Gaels.

That is the challenge for the county's new champions - coming down off the high of scaling the highest peaks in Leitrim only to realise that you are now back at the foothills of Connacht, that there are even bigger giants waiting to be slain - Aughavas have just two weeks, Allen Gaels and Leitrim Gaels that bit longer but it is hard to pick yourself up again.

THE LAST POINT: GAELS' PERFECT FAIRYTALE VICTORY

I have no doubt that just like Glencar Manorhamilton Ladies over the last week and a half, Leitrim Gaels, Allen Gaels and Aughavas are determined to represent the County as best as they can but it is new territory for them and raising yourself once more after the emotional high of achieving your ambitions is harder than you think.

The Club scene is winding down slowly but there are big games to be played yet - Glencar Manorhamilton were within touching distance of a Connacht final and, knowing them, their ambition and standards they set for themselves, it will hurt that they didn't  fell short to a strong physical St Brigid's side who may have been inadvertently handed extra motivation for the game.

With their Men's team in action in the Roscommon Senior replay on Saturday and supporters dragged in every direction, St Brigid's  gave up home  advantage to travel to Boggaun  with suggestions that their appeals to play the game at 10am last Saturday morning to accommodate supporters and players wanting to take in both games falling on deaf ears.

Maybe that added fuel to the Brigid's fire, who knows but whether you celebrate  with wild abandon or quiet reflection, dealing with the occasion is often the first and most difficult task at this time of the year!