Meatloaf is wrong - two out of three IS bad!

Meatloaf was wrong, just plain wrong when he sang “Two out of three ain't bad” because nobody leaving Avant Money Pairc Sean Mac Diarmada last Sunday afternoon was consoling themselves with the notion that 'ah well, Leitrim have won two of three' in the Green & Gold's quest to qualify for National League Finals.

I'm showing my age when I'm quoting the recently departed Meatloaf, the song “Two out of three ain't bad” from his opus “Bat out of Hell” but with the hurlers and ladies footballers both securing places in their League Finals, I've never been more sure that “two out of three” is bad!

That's no slight on the wonderful victories of the Hurlers and the Ladies football teams but rather a reflection of the emotional roller coaster those fans lucky, or if you will unlucky, enough to be in Pairc Sean last Sunday.

Three might be the magic number

THE LAST POINT

No matter how we dress it up, the men's football team are the big draw and while GAA folk are genuinely delighted to see Olcan Conway's hurlers and Jonny Garrity's Ladies reach their stated goals, the emotional attachment is truly with the Men's county football team and missing out by a point hurt like hell.

Some would rather we ignored the Ladies team or the hurlers but the fact is that all three county sides are plying their trade at the lowest rung of League  and the achievements of the hurlers and female footballers deserve to be celebrated every bit as much as those of Andy Moran's side.

It is a bit like being told to eat your vegetables when you're young - no amount of persuasion or cajoling will ever  get some fans to take in a Ladies game or a hurling contest, nothing stirs the passion of a Leitrim gael quite like the men's senior football team but it  truly is their loss.

Saturday's Hurling semi-final was a fantastic contest that was right in the balance up until the final ten minutes - Leitrim were undoubtedly under pressure but they rose to the challenge to deliver a performance that will have them full of confidence and belief ahead of next Saturday's Final against Cavan in Abbotstown.

It won't be easy against Cavan but  when the soaring catches of Enda Moreton or  the immense physical power of Conor Beirne are the very same qualities we laud in Pearce Dolan or Keith Beirne and the hurlers have the same hard headed drive for success our football teams possess, then maybe we should get behind them a little bit more when they chase glory in the name of Leitrim.

I didn't get to see the Ladies emerge victorious from a titanic struggle with Fermanagh in Bawnboy thanks to the clash with the Men's game - I haven't invented a teleporter device or managed bi-location yet but judging from reports, Jonny Garrity's side had to dig very deep for victory.

Fermanagh feel it was one they let slip but this Leitrim side are tough to beat - they've had a few setbacks in the League over the past two years but coming through Sunday's encounter will do wonders for their confidence and inner-self belief coming down the final stretch of a tight game.

A strange day in Aughrim

THE LAST POINT

That brings us  back to Pairc Sean and the overriding sense of a missed opportunity - candour compels me to admit the Yeatsmen were the better team over the entire game and the way they reacted to going a point down in the closing stages in the face of Leitrim's furious fight-back speaks of a team infused with confidence and backed up by ability.

Yet it was a game Leitrim could have won - in much the same way that Leitrim could have defeated Wicklow and Wexford, the frustrating part is knowing that this Leitrim team have the ability but haven't been able to produce a full 70-75 minute performance.

That's not a new conundrum - Terry Hyland bemoaned the exact same traits and unfortunately it hasn't gone away. I don't know if it is a mentality problem or just  that Sligo were the better team for considerable parts of Sunday's contest but when Leitrim get rolling, they can do some damage.

Unfortunately the damage done when they're not rolling is too extensive to overcome - I wondered on Sunday did the importance of the occasion or  the local derby factor contribute to a blistering Leitrim start that petered out as adrenalin ran out? But the exact same happened in the Tailteann Cup last year with Leitrim scoring 1-2 to start the game only for Sligo to hit nine points unanswered.

Leitrim's barnstorming finish turned what looked like a cakewalk for the Yeatsmen into a classic - Barry McNulty, Tom Prior and Aidan Flynn displayed the sort of resolute defiance we love when they forced home those two goals as Leitrim went from a team who couldn't convert simple chances to one who couldn't put a foot wrong, almost riding the wave of manic intensity from the stands all the way to promotion and an appearance in Croke Park.

I'm not going to talk about 'what if' or  missing players, missed chances or even give out about the referee because all the noise aside, I feel that when Leitrim do produce a full 70 minute performance, Division 4 won't hold them but until they do, the players, management, fans and media will endure more frustrating days like last Sunday that leave you wondering what might have been.

Referee Martin McNally came in for a lot of flak and I'll admit I was certain Aidan Flynn was foot blocked as he bore down on goal  but seeing Willie Donnellan's photo on page 68, the Monaghan official got it spot on as Sligo full-back Eddie McGuinness made one of those game changing blocks.

The calm before the storm

THE LAST POINT

Did McNally let the game go in that final frantic quarter and fail to penalise both teams for what looked like, to my eyes from the press box at least, as obvious frees? He probably did but what it did was add to the intense atmosphere and for all those crying for frees, remember we all complain that officials are too fussy and don't let the game flow.

That atmosphere was truly electric but  it showed once again that competing at your own level can produce occasions and contests with all the drama and importance of any All-Ireland Final - just ask anyone roaring themselves hoarse last Sunday.

That's scant consolation to Andy Moran and his team right now - turning these epic encounters into victories is the big task now. New York is fast approaching and you don't want to sleep-walk your way into an ambush in Gaelic Park but the era of moral victories is long gone for this Leitrim team.