Leitrim stick with winning formula
Leitrim manager Mickey Moran has kept faith with the team that beat Sligo in naming an unchanged side for Sunday's Connacht SFC semi-final against Roscommon.
Recent debutants Paul Brennan, Robert Lowe, Adrian Croal and Conor Beirne are retained in attack, with fellow newcomers Ronan Gallagher, Paddy Maguire and Daniel Lowe also keeping their places in the line-up.
The 19-year-old Beirne's second half goal steered Leitrim to a 1-10 to 0-10 quarter-final victory over Sligo last month. Making his long-awaited Championship return, fit-again centre-forward Emlyn Mulligan chipped in with two points.
Despite that opening win and the fact that they have home advantage at Páirc Seán Mac Diarmada on Sunday (throw-in 2pm), Leitrim will have the all too familiar underdogs' tag around their necks.
But selector Brian Breen, who was a member of Leitrim's Connacht title-winning side of 1994, said: "Leitrim thrive on being underdogs, God help us if one day we were favourites. That's our aim to fix that stat.
"This is new team, a brand new team. They haven’t lost in Carrick, they haven’t lost in the Championship, that is the way I look at it and the glory of it is the unknown, of what they are capable of doing.
"We know what they are capable of doing, whether they do or not is up to them."
The winners of Sunday's clash will face Mayo or Galway in the Connacht decider on Sunday, July 17.
LEITRIM (SFC v Roscommon): Cathal McCrann; Dermot Reynolds, Ronan Gallagher, Paddy Maguire; Barry Prior, Gary Reynolds, Wayne McKeon; Tomás Beirne, Daniel Lowe; Paul Brennan, Emlyn Mulligan, Robert Lowe; Adrian Croal, Conor Beirne, James Glancy (capt).
