Galway next on list as Leitrim start to dream of better days

IT wasn’t so much the win as the manner of their victory over Sligo that gave Leitrim selector Declan Bohan such satisfaction.

It was Leitrim’s first win over one of the other 31 ‘home’ counties in the championship since 2000, only their second since 1994 and their first in Carrick-in-Shannon in 14 years.

It’s hard to overstate the importance of the result.

“It is a hugely important win for the county, not least because it’s our first championship win at home since 1991,” said Bohan.

“This has been a long time coming. What really pleased me was that it was a clear-cut win. We weren’t hanging on at the end, we won it by five points and I think Sligo would be the first to hold their hands up and say they have no complaints.”

As spring turned into summer, those in the know out west pointed to this fixture as one to burn the bookies’ fingers. That was on the back of NFL campaigns that left Sligo in despair and Leitrim hoping to go on to better things. But championship success was paramount.

“The league suggested we were going in the right direction but we wanted to be judged on the summer,”

Bohan said. There might not be a lot of tremors over our win, but it means a lot to us in Leitrim.”

No-one is getting carried away by the result just yet. Bohan was quick to point to Sligo’s repeated shortcomings in front of the posts and Leitrim’s inability to compete for breaking ball around the middle of the field.

Still, the fact that they recovered to keep their neighbours scoreless for the final 20 minutes showed guts. They’ll need more of the same against Galway.

“Most people would expect a Galway/Mayo final and that’s not being disrespectful to ourselves or Roscommon. We accept that and we know what it’s like to be underdogs.

When Leitrim beat Roscommon in the Connacht semi-final five years ago, it was Galway who ended their provincial party. Leitrim should welcome back at least one of their injured forwards, but the key battle it will be at the other end of the field.

“Our full-back line will be coming up against a very strong Galway full-forward line. The outcome of that will go a long way to deciding the game.”