Connacht SFC First round - Leitrim 1-10 Sligo 0-10:THE DAY is the whole show. The All-Ireland championship is such a sprawling beast of a competition with an emphasis on silverware and winning and – that most joyless of terms – progress – that we too often forget about the day itself.
Yesterday, Leitrim brought that too the sporting summer.
They won in Markievicz Park – their first triumph against Connacht opposition since 2005 – and they celebrated in the shadow of Ben Bulben as if there was no tomorrow. It was wonderful.
There were Leitrim men on the field afterwards who looked as if they could have floated over the mountain and back to the homesteads.
This was a famous and deserved victory and it was a triumph of the spirit of adventure as well as for Mickey Moran’s young team. There was nothing of the cagey doggedness or caution that marks the approach of many teams.
Leitrim attacked from the start, built a quick lead and generally looked sharper and brighter than the home team all afternoon.
They might have blown it. Sligo recovered to level the match at 0-8 each after 52 minutes and, at that point, the old story – Leitrim gallant but ultimately defeated – looked a likelihood.
But then Conor Beirne – the 19 -year-old Eslin man and one of seven Leitrim players starting his first championship game – struck the point of the day and it was clear the visitors were not going to settle for just another brave effort.
One minute later, Beirne was in the right place to collect a breaking ball and hammer it to the net. Soon Stephen Coen flashed a point at the other end to make it 1-9 to 0-9. But that score was one of the few examples of the kind of swift counterpunch which defined Sligo last year.
They lacked that edge and movement here, as if still suffering to rediscover their co-ordinates after the body blow they shipped in last year’s Connacht final.
The introduction of Seán Davey at midfield and Mark Breheny after half-time made Sligo look a lot more authoritative but when they review the tape of this, they will be hard pressed to find even a ten-minute period when they hit their stride and resembled the side their crowd have come to expect.
But then, Leitrim didn’t allow them to. Mickey Moran’s decision to play seven new men was interpreted by everyone as a concession that he was building for future summers. The possibility that they were there because of merit and ability was overlooked.
“Youth has no fear,” Kevin Walsh, the Sligo boss, remarked afterwards. And that summed it up. Leitrim’s play in the opening 20 minutes was a joy, full of invention and smart passing and a willingness to have a pop.
Tomás Beirne, brother of the full forward, had a smashing game at midfield, safe and intelligent on the ball. His partner Daniel Lowe was also in the thick of things for 50 minutes.
But the Leitrim defence was outstanding for craft and bravery, with Wayne McKeon just about eclipsing Gary Reynolds and Dermot Reynolds for the man-of-the-match ornament and Ronan Gallagher, the full back, bursting forward to win the free that gave Leitrim a four-point cushion in the last five minutes.
Emlyn Mulligan’s return to championship offered just a glimpse of the options he brings to his team: for Leitrim fans, it was a relief he lasted the match after going down clutching his ankle just minutes in.
As it turned out, he did leave the field early after engaging in a wrestling bout with Sligo veteran Eamon O’Hara. Both men were admonished by the referee – Rory Hickey stood in for Joe Curley after just eight minutes – and departed the field the best of friends, all handshakes and back pats.
By then, the Leitrim bench was lined up in expectation of the final whistle. It must have been a despairing few minutes for the Sligo men. Charlie Harrison, their All-Star corner back lashed a free over the bar in a desperate attempt to resurrect a draw.
But it shouldn’t have been that close: Leitrim missed three 50s in that second half and should have been further than 0-08 to 0-05 ahead at half-time.
Brian Curran and O’Hara both drew red cards as the frustration told and a bit of a brawl broke out as normal time elapsed.
How tough for Sligo, after their startling results against Mayo and Galway a year ago, to find themselves suffering a similar sting from the Connacht team so often brushed aside on these opening days. But not here.
This was a day to remember.
LEITRIM: C McCrann: D Reynolds, R Gallagher, P Maguire; P Prior, G Reynods, W McKeon (0-1); T Beirne (0-1), D Lowe; P Brennan (0-1), E Mulligan (0-1 free), R Lowe; A Croal (0-1), C Beirne (1-4, one free), J Glancy (0-1). Subs: B McDonald for P Brennan (56 mins), D Sweeney for D Lowe (58 mins), Yellow cards: G Reynolds (37 mins), E Mulligan (39, 69 mins), P Maguire (51 mins), B McDonald (63 mins). Red card: E Mulligan (69 mins).
SLIGO: P Greene; C Harrison (0-1 free), R Donovan, N Ewing; P McGovern, B Curran, D Rooney; S Gilmartin, T Taylor (0-1); A Costello, E O’Hara, F Quinn (0-1); S Coen (0-1), K Sweeney, A Marren (0-4, two frees). Subs: S Davey for S Gilmartin (28 mins), M Brehony (0-2, one free) for K Sweeney (33), D Maye for A Costello (61 mins), B Egan for F Quinn (64), K Cawley for M Breheny (69 mins inj). Yellow cards: P McGovern (16 mins), D Rooney (34 mins), M Breheny (36), A Marren (46 mins), E O’Hara (59, 69 mins). Red cards: B Curran (68 mins), E O’Hara (69 mins).
Referee: J Curley (Meath) (R Hickey (8 min).
While Sligo now await the first round of the All-Ireland qualifiers , Leitrim can look forward to a date with Roscommon on June 12th.
