Leitrim didn't themselves justice in second half says manager Mike Wall
Lory Meagher Cup Final reaction: Leitrim boss couldn’t ask any more of his players in five point loss
Proud of the effort of his players, a frustrated Mike Wall felt that Leitrim just didn’t do themselves justice in the second half of Sunday’s Lory Meagher Cup Final in Croke Park, as Longford turned a two point deficit into a five point win by the time the final whistle sounded.
A lively Leitrim took the game to their neighbours for the first 40 minutes but were left ruing four missed goal chances in the first half but Wall was more inclined to point to his own team’s second half fade-out as the cause of the defeat at GAA headquarters.
“We didn't do ourselves any favours or certainly didn't do ourselves justice for the year we've had with that second half performance,” Mike told the Observer outside a very downcast Leitrim dressing room in the bowels of the Cusack Stand, adding “That's what's killing us because there's losing and then there's losing and just not playing well.
“We played very well in the first half, I thought maybe the first 10 minutes, Longford were probably a little bit on top and maybe they should have been a point or two ahead but I thought coming into half time we were certainly the better team.
“I even thought at the start of the first half we played very well but I suppose after the last 20 minutes we didn't do ourselves justice. We just couldn't get our hands on the ball but we were very unlucky too, we hit a few wayward wides.”
Reuben Murray’s poachers goal 16 minutes into the second half edged Longford in front and they never looked back as the Leitrim challenge faded: “A goal was always going to be a massive turning point and, then again, if we'd have got our goal a few minutes earlier.
“It's not like we weren't threatening, we were. We created better chances. That being said, Clement brought off a brilliant save in the second half as well. When they got ahead, you have to give Longford credit. If you're going to lose against anyone this year, I'm glad it's them, they do things right.”
The Leitrim manager also paid tribute to the appliance and spirit of his team: “It just wasn't to be today. It's disappointing, the lads are absolutely gutted - they left it all out there. They didn't lose for the want of trying but we just didn't get the run in the middle today. We hit a few bad wides in every match this year but we had a few bad wides there coming down the home straight.
“If we got one or two more of them, you would have got into the last few minutes just looking for a goal. But what can you do? I'm not going to sit here and talk about moral victories or anything like that. We've had a great run of it. We've had a very good year but unfortunately we fell short of our goal. It's going to be a tough one to take.”
The loss of ace marksman Daniel Miller was sorely felt on Sunday even if Mike felt that Leitrim’s other forwards performed well: “It is true that we missed Daniel today, but again, five or six forwards scored and even the forward that didn't score contributed a lot defensively and set up scores and all like that.
“But as I’ve said before, at this level you cannot replace a Daniel Miller. Unfortunately he was injured against Longford. Dan would have been a massive help there today, we're very hurt not to have him but again, I thought the lads tried their hearts out and you couldn't ask any more of them than that.”
Picking up the pieces will be hard to do, even after so many positives this season, as Mike himself acknowledged: “When is there a good time to talk about it? We've made good strides now and we're not going to take that away from ourselves or the lads or the team, the group, the hurling people of Leitrim.
“The one thing I would be saying is, the last three weeks, the level of support we've got from the entire county has been phenomenal. Not just maybe people that wouldn't even come to Leitrim Hurling matches and they were here in their droves again today. These boys, the county should be extremely proud of them.
“But, in my opinion, if we don't keep driving on, the last two years have been a waste. Even if we won today, if we don't drive on next year, it would have been a waste. So we'll see what happens.”