Qualifiers 2019 - 5 Like(s)
Look I do think that team if they start as named (which is not a guarantee) will be good enough to beat Wicklow especially with the impact from the bench it's going to be tight though. However, that team is disheartening. It looks as if Terry is gone back to the stereotype that followed him around when he managed Cavan that he is a defensive manager that lacks trust in forwards. Here's how it looks like they'll line up McCrann McWeeney Maguire Flynn McWeeney Reynolds McCaffery Mulvey Quinn Plunkett Dolan Flynn O'Rourke Sweeney Moran Now I could be wrong with a few of the positions but I'd be flabbergasted to see Mark Plunkett back at centre back. I actually though he was coming to terms with the position before they moved him back to midfield for the league final but since he went to no 8 he has been our best player. So to now switch him again would be hard to figure out. He ended up at full back in the league game in Derry could we see him marking McGraynor? (hopefully not). His one weakness is pace and McLoughlin for Wicklow who will probably be no 11 has pace to burn so it'd be crazy to waste Plunkett on him Domhnail Flynn hasn't been up to it but as I guessed he has retained his place as he is a left footed free taker. Evan Sweeney was just as bad as Gary Plunkett in the Hyde but once again Plunkett gets dropped which is hard to figure out especially when you compare both players body of work for club and county. I'm assuming Oisin McCaffery won't be at midfield as he plays full back for his club. There was talk before the Roscommon game that he was moving well in training but like Fergal McTague to put him in midfield a position he doesn't play with his club for his debut would be another massive gamble. Especially when Pearce Dolan is a midfielder but is named at full forward! Shane Moran is named at midfield when he didn't move from full forward when we were getting destroyed there in the Hyde? My overall point is that there's no consistency and that young Fergal McTague looks like he has been made a scapegoat along with Gary Plunkett (Again). The Jack Heslin situation is the one that has been frustrating me. Terry clearly thinks he doesn't works hard enough off the ball but to me he gives us pace which we are lacking and he takes defenders away from Ryan O'Rourke with his movement and gives us an out ball. I'm hearing Cillian McGloin hasn't been fully fit so maybe that's why he isn't named to start. From looking at that team it looks like the plan is to keep things tight in the first half and hope that O'Rourke gets back on song and then Heslin, Plunkett and McGloin see the game out for us in the 2nd half. Like the Louth game last year I think the boys will surprise a lot of people and give us a big performance. But from our league panel we're missing: Darragh Rooney, Conor Cullen, Emlyn Mulligan, Eoin Ward, Damien Moran, James Rooney, Gary Reynolds, Sean Flanagan so it'll be interesting to see the make-up of our bench. If Ryan can play like we all know he can and Moran plays like he did in the Hyde and Plunkett and Dolan control the middle third and Maguire and co shut down Wicklows attackers there no reason we can't win. On a side note any talk of a rift in the camp isn't true I don't agree with many of Terrys selections but that doesn't mean people should stir things that arent true. We've achieved our main goal of promotion and have a big year next year so we all need to get behind the lads.

