Ryan itching to get back into action as he eyes Leitrim performance against Sligo

Righting the wrongs from the end of the League campaign and finding consistency in the team’s performances are two of the targets captain Ryan O’Rourke has set his Leitrim team as they travel to Markievicz Park next Sunday to take on Sligo in the Connacht Senior Championship.

After a disappointing end to the League campaign, Ryan wants Leitrim to find a reaction when they take to the field against Sligo: “Consistency seems to be the word that keeps coming up every week with us but that's the way it is. We need to have a reaction, first of all, from our last game against Carlow, that's in our mind as well. 

“It's a reaction from that game for a start so you're kind of itching to get back out on the field, no matter who it's against, to right the wrongs there and show a bit of resilience. You never know where football can take you and if you get a good performance in, see where it goes and you're looking to build from that.”

The up and down nature of the league was seen in Leitrim’s last two outings with a ten point victory over Longford followed by the heavy loss to Carlow but Ryan points out that no team is immune to fluctuations in form: “Even the top teams, one week they’re getting beaten by 10 or 15 points and then they come out and win the following week. Sometimes you're written off and everyone thinks you're no good. 

“After our Longford game, we were going really well and won by 10 points and then you see Longford promoted in the following week, then we go completely the other way. It is ‘swings and round-abouts’ as they say.”

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The vagaries of inter-county football came sometimes mean harsh criticism on social media but Ryan is experienced enough to block the noise out: “It probably is hard to shut out at times. I think I got better at it, I'm probably a bit more experienced with it. You probably tend not to listen to it too much. Young lads maybe do hear it more, maybe read into it but you see it even across the country, even with some Division 1 teams.”

But for now, the focus is very much on Markievicz Park: “We've had some very close calls with them now for a couple of years. I think it has been 15 years since we beat them in the Championship. But listen, they'll be strong favourites. You can't compare too much with previous years, a lot of different players, even from our team as well. But it's something we're looking forward to. They'll be favourites, as I said, but we're going in as underdogs and probably it's probably not a bad place to be coming in.

“We're going up to Markievicz, looking forward to it so there's not too much baggage. A lot of the younger lads there would see it as a great challenge for us as well. Even last year in the Tailteann Cup, I remember watching the game and Leitrim really should have won that game, it is still one that irks us.”