Three might be the magic number

Three might very well be the magic number for Leitrim next weekend so, naturally, fatalist that I am, I'm wondering if I'm doing the lottery, should the numbers 3, 13, 23, 33 & 42 feature strongly in my picks or am I tempting fate as the Green & Gold seek to land their own special jackpot.

Now, I'm open to correction but in my time with the Observer, I can't remember a weekend where the county's mens and ladies football teams and the hurlers are all just one game away from reaching a National League Final so three is certainly a magic number - maybe it is like the buses, you wait long enough for one to come around and all of the sudden, two or three come rushing at you.

Jonny Garrity's ladies team and Olcan Conway's hurlers knew there were in a semi-final no matter what this weekend but that left Andy Moran's team on the edge of the precipice, knowing that anything less than a win would leave them stranded in Division 4 of the Allianz Football League for yet another season.

The calm before the storm

THE LAST POINT

The excitement levels were off the charts last Sunday in Avant Money Pairc Sean Mac Diarmada as Leitrim went from five points up against the Division leaders to a point down in the third quarter before we endured, and I mean endured, a roller-coaster of emotions over the final 20 minutes as Leitrim's fate hung in the balance.

After the defeats against Wicklow and Wexford, promotion looked all but gone but as I wrote after those games, it wouldn't have taken much for either of those two games to go Leitrim's way just as it wouldn't have taken much for Laois to swing the pendulum the other way last Sunday - think back to Evan O'Carroll's long range free in the last minute of normal time or Paul Kingston close range wide when Leitrim led by a point.

Fortunately, the pendulum swung in Leitrim's favour last Sunday as Mark Plunkett and Keith Beirne landed two magnificent points to keep the dream alive.

Lost in all the excitement and emotion of the occasion has got to be the fairly blunt realisation that Sunday's victory, as inspirational and invigorating as it most certainly was, it still only gives Leitrim the chance to battle for promotion and there is the little matter of Sligo next Sunday in Pairc Sean to come!

Leitrim have the best scoring difference of the four teams left in the hunt for the two places in the Division 4 Final in Croke Park but many a match has been lost by counting chickens before they've hatched and the one inescapable fact is that Leitrim have got to beat Sligo next Sunday and that brings another world of pressure.

You could say that's the situation they found themselves in last Sunday but to be honest, it is subtly different - many fans hoped rather than expected and the raised eyebrows that greeted Andy Moran's team selection spoke not of confidence but rather a fatalism that Laois were going to end Leitrim's dreams for 2023.

Maybe having nothing to lose finally released something in the Leitrim players for Sunday was their best performance of the year by far - it was aggressive, it was coldly clinical at times and wildly passionate at others and displayed the sort of defiance we've routinely come to expect from Leitrim teams when they have nothing to lose.

That's what makes next Sunday different - Andy Moran's troops might not have one foot in the final but the belief is out there that they have and after all, it's only Sligo, sure don't we owe them one for the Tailteann Cup and the League last year and we have them at home - surely that's going to be enough?

Expectations will be very different next Sunday - Andy Moran admitted rethinking and re-evaluating a few things after the  loss in Aughrim but the  simple fact is that Leitrim went into Sunday's game with nothing to lose, a fire and brimstone approach as they raged against the dying of the light but that won't be the case against the Yeatsmen - the pressure will very definitely be on to get a result.

Speaking of Andy Moran, kudos to the Leitrim manager for making some big calls that paid off big time last Sunday - I wouldn't have left Jack Heslin, probably Leitrim's best player over the League behind Keith Beirne, out of the starting line-up. I didn't think it would work if I'm being honest but Moran rolled the dice and seeing Heslin coming into the fray with 20 minutes to go was an incalculable boost as legs were starting to tire.

Delighted too for Evan Sweeney - I thought it was harsh on the Glencar Manorhamilton clubman to miss out starting the last two games but a change of focus for the Leitrim attack with Beirne moving out to the fifty with Donal Wrynn doing an “Aidan O'Shea” at full-forward meant that Sweeney was easily the game's most influential player.

Nevin O'Donnell was a big call too - changing keepers is rarely done and can often backfire but in fairness, the Shannon Gaels man gave Leitrim extra length on the kickouts and was solid in tough conditions so Moran had a very good day, particularly after all the criticism he shipped after Aughrim.

A strange day in Aughrim

THE LAST POINT

That's what makes last Sunday so interesting - supporters who had lost faith and wanted Moran gone are now loudly proclaiming their belief that Leitrim will roll over the Yeatsmen but as we've pointed out so many times, there is always a twist and turn in a division as tight and as competitive as this one.

Leitrim feel they owe Sligo one and they do but the Yeatsmen are producing quality young footballers in numbers Leitrim can only envy, winning Provincial Minor, U20 and Schools titles in recent years  - they have quality forwards and a belief they have the Indian sign over Leitrim so something has got to give!

Of course, Sunday's victory leads to another problem - the clash with the Ladies semi-final against Fermanagh in Bawnboy means fans are going to miss out. Some will say that it is purely a media problem as most supporters will head to Pairc Sean and that is probably true but it still doesn't negate the awful optics of the entire situation.

Both teams are contesting League semi-finals in all but name, both are looking for promotion and had the men lost last Sunday, I'd be heading to Bawnboy with no qualms but the Sligo game is unquestionably the bigger game from the public's point of view.

I'd  take a punt, while not wishing to jinx them, on the Ladies team proving too strong for Fermanagh - there is something clinical and impressive about Jonny Garrity's side, almost something like a force of nature and I'd expect them to come through here and book their place in the Final on April 16.

Completing the line-up is the hurlers - now many won't bother about this game but seeing virtually a second string Leitrim beat Longford to book home advantage last Saturday  was something to gladden the heart. We talk with pride of the defiance and resilience the footballers showed last Sunday but the hurlers showed that in spades.

They don't get the love the footballers do but I was beside one football fan looking at his first inter-county hurling game and he was quietly impressed by the quality on display and the physical toughness  in a game where the wind played a decisive factor.

The dilemma of the scoring forward

THE LAST POINT

Win next Saturday and the hurlers are in a League Final, the same as the footballers and they are doing so with far less playing resources and attention with challenges that both football teams can't even imagine - so if you have a spare 90 minutes on Saturday, pop down to Shane McGettigan Park to cheer them on, it might make all the difference in a tight game!

Speaking of venues, got to say job well done to both the Pairc Sean Mac Diarmada committee and Allen Gaels GAA club for the superb  job they did in hosting the games last weekend. Considering that the Laois game was very close to being switched to  Longford during the week, it is only right we recognise a job well done!

Finally, wishing Laois' Eoin Lowry a speedy recovery after the very serious injury he sustained late in Sunday's game. The Laois corner-forward spent the night in hospital with suspected injury to his neck and head area and I know all true GAA fans will wish a speedy recovery and that we see him on the field of play again soon.