Leitrim never shy away from a battle says Moran

Some losses stay with you, others you  shake off  quickly but it is no exaggeration to state  that losing to New York was a seismic shock to Leitrim footballers and fans alike. But amidst the adversity that has followed, Andy Moran believes his charges can use that  to fuel their Tailteann Cup campaign.

The new group format for the Tailteann Cup sees Leitrim travel to Corrigan Park in Belfast next Sunday to take on familiar foes Antrim in the first round of the expanded second tier competition and after the trauma of losing to New York, it is a chance for Leitrim to get back on the field.

And it is here and now that this Leitrim team face what Andy believes is a true test of their unity and inner-belief: “Some of what we’ve been trying to build over the last two years is that kind of togetherness and unity. We won’t hide behind it - we were really tested in the last couple of weeks, we were really tested.

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“But what I find from Leitrim people is that they’re resilient and they don’t shy away from a challenge and  that is what the boys have shown. There are some really, really big leaders within that group - Donal Wrynn, Mark Diffley, Keith Beirne - they’ve shown great resilience over the last few weeks, they’ve trained really hard trying to get back on track.”

Asked if New York's historic first ever  Connacht championship win has brought the team closer together, Andy honestly answers “Has it brought them closer together? I suppose we’ll see over the course of the next 12 to 14 months but what I see is a team that is together and ready to fight for the jersey.”

The idea of overcoming adversity is not just some glib soundbite for the former Mayo Footballer of the Year who points to some  traumatic defeats in his own playing career as evidence of what can be achieved despite the bad days: “I played for Mayo and we had some really, really good days and some very bad ones but it is how you pick yourself up from the bad days and drive yourself on and do you really believe in what is happening around you.

“If you do, I think you have a really good chance to push on and use these adversities as an advantage moving forward.”

The harsh cold fact of defeat in New York obscures what was actually a robust  performance from Leitrim in the Bronx, with quite a few boxes ticked except in one crucial area - finishing off the numerous chances failed to reward all the good work Moran’s players had executed on the night.

“I think that is very fair -  I said after the game that we created enough chances to win two, maybe three games. We had seven or eight goal chances but we didn’t take them and that’s the nature of an upset   if you don’t take your chances.”

Seeking to rectify what went wrong in Gaelic Park,  Andy has been thrilled with the response of the players: “Let's not beat around the bush here, New York would take confidence out of you and out of the group. But the way the boys have reacted has been brilliant and the team is very close, there has been a lot of positives out of the last few weeks.

“We’ve had an unbelievable reaction from the lads since New York in terms of every single person has come back in and are trying their best for Leitrim, we’ve had no departures from the panel which is amazing.

“Everybody was just waiting for the draw and to see where it is going to take us and I think once we got whoever we got, it was going to be a positive for the group because the last three weeks, you’re in no man’s land a tiny bit. You’re just sitting and waiting to see where you go. The draw itself, we’re familiar with all three teams and that is a positive in itself.”

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Antrim and Wexford have crossed swords with Leitrim pretty regularly over the past couple of years, Fermanagh not so much, but all three are traditional  foes for the Green & Gold and looking ahead, you sense that Moran is welcoming the challenge.

“Antrim, we knew last year was going to be a really tough game at home, the boys travelled to Corrigan Park the year before in 2021 where we nearly got them with a comeback but we ended up losing that game, last year we won. We know that this is going to be a really tough battle.

“We know Andy McEntee quite well, we played Meath a lot in challenges in 2022 and we played Antrim in a challenge earlier in the year and it was a tight game so we know it is going to be a tight game. We’ll go up there and all we can do really is concentrate on ourselves and that is what we’ll be doing.”

With three games over four weekends followed possibly by preliminary and quarter-final games in successive weeks, the Tailteann Cup will test the strength in depth of teams, a fact Andy is all too cognizant of when it comes to the final game in the group.

“By the time myself and John Hegarty get to the Leitrim v Wexford game, I think it is going to be who is left standing in terms of players and how the injuries are. We’ll see who is available, who is fit and what bodies we have left around the place and we'll move on from there.”

Yet there is opportunity according to Andy as several new faces have been drafted in since the New York defeat: “When there are injuries, it gives the younger players and lads who haven't  played much throughout the year chances and that is exciting for them and we’ll see how that materialises. 

“Obviously we had Radek, Barry and Michael in the squad before the U20s finished and we’ve brought Jack Casey and Paul Moran in and they’ve done really well, two exciting players we are looking forward to seeing so that is all good. Cillian McGloin came on in New York, it is great to have him back, maybe there will be one or two more back. There will be one or two more that will be injured through the course of it, that is going to be the nature of it.”

Asked if it is a matter of getting the attitude right, the Leitrim manager states categorically that the Green & Gold players will never be found wanting in that regard!

“What I would say is, and I can only judge from when I came in, I don’t think there has ever been a problem with attitude. We went over to London last year and we didn’t have Keith, the top scorer in Division 4, and the boys put the shoulder to the wheel and got the job done. We don’t have Donal Casey, Ryan O’Rourke or Jordan Reynolds this year but there is nobody dropping their heads.

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“The boys put their shoulders to the wheel. We had three big games against Sligo, Laois and New York and in all three games, I would suggest that we played quite well. 

“I don’t think there is any problem with the attitude amongst the Leitrim players, they are a great bunch of lads and I think they are a group the whole county should be very proud of. We had a slip up against New York but on every journey, there are going to be slip ups and that is just life.”