Conditions made life difficult but captain Michelle delighted with battling Leitrim display

On a day when you wouldn’t want to put your head outside the door, Leitrim battled to a second victory in the Lidl LGFA Division 4 campaign so it was no surprise that captain Michelle Guckian pointed to the resilience and character of her team in the victory over Wicklow.

“I have to just give it to Ballinamore, the pitch is in exceptional shape given all the rain last night and today but the wind took it out of us,” said a shivering Michelle after the game, “We didn’t take our chances in the first half with that strong breeze and I have to say that Wicklow capitalised on that in the second half.

“But we kept our composure, kept our game plan, kept chipping away at it - it is not the game plan we wanted to go by but we got the result we wanted. Conditions made it tough but the girls did very well, everybody was pushing up on the ball and when we needed to, we got goals.”

Goals crucial as Leitrim ride their luck against impressive Wicklow

LEITRIM 4-6 WICKLOW 0-15

Getting the win is all that mattered although coming through such conditions could stand to Leitrim in the future, believes Michelle: “I don’t know if we’ll play in weather like that again this year, hopefully not. It is good to be a little diverse like that, to rely on different game plans, that is not plain sailing the whole time and that we have to adapt to it.”

Four goals ultimately proved the difference on the day as Leitrim held off a stubborn Wicklow, something the Leitrim captain wasn’t surprised by: “Goals win games, we have a great forward line to give ball into - we have speed, we have power and it is great to see that our chances did come off. 

“Wicklow are a very tough team, we knew that coming into the game that it was going to be completely different game from last week and we knew it was going to be a tough, tough battle. Two years ago, Wicklow put us out of the championship down in Drumshanbo so we knew we had a tough battle. 

“They always give us a tough game just like when we went down to Wicklow last year. They had some exceptional players too, there was some serious freetaking by Sinead McGettigan so we’re glad to get the win, glad to get the points on the board so we will push on against Derry for next week.”

Fans brave Storm Isha to cheer on Leitrim victory over Wicklow in Ballinamore - GALLERY

Fans braved Storm Isha on Sunday afternoon to cheer on Leitrim in their 4-6 to 0-15 victory over Wicklow in the Lidl LGFA Division 4 tie in Pairc Sheain Ui Eslin and Observer photographer Willie Donnellan was there, snapping away in the rain ... see who you can spot!

New faces on the panel have added impetus to the squad for 2024 added the Leitrim captain: “We have a lot of games this year and we've got a lot of girls who will get game time they didn’t get last year. It is good to see new people in on the panel this year, good to see them getting a run out and proving themselves. We know they can do it in training so good to see them doing it in games.”