Time to get back on the horse

Not that I have much experience of it myself but they tell us that the best way to get over falling off a horse is to get right back on it.  It's not a perfect analogy for Leitrim footballers but I'm sure the Men's and Ladies Senior teams will know exactly what I mean as they face into crucial championship outings next weekend.

The clash of these games is as predictable as it is  frankly unforgivable, the Ladies Final fixed months ago and next Saturday lies free, leaving fans with the unenviable choice of heading to Belfast or down to Kiltoom with both matches incredulously fixed for the exact same time - and they talk about promoting gaelic games.

Blasting all and sundry about the clash of games seems pointless as nobody seems to be paying any attention at all but the irony is that both teams go into Sunday's crunch games, if not quite under a cloud, very definitely in the shadow of one!

The curious case of Pep's City

THE LAST POINT

Carrick Town U14 Girls who were crowned Sligo Leitrim league champions 2023 for the second year in a row after going through the season undefeated in what was a very competitive U14 girls league. The girls' final game of the season will be the club's first ever Connacht Final when they take on Mervue United of Galway in the U14 girls Connacht Shield Final on Sunday, May 7, at Moyne Villa FC Sports ground in Headford, Co Galway at 4pm. (Back, from left) Katie O’Brien, Cait Keane, Roma Dowler, Orla Ryan, Ciara Walsh, Jane Hanrahan, Aisling Keaveney, Amy McKeon, Eibhlin Guckian, Lauren Dolan, Mona Lowe, Eabha Hennessy. (Front) Lily McWeeney, Vira Kozlova, Caragh Guckian, Lucy Maye, Anna Trench Winston, Katie McDwyer. Missing: Sophie Donohoe, Mollie Beirne, Michelle Moran

Fair to say that Andy Moran and his troops have been licking their wounds since the traumatic penalty shootout loss in Gaelic Park on Easter Saturday and  five weeks is a long time to sit and stew and wonder what you might have done differently to avoid creating an unwanted piece of history as New York claimed their first ever win in the Connacht Championship.

For the Ladies, they might have been  back in action against a Sligo team now plying their trade at Junior level but the reality is that next Sunday's TG4 Connacht LGFA Intermediate Championship Final is their first real chance to put the trauma of losing the Lidl Division 4 League Final to Antrim in the rear-view mirror and resetting for the All-Ireland campaign.

Equally fair to say that both losses hit Leitrim hard - the Ladies had gone into their Division 4 decider in imperious form but they were run ragged by a young Antrim team who were well worth their 1-19 to 2-6 victory. Yet no more than the men bemoaning missed goal chances, not to mention missed penalties in the shootout, Jonny Garrity's side were wondering what might have been.

Leah Fox put a penalty wide of the posts before Leitrim tried to stage a late rally, Ailbhe Clancy's goal briefly threatening a miracle comeback before the Saffrons cruised home over the final stages. Safe to say, it punctured what had been growing confidence in the Leitrim camp that they might make big progress in 2023.

They come up against a Roscommon side who have threatened to end Leitrim's run of dominance at intermediate level in the province over the last three years but the Rossies are not quite coming in with the same momentum as over the past two years, having suffered relegation from Division 2 in the League.

Now, it is fair to say that Roscommon were coming up against far better opposition than what Leitrim were facing when Jonny Garrity's side were laying waste to Kilkenny, Derry & Wicklow with Roscommon drawing with Monaghan and losing four of their games by less than one score so they will come with quite a bit of belief that the harsh lessons they endured might be put to some good use next Sunday.

Yet another kick in the teeth

THE LAST POINT

It might seem irrelevant right now but the Ladies Final also carries one prize that proved invaluable to Leitrim in 2022 as a Provincial champion cannot be relegated to the Junior ranks! 

Win next Sunday and in the event of the campaign suffering a horrible malfunction, as occurred last year, there is a safety net.

Unlike the men's team, Jonny Garrity's side did have an outing since their League Final loss but the 0-23 to 1-5 victory served little purpose other than to give a few fringe players a run-out and I've no doubt that Roscommon felt the same after their 3-13 to 0-7 victory, two broadly similar scorelines as the Yeatswomen are rebuilding.

You've got to think that a driven Leitrim will have too much firepower for their traditional foes, Ailbhe Clancy, Michelle Guckian & Leah Fox proving too dangerous for a Roscommon defence that has struggled to contain them in the past. But Roscommon are dangerous so anything could happen to be honest!

At the same time, their male counterparts will be looking for their own redemption in the hills high over Belfast city. Corrigan Park is a lovely but intimidating venue, the close confines of the crowd, the long journey and the sure and certain knowledge that Antrim are a different kettle of fish up there all combining to lend Sunday's Tailteann Cup opener an air of mystery you might not normally expect.

The Saffrons finished a point and one place above the relegation zone in Division 3 so that would suggest that there is not too much between the teams and the memory of last year's historic first ever Tailteann Cup clash in Avant Money Pairc Sean Mac Diarmada should infuse Andy Moran's side with a great deal of confidence, particularly as the victory was far more comprehensive than the 2-14 to 1-12 scoreline suggests.

Caveat to that is that Antrim were in the dying throes of the reign of manager Enda McGinley, the former Tyrone great resigning before fans had even left Pairc Sean that day, and Andy McEntee is in situ right now. 

What that means is hard to know but it was as clear as the nose on your face that Antrim had no interest in the Tailteann Cup last year but it could be a whole different kettle of fish this year with the new format.

Three games - one home, one away, one neutral - leaves you believing that winning your home game would almost certainly guarantee you a place in the preliminary quarter-final. A loss could leave to vulnerable to New York - the Stateside exiles guaranteed a spot in the last 12 -  meaning one of the teams who finishes third in their group will miss out.

The big question is not in talent, nor in will to win, but rather if Leitrim can deliver when the pressure is on. Moran's side created enough chances to win in New York twice over but the more they missed, the more it seemed to get in their heads and that's the biggest challenge ahead of the trip to Belfast because the more we talk about missed chances, the more it remains stuck firmly in the heads of the Leitrim players.

WORDS CAN'T CAPTURE THE SHOCK

THE LAST POINT

Sunday could all come down to motivation and who recovers best from their provincial championship defeats. Up there, having witnessed the difference in how Antrim play in Corrigan Park, I'd say it is a fifty-fifty game but it is a game that is there to be won by the team brave enough to grab it. 

I've got the feeling that Leitrim might just be that team and I've nothing more than a feeling to back that up. But we're due a bit of luck and if both our ladies and men's teams can dig in, there's no reason why next Sunday can't be a Super Sunday for Leitrim fans!