The calm before the storm

Maybe it says more about our perception of sporting importance that a weekend that saw two Leitrim players light up the O'Connor Cup Ladies third level colleges final, Leitrim hurlers suffer a demoralising defeat and a young Manorhamilton soccer star find the net in the SSE Airtricity League along with a myriad of other sporting activities, I still feel as if last weekend was the calm before the storm!

With so much going on and what I touched on in the opening paragraph was only a taste of what happened in Leitrim, that's a big statement to make but judging from the reaction I've got over the past eight to ten days, all that is preoccupying Leitrim fans right now is the thought that promotion from the Allianz NFL Division 4 is agonisingly slipping from the Green & Gold's grasp.

The anger, and I know that's a strong word, that seems to be bubbling up from beneath the surface is hitting a multitude of targets with manager Andy Moran copping quite a bit of flak for decisions made and substitutions but, frankly, the bizarre thing is that a Leitrim win next Sunday will change the narrative completely and those boiling in anger right now will suddenly proclaim that they never once  lost faith.

A strange day in Aughrim

THE LAST POINT

I've no quibbles with fans being angry or questions being asked, everyone is entitled to have their say but we've gone from optimism over-flowing  after the Carlow game to a crushing pessimism that greeted the result down in Aughrim but the truth is  Leitrim lost two games they might have won and all is not quite lost - yet! 

Normally I don't get much reaction to this column but I got a rather curious email from a  Wicklow supporter who seemed to be somewhat bemused and almost insulted by my descriptions of mountainous roads and circuitous routes that I took to get to Aughrim but all I can say is, blame Google Maps because that's the way it took me and I was far from alone in finding myself on that picturesque and meandering route.

My comments about the exodus of Green & Gold fans after the men's game in Aughrim also hit home with one dedicated fan defending his fellow supporters, saying it was simply deep disappointment and no insult was intended to the Ladies team who were taking part in what was, at my reckoning, only the second ever double header to feature the county's mens and ladies  teams in my entire time with the Observer.

I've no doubt they were disappointed, we all were but the Ladies deserved better  - look, everyone is free to do as they wish, to support who they want in the manner they wish but for Leitrim folk who took the time to make the long journey to  Aughrim, it seems rather bizarre that so many of them didn't stick around for at least the first half of the Ladies game.

Truth be told, I had several ideas for this week's column - the obvious one being the whole Gary Lineker BBC farrago that has convulsed our neighbours across the water but before I could get my thoughts on paper, detente broke out much to the relief of everyone.

For all the hyperbole, rhetoric, hypocrisy  and invective that's been flying around over the whole affair, Lineker and his BBC Sport colleagues have come out of the entire mess with an enhanced reputation as the notion of  sport and politics not mixing got another kick up the behind!

The dilemma of the scoring forward

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I'd love it if sport and politics were separate and I'd  back any notion that sports people or commentators should keep their nose out of politics the second that politicians do the same and don't jump on the bandwagon when there is a victory to be celebrated or claiming credit for  developing facilities that people on the ground work tirelessly for years to deliver - do that and then we might talk.

Until then, remember that each sports person is also a citizen, entitled to  their say on any matter in the public sphere just as any politician elected to represent a particular constituency can issue edicts about values, ethics, impartially and integrity or any other topic - it cuts both ways!

Back in the sporting arena, congratulations to Glencar Manorhamilton duo Leah Fox and Rebecca Rooney in enjoying success with their colleges in the Yoplait Ladies HEC Finals last weekend as an armada of Leitrim players saw action at various levels with their colleges. Fox and Mohill's Dearbhaile Beirne were in  goal scoring form in the competition's semi-finals with the Glencar Manor clubwoman hitting the back of the net three times while former Leitrim LGFA star and current Peamount Utd player Dearbhaile showed her brother Keith isn't the only Beirne with the scoring touch as the Mohill woman scored 2-2 for UL.

Speaking of goals, congrats to Manorhamilton's Eanna Clancy who scored his first ever goal for Sligo Rovers last Saturday evening, his goal 11 minutes from the end of the Bit O'Red’s meeting with Cork City in The Showgrounds sparking an amazing turnaround that ended up in a 2-2 draw in Clancy's sixth start for Rovers. I know Glencar Manorhamilton look on longingly at Clancy's progress, thinking of the talent they've missed out on but I also know they're firmly behind him as he continues to make a name for himself with Sligo Rovers in the SSE Airtricity League.

Bumps on the long road

THE LAST POINT

Yet for all those great sporting moments that took place last weekend, you sense that it was truly the calm before the storm, a building tension ahead of Sunday's do or die game with Laois that maybe emanates from a belief so many Leitrim fans had this year that Andy Moran's troops would scoot their way through Division 4. 

Arrogance is the last thing you'd expect from Leitrim fans but the reaction to the losses against Wexford and a Wicklow team who spent the last two seasons in Division 3 speaks more of a belief that those teams were there to be run over on the way to showdowns with Laois and Sligo rather than the knowledge that Division 4 was always going to be a minefield.

Promotion isn't gone yet but it hangs in the balance. There is a kick left in this Leitrim team, the only question  is will it be enough to see Andy Moran's men past Laois next Sunday? So enjoy the calm before the storm while you can!