Frustrated Olcan makes no excuses as lacklustre Leitrim fall to Cavan

Frustration on the pitch, on the sideline and in the stands - there was no mistaking just how upset Leitrim hurlers were last Sunday in Kingspan Breffni Park as they let slip the opportunity to qualify directly for the Allianz Division 3B Final with manager Olcan Conway perplexed and frustrated as to what he had witnessed.

Leitrim suffered a 0-21 to 2-11 loss against Cavan to end the hopes of going straight into the final and you didn’t need any great powers of clairvoyance to see Conway’s frustration with the result: “Frustrated is right, didn’t see it coming I have to say, we just weren’t at our best today and we have to take it on the chin and go again.”

Typically, Olcan offered no excuses as Leitrim suffered their first loss of the campaign as he refuted the idea that the hurlers’ four week break without a competitive game had come back to haunt them: “I can’t use the four week break as an excuse, they trained hard, they were well prepared. 

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CAVAN 0-21 LEITRIM 2-11

“We’ve had different things to keep them ready and sharp and I know some people might say that but I just can’t use that as an excuse myself personally. Everything felt good the last few weeks - I know we didn’t have a game for nearly a month but it is no excuse now really. We just didn’t seem to be on it today and you get days like that. 

“Cavan were just the hungrier team in the first half, they were ravenous in their tackling and swarmed us and turned us over, won nearly every breaking ball.  I just think we possibly came into this game a bit complacent and we just didn’t perform. 

“I don’t know why, I can’t put my finger on it - we didn’t get to the pitch of the game and could still maybe have robbed it to be honest because we created enough chances as well. We have to sit back now and look at it.”

A missed penalty, missed frees and costly wides also contributed to Leitrim’s defeat: “Our shooting percentage is normally quite good but just today it certainly wasn’t. Missed a lot of frees, missed a penalty, missed a lot of opportunities to put the ball between the sticks and didn’t and that’s a bit of a recurring theme for us, not getting to where we should be in games and it is frustrating to watch.”

Even the sight of Leitrim surging late in the game was little consolation for the disconsolate manager: “You could say there are aspects that are positive but I wouldn’t say at this point, right after the match, that there is too many. We got a few match-ups we thought were right and unfortunately, they weren’t right. 

“We got dominated in a couple of positions that we thought we should be dominating but it is back to the drawing board. The subs that came on played very hard, the team as a whole didn’t give up, they worked very hard all the way to the end so I can’t complain about their heart or their spirit.

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“But you have to say that first 35, we were way off the pace and probably a large part of the second half, we just weren’t at full speed and full pitch. That’s the way it goes, when you’re not, you get punished.”

Neither did Olcan look to use the absence of Joe Murray as an excuse for his team’s off-colour display: “Joe can ignite a game, he gets an odd score that can light a fire under the players, he can get an odd breaking ball and his quality on the ball, passing it, is excellent too.

“But I felt we had enough today on the field to beat Cavan if we had performed as we were meant to. But we didn’t so while Joe  will be a boost coming back in a couple of weeks time, I’d still be disappointed in how we played today and the lads who took the field today and how they played. That’s for us to look at and try to figure out.”

Leitrim now face a battle with Longford next Saturday in Avant Money Pairc Sean Mac Diarmada with both teams destined to meet again a week later in the League semi-final. The only prize on offer is home advantage for the team that finishes second but Olcan admits the two games will be something of a head-scratcher!

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“We have to sit back and look at it but at the end of the day we just need to get our heads back down into training and go again. We’re qualified for a semi-final and that is the psychology of the thing - if Cavan lost today, they were nearly out of the competition whereas we had the safety net of a semi-final which does play into fella’s head. 

“Cavan didn’t have that and they out and were the hungrier team today - we just weren’t, we are guaranteed a semi-final no matter what we do and sometimes that does take a percent off the players and we were trying to guard against that today. We wanted to beat Cavan and we didn’t.”