Glencar Manorhamilton ​chasing one in a row and not Leitrim LGFA SFC record says McManus

​Glencar Manorhamilton may be chasing a record equalling seventh Leitrim LGFA Senior Championship in a row but the attitude their manager Terry McManus is driving home ahead of Saturday’s clash with St Joseph’s in Heartland Credit Union Pairc Sean Mac Diarmada is that they are chasing a one in a row each and every year!​

Asked about the danger of complacency after a campaign that saw 18 points as their lowest winning margin, Terry admitted that Glencar Manorhamilton are conscious of it but determined not to lose focus: “That is a danger - you’re a victim of your own success, waiting for a fall. What we try to focus on is that every year, we’re going for one in a row - I know it's a bit of a cliche, but we're focusing on the game that is in front of us, the one in a row is all that really matters because with the changeover of players.

“You cannot afford to get complacent in this business because St. Joseph's will take advantage of us if we do because they are a tough, resilient outfit and they can beat us if we're casual about it. Complacency is a problem, but if you look at the All-Ireland Men’s Final this year, we tell them that Kerry were odds on to beat Mayo and they didn’t.”

In fact, Terry points out that the champions are without five players who started last year’s final but credits the impact of young players coming into the squad: “The group we have this year is very different to the group last year, even though the big key players are still there. We're down five starters from last year and that means the new young girls coming in and they want to win as well so that's what's happening. There's a kind of an infusion of youth every year, so it helps.

“The girls, 14, 15 or 16-year-olds, they're coming in as if they were in their mid-20s. That's the truth. They're ready to go, there's very little coaching needed with them. They're very intelligent footballers and they're lucky in that you have the senior players around them to help them out. But the young players are very, very promising but what I can't believe the hunger that's within the group of players.”

Neither does Terry believe Saturday’s Final is going to be a cakewalk that many predict - “Last year’s Final was level at halftime and only for Muireann Devaney got a goal before halftime, we’d have been going in three points down and St Joseph’s can raise their game. You have to admire them, they're resilient, they don't go away.

“St. Joseph's, they have huge experience. This is the fourth final in a row we are playing them in but those strong St. Joseph's girls, the Heslins and all them, are going back to them in 2016, 17, 18 and 19. So they have huge experience. We don't underestimate them. We beat them very well in the round robin phase but coming down the road, we were actually talking among ourselves, saying we'll meet them in the final, if we get to it, because that's the kind they are.”

Glencar Manorhamilton also also boosted by a strong representation in Jonny Garrity’s Leitrim squad: “We had seven girls up with the Leitrim senior team this year and there were games when the seven of them playing - you had Dearbhla ROoney, Rebecca Rooney, Aopife Gilmartin, Anna Devaney, Leah Devaney and of course Muireann and Leah.

“That's a great base when they come back from the county, ready to go. They get good training with the Leitrim management and then they come back to us, they bring what they have to the table.”

Chasing Aughawillan’s record of seven in a row is something Terry, who highlights the role played by his management team of David Gaffney, Brian McDonald and Fidelma Loughlin in Manor’s march to the final, is aware of: “Aughawillan’s record is a fantastic record, I actually remember all those game quite well.

“Definitely people thought there would never be another seven in a row and there still isn't a seven in a row but we're going to try. You have to be confident, our players are playing well, playing an attractive brand of football. We're trying to get them running off the shoulder, we have great speed in the team.

“A lot of them are very tough, they're tough operators and they know how to play football. Aoife Gilmartin is our captain but we have loads of leaders all over the field, they're all chatting to each other and directing each other on the field. We're in a lucky place at the moment, I’m old enough to remember that it doesn’t last, we have to make it where the sun shines. That's our attitude to it.”