OnTheBank (Leitrim) - 06/06/2019 19:45:08

Connacht Championship - 5 Like(s)
To say yesterday was frustrating and deflating in equal measure is an understatement. There's many different variable as to why we looked so flat and off the pace? Is it that we started back earlier than other teams and peaked for the league? I'm trying to be as considerate as I can about yesterday's performance in the context of the year as a whole but it is very difficult to not go overboard. Firstly let's start with the positives. Shane Moran was immense at Full forward. The Roscommon Fullback line couldn't handle him. It was a disgrace that he never got more protection from the Ref or that his many was not booked after fouling him 6/7 times. I thought Mark Plunkett was excellent at midfield and won his battle with his man which is even more impressive when we were being so over run in this sector of the field. Shane Quinn apart from his stupid sending off (which he really needs to get out of his game) was also very good. Likewise with Paddy Maguire. If I was told beforehand that Diarmuid Murtagh would only score 1 point from play I would have been very hopeful. Now to decipher some of the many failings. I have been a big supporter of this management team since they were chosen and I will support them going forward but yesterday and for the league final they made some horrendous personal, positional and tactical calls that didn't give us any hope of even competing in the game. Terry has got a lot of praise and media attention so he now needs to take accountability for some terrible decisions. How they haven't got a settled team by now is crazy. Let's get to the obvious one first. The manager hung young Fergal McTague out to dry. I like many other followers of Leitrim club football have been excited about his emergence as a fullback as it's a position we haven't been able to fill since John McKeown and I believed and still believe that he is the answer. In all of the big games or any games that I have heard of or seen Aughawillan play not once have I seen him at midfield? He has only played 30 mins of competitive football for Leitrim in a 30 minute cameo in a dead rubber against Derry so to put him in a position so vital as midfield was plain stupid. After 20 mins his man had scored 2-1 and McTague had been booked so they had to take him off. It was game over then and anything we did after that was irrelevant to be honest. From what I believe he hadn't even been tried at midfield in any of the challenge games beforehand and only learned late last week that he might be midfield. That would not occur in any other county. Were must his mind-set be today? This was even more stupid when you consider that Michael McWeeney was so far off Conor Cox who we all assumed McTague would be marking. I've never seen so many Leitrim fans as annoyed by the treatment of a young player. Secondly, Aidan Flynn. At the beginning of the year I would have doubted whether Aidan was good enough for County football but he has proved me completely wrong. He was one of our most consistent players throughout the league and from what I know is the fittest player on the panel in any of the testing. He has started every game and done well so to then drop him when he wasn't injured was strange. This was made even worse by then bringing him on as a forward when 2 of our defenders were on Yellow cards and clearly struggling. Thirdly, all throughout the league we played a sweeper system against poor Division 4 sides. Then when it came to the only decent one in Derry and against a Div 1 team with class forwards we don't employ a sweeper system and our defence gets shredded open time and time again. We were playing Sean McWeeney as that sweeper and it probably suited his ball reading and coolness in possession but it also shielded him from man marking where his lack of pace was a serious concern. Yet when we come to play Roscommon he is detailed to be no.6 and marking Roscommons fastest forward in Cathal Cregg?? Our kickout strategy was non-existent. We played Pearce Dolan at wing Forward yet didn't target him with any kickouts!? McCrann was really jittery early on and the only tactic he did was to boom as many kickouts onto Mark Plunkett as possible who competed well but was against 2 men most of the time. Compare this to Roscommons strategy which was brilliant. When we went short it worked better but the game was over by then. A look at our forwards. I don't want to be personal here but how Domhnail Flynn started and finished both yesterday and the league final is beyond me. He looked unfit or unable to track his man or even have any impact on the game in an attacking sense. His man just left him and doubled up on Mark Plunkett at any opportunity. This was even more annoying seen as Jack Heslin was left on the bench. Evan Sweeney was similar. He couldn't find the little pockets of space he normally finds and did not have the required power to track his man which was killing us. Gary Plunkett looked like a shell of a player he is for Aughawillan and a footballer with absolutely no confidence which probably dates back to how he was treated during the league final. Nothing would go right for him. Ryan O'Rourke was okay but we need so much more from him if we are going to compete. He had a few good moments where he looked dangerous but he has to become a little more street smart. He was being pulled and dragged but just let it happen whereas the Ross players bought frees or alerted the umpires etc. I thought Pearce Dolan was holding his own without being spectacular. Why they took him off and replaced him with a defender is unknown and hard to figure out. They seem to just have decided before every game to take him off at some stage no matter what is happening on the field? Shane Moran was a revelation at full forward and if his finishing was better we really could have rocked them early on. They couldn't get to grips with him. But it has to be asked why has he not been played here before? And also why was he played there and left in there yesterday when we were being annihilated at midfield when Moran has been our most impressive performer all year around the middle? The most obvious thing yesterday was how far we are behind in strength and conditioning. Now some of that is natural as many of our players are young and Ross have been implementing their S&C plan a lot longer than us but there's no reason why we should have been so far off them. This is even more important when we consider that our S&C coach is so inexperienced. Would he have been given a role in any other county? And also Damien Morans injury…. Look yesterday was nightmare and the game was over after 20 minutes but we have still been promoted and have the basis of a very good young squad but there's no doubt there's areas where the management and the players can improve on for next year. Hopefully we get a decent draw for the qualifiers but it will be hard for the squad to recoup after how badly that went.

