Lyons frustrated by Leitrim turnovers but agrees Mayo are a class act

It is one thing suffering a defeat when you feel you should have won the game, quite another when you are overwhelmed by a superior force. Certainly, that was the reaction of Leitrim boss Enda Lyons after last Wednesday’s Dalata Hotels Connacht U20 FC loss to an impressive Mayo.

With Mayo racking up all of their scores from open play in the 3-21 to 1-12 defeat of the Green & Gold in Heartland Credit Union Pairc Sean Mac Diarmada, Enda agreed that Mayo were different class on the day when it was put to them that they would hold their own in Division 4: “Mayo are excellent, there's no point saying anything different.

“I'd probably agree that they would compete well in Division 4, I think there were five or six of that team there tonight that played Division 1 football this year. Leitrim are competing in Division 4 and we've a few fellas playing at that level as well with the seniors, but Division 1 is a serious level.

“You've got Kobe, you've got Lynch that played really well, their captain. You've got Darragh Beirne, young Lydon inside so they're littered with really, really good players. Sometimes you just have to look around and it's maybe just levels that we're at but we're very, very young.

“I think 80% of the squad are there again for the next year or the year after, so maybe there has to be some serious work done in the off-season from our own point of view as well. But it's just frustration that we let it get away so far from us in the first half, but again, really proud of the group.”

REPORT: AWESOME MAYO BRUSH LEITRIM ASIDE IN DALATA HOTELS CONNACHT U20 FC

The analytic nature of a manager’s job meant Enda felt that his own charges contributed to their troubles through turnovers in the first half: “It's frustrating because out of the 11 possessions we gave away in the first half, I think 2-4 came directly from them.

"We spoke about that coming into the game, we did a good bit of analysis on Mayo and we just felt if we give the ball away in the middle third, and especially in contact because they're a big, physical, well-drilled, mobile unit.

“I knew if we gave the ball away we were going to be in trouble and, unfortunately, that's what happened and whether we like it or whether we don't, there's levels and maybe we're not just at that level yet.

"But I would agree they are the best team that we've complained against, notwithstanding we’re playing Roscommon next week.

“But just disappointed that the first half got away from us, but on the other hand, I thought we kept battling in the second half, we could have folded there and we kept at it so I'm very proud of that aspect of the game, but it's just unfortunately you can't give teams like Mayo that kind of head start and that's the reality of it.”

Enda’s pride in his players performance and spirit, not withstanding the final scoreline, was evident: “We kept battling, we kept pushing. Three weeks in a row was really tough going as well on us, but we just have to keep going and obviously with Jack Kelly not playing, that would have been a huge loss to us up front as well, but just one of those things.

“It's one of those days, unfortunately we're just, maybe not where we need to be in relation to where we're at at this level. There's no point in getting away from it. We have Roscommon so it's a straight shootout with ourselves, them and Sligo to try to get two points each and we see where score difference goes after it.

“We still have loads to play for but we just have to try and lift the boys up because we had two really brilliant performances in the first two games but it was the first half today that killed us. In the second half that we tried hard, but listen, it's just where we're at as a group.

“We've got loads of work to do, but again I'm very proud of the second half performance. I know Mayo probably brought on a few subs and changed it up a bit, but you're still looking at levels. Those Mayo players are all really, really good players and maybe a lot of them would have won at least one if not two minor titles at U17 in Connacht, so again we look at levels.”