Tailteann dreams on a knife edge

Billed as a League where every team remains in contention until the very last round, the Tailteann Cup is coming down to a knockout competition for  Leitrim with the county's hopes on a knife's edge as they face the prospect of an angry Fermanagh coming to town next Saturday.

With three teams qualifying from each group (nominally, but more of that later), the new format for the All-Ireland series and Tailteann Cup has gotten a bit of criticism for the amount of games needed to eliminate  four teams, rightly so in my opinion, but the alarming  fact is that a certain set of results, results that are not impossible, next Saturday could see Leitrim's interest in the Tailteann Cup ended.

Andy Moran's men  must win or earn at least a draw against Fermanagh because a loss and a Wexford win over Antrim in Chadwick's Wexford Park on Saturday would mean that Leitrim cannot reach the knockout stages - even if Antrim lose both their remaining games, they would have the head to head against the Green & Gold and that is that.

Time to get back on the horse

THE LAST POINT

Any positive result against Fermanagh would keep Leitrim's dreams alive but then comes the New York question - should Leitrim finish third in group 4, they'll be anxiously looking over their shoulder at the scoring differences in the other groups.

That's because New York will displace the third placed team with the worst scoring difference and the minus nine in the  column for the Green & Gold is another hurdle for Andy Moran and his team to overcome. It might yet be that Paul Keaney's impressive cameo off the bench, scoring four points, will be a significant factor in Leitrim's future prospects.

Simple solution is to win both games against Fermanagh and Wexford, problem solved, but as we saw last Sunday, the Tailteann Cup isn't quite so simple as Antrim turned in a devastating display of power running, punching holes in the Leitrim rearguard to  gain a healthy bit of revenge for last year's Tailteann Cup defeat in Carrick.

We wondered before the game what version of Antrim we'd face in Corrigan Park - the fiercely committed side we've battled in recent years or the disinterested team we witnessed last year in Pairc Sean. Bereft of some stalwart players of recent years, Andy McEntee is going with youth and it certainly paid dividends for Antrim on Sunday.

Some talked of the hangover from Gaelic Park but I don't know. It is undoubtedly a factor but Leitrim settled quicker and created goal chances but the ghosts of the Bronx came back to haunt Andy Moran's team and any analysis of the last two games starts and finishes with the inability to convert clear cut goal chances.

Most of the performance in New York was everything you'd want but the failure to kill the game with at least one goal came back to haunt the Green & Gold. Last Sunday, it wasn't only the shadow of the Black Mountain that hovered over the game in Corrigan Park as  three Leitrim goal chances went abegging in the first half.

In fairness, Antrim had the same complaint - Nevin O'Donnell made three wonder saves but the feeling  from both sets of fans was that Leitrim's misses were that bit more costly and that's an assessment that's hard to disagree with - although calling them misses is  a tad harsh given Michael Byrne's wonder saves that  denied both Keith Beirne and Darragh Rooney.

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

Nobody could believe the Antrim netminder had  got his hands to Rooney's shot but he did and in those small moments the game changes, just as it did when full-forward Ruairi McCann dispossessed Domhnaill Flynn  40 yards from goal in the second half with a point between the teams.

There seemed little danger but two quick handpasses later, the impressive Adam Loughran was burying a rocket in the Leitrim net and with that, Antrim took off, Leitrim suffered a small meltdown as the home side ran riot for the next 12 minutes.

Unlike New York where you couldn't really say the victors were any better than Leitrim, Antrim raised quite a few issues for Andy Moran  to consider. Antrim's hard running caused enormous problems - something Wexford did effectively in the League - while McCann & Dominic McEnhill created havoc in the  full-back line - the concession of 3-18  the most immediate area of concern.

Unfortunately, failing to take chances is nothing new but one hopes that if Leitrim can discover the sort of killer instinct Antrim displayed, they still have a strong future in this competition - but it will need a big improvement.

That improvement won't be helped by the sight of Keith Beirne hobbling off the field in the second half. The Mohill man, maybe carrying an injury into the game, was well marshalled by Peter Healy and his defensive colleagues but with their talisman struggling, Leitrim were always in a bind.

We all know for Leitrim to prosper you need a full deck to choose from and while I don't believe in pointing to players who are abroad or not on the panel, you simply can't get away from the fact that Ryan O'Rourke, Evan Sweeney, Jordan Reynolds, all members of this year's panel, weren't available last Sunday and they were badly missed -  not to forget the loss to the defence of Conor Reynolds who was injured in New York.

That's not belittling the players that did line out and gave their all but those three players would have transformed our attack and given greater strength off the bench. The bench last Sunday featured four of this year's U20 squad, not counting Barry McNulty who started and made a big impression, and the chances are with the injuries afflicting the Senior squad right now, a few of them could see action over the next two games.

The wildcard in all this is Wexford - the stunned reaction of both Andys, Moran and McEntee, to the news of the Model county's draw in Enniskillen was very illuminating but the Wexford team I saw in the League certainly have the raw ingredients to make an impact in this year's Tailteann Cup, particularly if they gain momentum - a quality Leitrim are searching for right now.

Yet another kick in the teeth

THE LAST POINT

A brief word about the  Ladies losing their Connacht Intermediate crown,  a result that made the drive home from Belfast all the longer. The manner and scale of defeat has got to be worrying for Jonny Garrity and while some will say Roscommon play their League football two divisions above the Green & Gold, that didn't stop Leitrim from beating their higher ranked neighbours over the last two years. 

The loss is  damaging, particularly as it means a tougher draw in the All-Ireland group stages, but no more than the men, the Ladies have work to do if they want to keep their season on track.