Moran can’t fault effort but searches for clinical Leitrim edge

To say it was a familiar story is an understatement as Leitrim left Corrigan Park last Sunday feeling once again that another game had escaped their grasp with manager Andy Moran acknowledging that the Green & Gold have a massive challenge ahead of them in the Tailteann Cup.

Speaking after the 3-18 to 2-12 loss on Sunday, Andy agreed that the contest in Belfast had echoes of what transpired against New York on Easter Saturday: “What we needed after New York was that momentum, if we had banged in three of them four in the first half, it would have been great but we didn’t. To be fair to Antrim, they had two really good chances down the far side as well so it could have been a different game at halftime. But yeah, same as New York, we need to get better at finishing but conceding 3-18 is just too much.

“All these games are important, I think this was a really big game - we played Antrim last year, we were confident coming up but Antrim played well and produced maybe two forwards that we knew about but hadn’t seen much of - McEnhill in the corner, young Loughran at centre-forward, they’ve only played bits and pieces and all of a sudden, they produce two forwards like that and it makes it difficult for us.”

GAA Guide: Here's all the fixtures live on TV and GAAGO this weekend

Antrim keeper Michael Byrne played a big role in thwarting Leitrim in that first half with two crucial saves, especially one absolutely gobsmacking one from Darragh Rooney but Moran also highlighted the effort his team put in: “Byrne is a very, very good keeper, we knew that, I think someone described him like Cluxton a few weeks ago. 

“Now we didn’t think he had that much in his armoury but the save from Darragh Rooney was top class, it is unlucky but listen, we came up to Corrigan Park today, a really tough game after a really tough situation in New York, I thought our boys put their shoulder to the wheel. We maybe lacked a tiny bit of confidence, composure and stuff like that but in terms of effort and honesty, I can’t ask for any more really.”

Those saves were momentum stopping moments as Andy acknowledged that Leitrim struggled against Antrim’s power running game: “Last year we had the exact same problem, Peter Healy scored 1-1 against us last year but we coped with it quite well and when we had the opportunities last year, we scored. 

“I know Keith missed a goal chance last year in the game but we got two goals, Shane Moran got one and Jack Heslin got one, at the right times and it made a big difference. When you get the chance to have momentum, especially when you come away from home, a few hometown decisions and stuff like that, you have to take them and we just didn’t take them today.

“When we got the wind in the second half, Keith hurt his knee two minutes into the second half so that was a big blow for us. So when he is going, Barry McNulty gets double marked instead of Keith so you struggle a bit around the place but our boys, to be fair to them, kept going to the end, kept trying to kick over a few points and kept battling hard and what else can you ask.”

Antrim blow Leitrim away in second half as missed chances haunt Green & Gold

ANTRIM 3-18 LEITRIM 2-12

It leaves Leitrim facing into a crucial home game next Saturday against Fermanagh in Avant Money Pairc Sean Mac Diarmada and the Leitrim manager admitted that he may be turning to his youthful bench for an impact over the coming weeks: “You see the guys behind us - Paul Moran, McKiernan, Jack Casey, Tom Prior, Diarmuid Kelleher, Oisin McLoughlin doing well when he came on today, they are really trying to get to that level. It is my job to accelerate that and we will just need to try that and the next couple of weeks are vital.”

The Leitrim manager, like his Antrim counterpart Andy McEntee, was stunned to hear Wexford had held Fermanagh in Brewster Park: “That’s an amazing result, you’ve stumped me on that one. That is a very unusual result and it puts Wexford back into it but what do Wexford do against Antrim next week? 

“I presume that game is down in Wexford Park so Wexford are coming with confidence. How does that end? It is going to complicate the thing for us but fair play to Wexford, that’s a massive result in Brewster Park.”

But for now, the task for Leitrim is to pick themselves up again but Andy is confident that his players can do just that: “If I was going to give a major message to anyone is that over the last four, five weeks, we haven’t lost one person from the squad, everyone has trained, everyone within the group, and I mean the players, not the management, everyone has put the shoulder to the wheel to try to make Leitrim better. And that is the truth. 

Check out the Leitrim fans cheering on the Green & Gold in Belfast - GALLERY

It was a tough afternoon in Corrigan Park for Leitrim fans on Sunday as Antrim handed Andy Moran's side a 3-18 to 2-12 defeat in the first round of the Tailteann Cup. Observer photographer Willie Donnellan was there to capture some great images of the fans who made the long journey to Belfast .... see who you can spot!

“We have six days, we have a home game, isn’t it mighty? We’re nearly going into June, we’ve a home game in Pairc Sean, it is going to be a great occasion but listen Leitrim people don’t need me to tell them you’ve picked yourself up more than any county, no more than ourselves in Mayo, over the years and these guys will go again next week, there will be absolutely no problem with them, they’ll be ready for action and we’ll see where it takes us.”