Terry Hyland pays tribute to Leitrim defenders after Kilmallock victory

It's been the perfect start to the league campaign for Leitrim and while Terry Hyland is full of praise for the work his players have done to date, he is wise enough to know there remains room for improvement knowing promotion will be almost guaranteed with a win over London on Sunday in Avantcard Pairc Sean MacDiarmada (throw-in 1pm).

Reflecting on Saturday's game in Kilmallock he was full of praise for his players, particularly the defenders. He did however, acknowledge the concession of goal chances early in game is a cause for some degree of concern.

Having seen his side seal victory so late in the day he suggested a draw may have been a fair result but was nevertheless quick to praise the resolve of his troops.

“If both managers said honestly with two or three minutes of over time played, if we were sitting on a draw we probably would have taken a draw but to be fair to the lads they ground it out.”

When asked if he was worried when Limerick were presented with a number of goalscoring opportunities he pointed to how his players overcame those setbacks saying: “There is no point in worrying, that is part of the game. You worry that they are getting opportunities but we snuffed out that opportunity and we went on ourselves in the second half. You never press the panic button until getting close to the end.”

To date it has been Leitrim's high scoring forwards who have captured the headlines but Terry was particularly pleased with the contribution of his defenders last Saturday.

“Sean McWeeney was very good, particularly in the second half, we tightened up a bit. I know you have to kick the ball over the bar to win the game but I thought our defensive set-up was excellent in the second half. They had three or four goal chances in the first half, I don't think they had one in the second half. Paddy Maguire scored and Mark Plunkett scored, I thought our defensive play was very good on Saturday.”

Returning to the manner in which teams have spurned numerous goal chances in the last two games Terry said: “We would be worrying slightly because against Antrim in the first 10 minutes we gave up a few goal chances. It seems these things happen early in the game.

“We were a bit jittery and dropped a few balls when we would shouldn't have dropped them and we allowed them opportunities more than them working to cut us open. We have lots to work on going forward but they are improving.”

The manner in which the travelling support outnumbered the Limerick fans was particularly noticeable and Terry beliefs this was of significant help to his team.

“It's great for the players. It was great to see the supporters coming on to the pitch after the match. There was about 750 people at the match and about 700 of them were Leitrim people. They were probably close club members of the lads who are playing and family members and it is great for them because there is a very close bond there with those people who travelled. Maybe more than you might have with 3,00 people attending a game.”

Heart stopping stuff here in Kilmallock. Well done boys @LeitrimGAA #Leitrim #GAA #AllianzLeagues pic.twitter.com/RM4dSCZZ1T

— Orlaith Gordon (@OrlaithGordon) February 23, 2019

Ahead of last week's game in Limerick, Terry expressed the belief Leitrim would have to treat it like a championship game and he has reiterated that viewpoint ahead of London's visit to Carrick-on-Shannon.

“We do take it step by step and we have London up next. That game is a game we need to win; every game is a championship game for Leitrim from now going forward.

“Perhaps in the past they were championship games for the opposition but from now it's the other way around and the focus is on us and hopefully we can take that pressure.”

With such importance attached to each game when pushing hard at the top of the table Terry believes: “The intensity is always going to go up. It's not like the first few rounds of the league, it's taken shape at that stage and we wanted to make sure that we were in good shape going forward for the league.”

The character and mental resolve shown in the four games to date has been particularly noteworthy and Terry was quick to praise the honesty of his players.

“They are all new lads to me so I don't know where they would have been other years or how they were performing from that point of view but there is an honesty factor about that bunch, within the group. We do mistakes, there is no point saying that we don't but they are willing to work to correct those mistakes.”

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