Conor doesn't want 2022 to be a flash in the pan for St Mary's Kiltoghert

Their year may have come to a disappointing end last Saturday but St Mary’s are already setting their sights on 2023 as they seek to defend their Leitrim Senior title and make a bigger impact at provincial level according to joint captain Conor Farrell.

A 0-8 to 0-6 loss to Tourlestrane will sting for quite a while but for Conor, the Sligo team’s greater experience probably told the tale in Avant Money Pairc Sean Mac Diarmada: “I think so, that is Tourlestrane’s seventh year in a row having a go at this, this is our first year. Last week we went to Ruislip and there was a bit of pressure on us to get a result there.

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“We stuck at it and it was our first game in a couple of weeks. The first half we struggled a bit and to come away from Ruislip with a win was a serious boost to us. Coming here today, we believed we could get a result again. We played some serious football in the first half, I thought we showed a lot of maturity in the way we held the ball, waited for spaces to exploit it.”

St Mary’s first half left them poised to reach the Connacht Final but a more aggressive Tourlestrane force the Leitrim champions onto the back foot in the second half: “It was going well at halftime, we were in a good place but in the second half, I think they just got a bit of a press on us. 

“We started to force it a bit going down the middle, they turned us over a couple of times. We knew there was going to be nothing in it, a couple of points. They managed to get level, get one in front and they showed their experience in the second half.”

St Mary's left with regrets as Tourlestrane suffocate them in second half

ST MARY'S KILTOGHERT 0-6 TOURLESTRANE 0-8

The failure to score in the second half proved costly: “If you go back to the county final against Mohill, it was a similar situation where we were absorbing their attacks, turning them over but I think when you do that, you have to capitalise yourself, especially with a wind like that, you have to get one or two scores on the board to give yourself that cushion. 

“That didn’t happen for us today, we just couldn’t force a score and they grinded it out, got themselves ahead and stayed in front.”

Yet Conor, one of the veterans on a very young St Mary’s team, sees plenty of positives: “We talked about that after the game, we’ve had lots of high this year in games, getting results late on. We’ve talked about how the young team is and if we look at where we were at 12 months ago, going out to Ballinamore and getting a serious beating from them.

“To bounce back and win the County Championship and get to a Connacht Semi-Final and be that close to a Connacht Club Final bodes well for us. Hopefully we can kick on next year and it is not just a flash in the pan, one year sort of thing.”

Heartbreak for St Mary's as Tourlestrane ends Connacht dreams - GALLERY

Despite a superb first half display, St Mary's Kiltoghert's dreams of reaching the AIB Connacht Club SFC Final were ended as Sligo champions Tourlestrane overcame them 0-8 to 0-6 in Avant Money Pairc Sean Mac Diarmada on Saturday. Observer photographer Willie Donnellan snapped fans who braved the wind, rain and cold to cheer on their heroes .... see who you can spot!

But that also means the work has to be done as Conor stresses the challenge facing St Mary’s in defending the Fenagh Cup: “The work still has to be done, Alan has already talked about next year and whenever we get back together, you are starting a new year again. 

“You’re not county champions in January, you’ve got to earn it again and you achieve success through hard work and working for each other. We’ll enjoy the Christmas but come January, we’re back to square one and hopefully we will go again next year and have a similar year to the one we’ve just had.”