"It probably wasn't our best performance" states Leitrim manager Garrity

Pride in the commitment and heart shown by the Leitrim players certainly but manager Jonny Garrity was the first to suggest that the performance of the Green & Gold was probably not the team’s best performance of the year.

As the season came to an abrupt end with the 3-10 to 2-10 loss at the hands of Wexford in Chadwicks Wexford Park last Sunday, the Leitrim manager agreed that the defeat came down to small margins, even if he felt that his team had not performed the way they had wished.

“It probably wasn’t our best performance of the year,” Jonny told the Observer, “there was a lot of cheap possession given up over the course of the hour and that’s a disappointment. But these are fantastic experiences for learning from and adding to a player’s arsenal, tactically and mentally, and that is something we’re really determined to do.

Wexford defy Leitrim and the wind to end Green & Gold championship dreams in tight encounter

WEXFORD 3-10 LEITRIM 2-10

“One thing I couldn’t question and that they keep reinventing is just their workrate and their heart and I can’t give the girls enough credit for the way they approached it and saw it out today.”

The former All-Ireland winning manager with Fermanagh agreed that Wexford’s experience and home advantage played a part but he felt Leitrim were in a strong position at the halftime break, level at 1-6 apiece having played against the strong wind: “We were in a good position and that was without quite big parts of our game plan not clicking right into gear as well so we felt there was loads of room for improvement. Had that improvement being made in the second half, we would have been really, really difficult to beat.

“Small margins and I suppose the combination of small margins when you talk about the home advantage, the experience they gained in getting to the two consecutive All-Ireland Finals and vying for their third, it all adds up and if it gives them any small advantage, it can be very important in a match of such small margins as it was today.”

Even in defeat, Jonny sees plenty of positives for a young team: “Similar to Kildare when we played them in the group stages where, whatever they threw at us, we were always very close by and refused to give up the fight. That was evident again today and you’re talking about that against very accomplished teams and teams that are a few years down the line in terms of their management and the time that they’ve spent together in order to implement their culture and tactical gameplan. 

“For us to do that in year one, we can take a lot of positives from that. We do feel that we  won’t be starting from scratch in year two and there will be a much higher ceiling in terms of what we can achieve.”

Nevertheless, Jonny agreed that Leitrim did miss the experience in a young squad but stressed that Leitrim can learn from the defeat: “We felt coming into this match that we could win this match, we felt that we were good enough to win it, we felt we were far enough down the line to win it.

“But you know what, we will look back and probably feel that we should have won on the day, playing within ourselves. Having said that, the heart shown, the workrate shown, the attitude of the girls, I just can’t give them enough credit.

“Experience is a big thing on days like this, when that experience isn’t around to call on and don’t get me wrong, there is still a lot of experience in the team and a lot of youthful exuberance that adds something as well but when you’ve got 12 or 14 experienced players walking way at the start of the season, it is something of a rebuild, something of a transition. 

Die hard Leitrim fans cheer on Green & Gold in Wexford - GALLERY

Diehard Green & Gold fans made the long journey to the sunny south east on Sunday to cheer on Leitrim against Wexford in the TG4 LGFA All-Ireland Intermediate Championship Quarter-Finals in Chadwicks Wexford Park. Unfortunately, it was the Model County who came out on top after a tight 3-10 to 2-10 battle but Observer photographer Willie Donnellan was there to capture some great images of fans enjoying the action .... see who you can spot!

“Credit must go to the girls over the course of the year, they’ve taken so much learning on board and they’ve come such a long way that we take a lot of faith from that and we know that will be starting from a much stronger starting point at the start of next season.”

Jonny also hopes that next year’s League will be restored to a full campaign and allow his young team more time to build experience and give game time to more players: “In addition to playing teams with the greatest of credit to them, that are of a lower standard to Division 3 and 2 teams, you are playing less matches so you’re coming in with a double disadvantage into the championship campaign.

“We met Roscommon who played seven Division 2 matches, we played three or four Division 4 matches so they’re battle hardened more than we are. But look, we never look for an excuse and we’re certainly not looking for one now.”