THE LAST POINT: When a win is more than just a win

We're often told a win is a win, it doesn't matter how much, or how little, you win by, they both get you the same two points. That's certainly true but, sometimes a victory forged in adversity is worth far, far more than just  the two points on offer, a feeling reinforced by events across the pond in Ruislip last Sunday.

Both Leitrim football teams won on Sunday - the Ladies had 40, yes 40, points to spare over a helpless Kilkenny and in so far as Jonny Garrity made nine changes to his starting line-up  against the Cats, you can't imagine that the Ladies manager learned a hell of lot from the journey to Dunmore that he didn't already know.

The same applies to Steven Poacher after what he witnessed in Emerald McGovern Park last Saturday - the curious ability of London to raise their game and test Leitrim's mettle in ways few of us can enjoy means the trip to Ruislip is more often endured  than enjoyed. What the Leitrim boss learned, as if he and the rest of us didn't know already, is that his team are a different side when Barry McNulty is on the field!.

It seems as if the rest of the country is cottoning on to the fact that Leitrim have a truly special footballer in their ranks. In fairness, down in Ennis last year, Clare scribes were jokingly talking about arranging a move for Barry to the Banner county; so I wasn't surprised to see speculation on social media and message boards  about what county might consider tapping up the Leitrim talisman in the coming years!

An admission here - I wasn't in Ruislip, I spent Sunday morning in Longford AC's magnificent indoor facility helping some Carrick AC athletes prepare for next weekend's Connacht Indoors but social media and local radio was my saviour, Ken McManus putting the match on the radio on the bus on our journey home - not that it seemed a good idea in the first half.

THE LAST POINT: HARD TO AVOID CLICHE ON A WONDERFUL NIGHT

Safe to say that Darren Mulvey and co-commentator Brendan Guckian did a great job of conveying the alarm, and maybe even panic, in the Leitrim camp during a first half that saw the Exiles build up a 12 point lead at one stage. Trailing by 10 points at the break, the talk was of miracles and, safe to say, that talk was more in forlorn hope than expectation.

But, to use a favourite cliche, cometh the hour (or should that be 35 minutes!), cometh the man - the introduction of Barry McNulty after the break  sparked a truly remarkable turnaround that bare figures alone doesn't do justice to as the action crackled over the airwaves from London, the palpable tension and disbelieving reactions of the commentating crew left you in no doubt that Leitrim fans were witnessing something special.

Two pointers certainly distort scoring returns - in old money, Barry's long range kicking in Ruislip would have been worth just six points, and I use the word 'just' advisedly because no matter the era, six successful kicks from 40 metre plus is some going. But in the new rules era, Barry landed a special dozen to guide Leitrim to a victory that didn't look at all plausible at halftime.

You don't have to be a footballing savant  to recognise McNulty is a different beast to what we've witnessed in a Leitrim jersey for quite some time. I'm watching Leitrim teams for over 36 years and in that span, there have been three players who possess a special aura allied with incredible footballing ability that marks them out as something different.

George Dugdale, Seamus Quinn and Declan Maxwell are the trio I talk about, three players who lifted those around them simply by being on the field, almost  as if they had the impact of two men. Muireann Devaney has it on the Ladies side, so too did Maeve Quinn, Ann Marie Cox and Sarah McLoughlin but McNulty has joined that  pantheon of players that opposition teams, no matter how good they are, actively have to plan for.

In fairness, you've got to give kudos to Steven Poacher - he wasn't afraid to make tough decisions and perhaps the most important wasn't actually bringing McNulty on but biting the bullet early and sending Killian Gaffey into the fray with ten minutes left in the first half. That's a big decision for any manager, keepers rarely get changed but Gaffey made a significant difference to Leitrim's performance.

Coupled with McNulty and Paul Honeyman coming on at halftime and the introduction of Conor Quinn, Leitrim were a different animal  in that second half and as amazing as it was for Leitrim folk to witness this team claw their way back from ten points down, you've got to feel for London as they witnessed a horror show unfold in front of them. If some wins are worth more than others for what they do for a team's psyche, I imagine putting last Sunday's loss behind them may be well night impossible  for the Exiles. 

That's why Sunday's victory is worth so much more than just two points for this Leitrim side - losing in the manner they did to Wicklow took a bit of wind from their sails and a hard struggle against Waterford didn't help but when the pressure was on last Sunday, Poacher's men found a way.

Now, you can justly worry that we rely too much on young McNulty - he is just five years out of the Minor (U17) ranks and it has been a long time, probably since Seamus Quinn, when a player so young has been such a dominant figure on a Leitrim men's team but Quinn was on a team laden down with experience and talent that had just won the Nestor Cup.

THE LAST POINT: NOT ALL PROGRESS IS EXACTLY LINEAR

London may have been caught on the hop by McNulty but I expect Antrim, struggling as they are right now, Tipperary, Longford and Carlow will prepare contingencies to frustrate and negate the impact of  Leitrim's talisman, just like Kildare and Sligo did last year in the Tailteann Cup.

But if Barry continues to inspire his teammates to new heights, as he did last Sunday, Leitrim will be hard stopped. There will be twists and turns and bumps on the road before the league is finished but Leitrim showed in Ruislip last Sunday that they might just be on the right track and that is definitely worth more than two points!