OnTheBank (Leitrim) - 13/05/2019 12:01:25

Division 4 - National League - 5 Like(s)
Few things from Celtic Park the other night. Wouldn't get to hung up on the result and we did rally at one point in the second half which was a positive. Outside of that though it was a poor performance. Good to get game time into a few returning players. And to only be down a point at half time with so many players making debuts is a real positive. Find it very hard to understand how Gary Reynolds wasn't started or given proper game time we're already playing Mark Plunkett out of position so to not try out someone else here was strange? Hard to understand was how we're left in a scenario were Plunkett actually finished at full back on Saturday. We surely needed to see if Reynolds is still good enough or not? We badly struggled in the middle third. Derry are physically imposing around the middle third so it'll have to be an area we target in 2 weeks. Darragh Rooney had an excellent first half. But overall it's hard to judge to much on the game as Derry were dominant and we were missing so many. Thought Oisin Madden did his chances no harm. Here's what I would go with on Saturday. McCrann Flynn McTague M.McWeeney Madden Reynolds Mulvey McGovern Cullen McGloin Rooney Heslin Mulligan G.Plunkett Sweeney No point in picking a defensive team against Waterford. Would be good to get more game time into Fergal McTague and Madden. And Rest McKiernan, Quinn, S. McWeeney, Maguire, Moran, Mark Plunkett, Flynn and O'Rourke. Still loads of talent in that team which shows our depth this year. Heslin probably needs game time but it is said he's doing full training for the last few weeks but they were just holding him back.

OnTheBank (Leitrim) - 21/03/2019 14:15:47

Club Championship - 4 Like(s)
I was at all four quarter Finals over the weekend. I must say the standard of Leitrim Football has been raised enormously over the last 4 years. Balinamore tried to capitalise on the two most obvious things about Manor this year: their full back line can be taken to the cleaners and most of their attacks come from their half back line. They put Dean McGovern at wing forward which made sure the Manor half backs had to drop a little deeper which worked well and more importantly they went with just a two man full forward line in Shane Moran and Niall McGovern. They created havoc. This should be Moran's position for club and county for good now no debate. N McGovern started to show some of his undoubted potential and he is a massive man if he could be got into a better physical condition he could dominate any match he plays in - County football included. For Manor James Glancy was once again their best player which is extraordinary when you consider his age and they dogging he was receiving from his man whom he roasted. Evan Sweeney was very lively inside but missed a costly free near the end which would have killed the game. Brady also took his goals expertly. Donal Feely won a world of breaks around the middle for Ballinamore aswell. A draw was probably a fair result. Mohill burnt Allen Gales off after the first 20 minutes and could have won by any margin they wanted in reality. Mohill will be worried about the amount of goal chances they gave up however. For Allen Gales even though they were well bet they looked to be showing more promise than other years if they can be kept together. They have a young gem of a footballer in Caleb Duffy that we will all be hearing more about if he continues to play like that. Mohill still look to be the strongest team with most options and Keith Beirne will only get better once his fitness returns. Oisin Madden also got a class goal that I wish a video could be got off. Ran 50 yards off the shoulder of his teammate and buried a shot into the top corner. Carrick did what they had to do against Gort it was never going to be a cake walk but they got the job done. Ray Mulvey and Nicholas McWeeney will cause trouble for any team with the pace and power they possess. Think they look weak at midfield however and Michael McWeeney is filling a lot of holes in the full back line. They need to find a go to man in their forward line though otherwise teams are going to just clog up the space around the middle third and stop their runners. Aughawillan certainly don't make things easy for themselves anyway. They came out the right side of a dog fight with Kinlough. Mulligan kept them in it with frees in the first half many which seemed to be soft but Aughawillans defenders were naïve at times as I'm sure they were warned not to give up easy opportunities like that. In Mark Plunkett they arguably possess the best overall footballer in the county and he was the one that kept them going in the first half against the wind when they were up against it. He probably forced a few shots in the second half but any team that plays them need to double mark him in my view. In Pearce Dolan they might have another player not far behind Plunkett. Another video from the weekend I would like to see is he outrageous catch on the edge of his own square in the dying minutes which pretty much settled the game for them. They're playing him on the edge of the square as a foil for Gary Plunkett which is working but once he is back to full fitness I would say he will be back out around the middle. The least talked about player they have is Fergal McTague they've put him back full back and at different stages he nullified both Muligan and Dara Rooney. He's a massive man with good pace, very raw yet but he will definitely be on Terry Hylands radar. Melvin Gaels need maybe two or three fresh players for next year and they will be right in contention. Young Rooney and McGloin look like they need a complete break from football for a wee while to recharge as they have played a lot of football with pressure on their shoulders for two lads still U20.

