New beginnings and familiar tales

Sometimes you forget how lucky you are in this job when games are flying at you by the dozen, the weather is threatening to wreak havoc with the best laid plans of mice and men and fixture clashes are leaving you with an impossible choice of which games to cover. And that was just last weekend!

But then you witness feats of brilliance, errors of judgement, astonishing levels of commitment and sacrifice and a truly historic occasion and you realise, life's not too bad after all - even if Sunday afternoon in Avant Money Pairc Sean Mac Diarmada resembled trench warfare in World War One!

The historic occasion is simple to explain but wasn't  witnessed by too many people up in Sligo town last Friday evening. The cheers could be heard echoing from the Showgrounds as Sligo Rovers beat Derry City to boost their SSE Airtricity Premier Division survival hopes, Leitrim's own Niall Morahan in action, but over in Mac Sharry Park, two Leitrim teams had the honour of playing the first ever Senior Women's League soccer game in the region.

You can't beat “The Big Mo”

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A well drilled and impressive Manorhamilton Rangers demonstrated the good work that has been going on in the club for years with regard to the women's game as they beat an admittedly understrength Carrick Town 5-0 in the first ever game in the Sligo Bay Lobster Women's League but, in truth, the result mattered little for this was an historic occasion for sport in the region.

Ladies gaelic football had to withstand barbs and disinterest for years before it established a real foothold in the Irish sporting psyche and last Friday's game was just the first step, a baby step if you will, but a necessary first step if women's sport is to develop. It is early days yet but you only have to look at the results over the past few years to see the great work being done in both Leitrim clubs with underage girls teams.

Ladies gaelic football might dwarf it in terms of public interest but Muireann Devaney, Dearbhaile Beirne and Ailbhe Clancy have all worn the Green of Ireland at various levels so the talent has always been there - now there is a structure that will enable those young players to continue playing as adults, the same way men do in gaelic football or soccer or the way their female counterparts do in ladies gaelic football.

Strange to say but the name Erling Haaland sprung to mind in Avant Money Pairc Sean Mac Diarmada of all places on Saturday evening - the Norwegian goal machine has as much to do with events in the Smith Monumentals IFC as I have with Neil Armstrong walking on the moon but a goal was scored in the clash of Carrigallen and Kiltubrid that was so outrageous, so incredible that if Haaland had scored it, Man City would double his wages there and then and nobody would object.

Matt Hackett's extraordinary goal for Carrigallen prompted stunned laughter, roars of disbelief and a general reaction of   “Did you see that!” Even describing it scarcely does it justice - Hackett drawing on the ball after a 60 yard run with Michael McCormack hounding the whole way. The angle (inside the 14 yard lines on the left hand side) and the distance (maybe 30 yards out) meant a hopeful point should have been the most the Carrigallen man could have expected.

But a rocket left his boot, flying like an arrow and flying to the top right hand corner. The fact that a keeper of Noel Gill's pedigree was beaten, not off his line or caught unawares, only underlines the quality of the strike in a game that featured  four quality goals that would grace any contest. That it was an unlikely occasion to see a score of that magnitude doesn't dilute the wonder - sure didn't Stephanie Roche get nominated for a Puskas award in a domestic league game in Ireland!

Sunday's double header in Pairc Sean was equally seismic but in a different way - I don't think words can do justice to the effort put in by all four teams and when Willie Donnellan, a man who has braved horrible conditions up and down the country in photographing games of every standard, tells you he never witnessed conditions as bad, you know last Sunday was out of the ordinary.

I barely walked on the field and I don't know how players running at full tilt managed to stay on their feet, let alone scoop the ball up into their hands with a chip as Ben Guckian did in the second game - I suppose the self confidence of youth would answer that one. Or how  Jordan Reynolds or Ryan O'Rourke could turn on a sixpence to fire over yet another wonder score to defy the awful conditions.

We're all champions of the world

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On foot of last week's column on America's NFL, I didn't expect to get a picture on Sunday evening all the way from the US of four Leitrim lads enjoying the action Pittsburgh's Acrisure Stadium last Sunday. Making me very envious, Gerry Gallagher from Aughawillan, Tom McCaffrey from Ballinamore, Austin Harkin from Drumkeerin and Sean McCaffrey from Chicago were cheering on the 49ers and they had a lot to cheer about as San Francisco demolished the Steelers 30-7

We can talk all we want about work needing to be done on the surface and believe me, nobody knows better than the powers that be what needs to be done with plans well underway for a new all weather playing surface. But even the Man Above would struggle to cope with the rain that poured down on the famed Pairc Sean sod last Sunday afternoon.

Those plans to install a new playing surface will entail a bit of  pain for footballers and fans with Leitrim's Allianz League games more than likely heading outside the county and no games at Pairc Sean for maybe 12 months - and when you consider how central the Carrick venue is to Leitrim GAA, it is a hell of a hit.

But as much as I admire what the players of Fenagh St Caillins, Ballinamore Sean O'Heslins; St Mary's Kiltoghert and Mohill produced last Sunday, they shouldn't be asked to risk life and limb, and they certainly did that, because the weather gods decided it'd be fun to dump the Atlantic on Leitrim last Sunday.

The cost is immense, both physical and mental: Jordan Reynolds has barely kicked a ball in anger all year but lasted almost all of the epic extra-time Mohill and Fenagh clash - you wonder how he managed to get through it all and what it took out of him ahead of the County Final.

Mark McGrory and Micheal McWeeney suffered a sickening collision in the opening minutes of the second game - accidents can happen on bone dry pitches but it is like driving at 100 mph on a bad road in January with an ice warning, you can do it but you'd be far better off not to. McWeeney is now  a doubt for the County Final which is a blow of a different kind.

You wonder what Fenagh might have done on a drier sod or what might have happened if Ballinamore had drawn level late on in their mud-wrestling with St Mary's but while the conditions undoubtedly changed what might have happened, the truth of the matter is the two  teams who delivered on the day won out.

St Mary's may have a maddening tendency to hold onto the ball a bit too much for some traditionalists but the main image I took from the game was the sheer physical power, confidence and organisational ability of the county champions - their resources were tested but let nobody ever talk about 'soft Carrick lads' any more. Ballinamore tested them to the nth degree and they passed with flying colours.

Looking for lessons from America's NFL

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What can I say about Mohill - their first half was an exhibition of football in extreme conditions, the second half and extra time  an exhibition of will power. Some will say that Fenagh had them for the taking in the second half but Mohill dragged them back into the battle and once it became a battle, I felt that Mohill had the upper hand.

Not because they are tougher than Fenagh or more experienced but because characters like Shane Quinn drove them forward. I thought the Mohill captain was immense in a game decided by tiny margins. All I know right now is that last weekend was thrilling and if the County Final is half as riveting or as revealing of inner strength and character, then we're all in for a treat on October 8.