OnTheBank (Leitrim) - 17/09/2018 13:21:49

Kerry V Galway - 4 Like(s)
There's a lot to be said when Galway go to Tralee and win their fourth game in a row and certain pundits and even some of our own supporters aren't happy. On Lavelle his kick outs have been good and he is the only keeper left in any of the Divisons that still hasn't conceded a goal. We are being overly critical if we are still looking to hammer him. From what I know Walsh is trying to use the keeper weather that is Power or Lavelle as an extra man especially against teams who go man to man so the keeper will then be free. Monaghan, Cavan and Armagh and a few more teams have been trying this. Before his mistake towards the end he gave a great 40 yard ball that directly led to a score when he came out of the goals which is what Walsh wants. I'd be more worried about our ball winning ability at midfield from our own Kickouts as this is an area where Mayo are at their strongest as their half backs than surge on from them. Lavelle's execution has been good in general but the midfielders/ Halfbacks have been desperate at winning them. Anyway, I can't see the management switching such a pivotal position after a whole league period when we have conceded no goals so far. Burke, Silke and Daly will definitely come in when they are fit or back. Molloy could also be an option at wing back or atleast as an impact sub with his pace and engine. The Sweeneys are struggling but I was impressed with Kelly the other day. Kerrins and Heaney have improved an untold amount in the last two seasons and now look comfortable at this level. We do need to find a better system for getting out to most influential players (Comer/Walsh) on the ball in more dangerous zones as to often they have too much work to do when they receive the ball. Brannigan was brilliant and his pace is such a threat but once his decision making improves I feel he will be even better. Other than that though not many people at the beginning of the year would have said we would be in the position we are in. So credit to the boys and management.

OnTheBank (Galway) - 27/02/2018 11:32:38

National League 2018 - 4 Like(s)
Once again our players are being shown up unfairly. Someone needs to shout stop. The county board should be ashamed of themselves. How can they say what they are doing is in the best interests of Leitrim football or these players? We haven't had a proficient management team with a proven track record since 2011 when Mickey Moran stepped down? Ask yourself the question, how many management jobs would Sean Hagan, Barney Breen, Shane Ward or Benny Guckian get in any other counties? This is a small county we all know atleast one player, Its been apparent since very shortly after Benny took over that he wasn't up to task. But that is not an insult against him he has been a legend in Leitrim football and wanted to test himself. My issue is that the county board should never have taken the option of selecting him as he didn't have the CV to back up. How is it that Ryan O'Rourke can be seen fit to captain a Sigerson team full of inter-county players and then him and Keith Beirne be his teams two best players? Yet yesterday they made no impact? Why is it that Plunkett starts for DCU Sigerson and gets Aussie Rules trials and has been committed to Leitrim football for years yet won't commit this year? How is it that Mohill gave a good impression of themselves against Castlebar yet we can't come up with a system to even give us a chance against Div 4 outfits? Aughawillan won two out of the last 4 championships with a young team and all their player's bar one won't commit to this management and the one who does doesn't get selected or brought on? People keep saying we don't have the players, maybe that was the case 4 years ago but the current generation are more than good enough to get within less than 10 points of an average Antrim team or not to be beaten by a record 17 points by Roscommon. The common denominator is poor management. Benny Flyyn, Paddy McGuire, Paul Brennan, Donal Wrynn, Shane Moran, Shane Quinn, Noel Plunkett, Dean McGovern , Pearce Dolan, Kevin Conlan, Keith Beirne, Mark Plunkett, Darragh Rooney, Conor Cullen, Emlyn Mulligan are all exceptional players to name a few. I'm not saying we are world beaters but the players are there but we are expecting them to turn water into wine if we think results are going to be any different without the right management and structures in place. If something doesn't change soon the best players in a generation are going to be wasted. And if people say these players are over rated I recall that being said about Paul Brennan who if anyone seen yesterday is thriving in a high performance set up for Donegal. The same would happen here for our players (many of who are in their early 20s) if we expected the same standards. I also hope people don't buy this "spin" of "we has so many debutants and they will need time to develop". There's a reason we have to bring in a raft of new players because the old ones wouldn't commit to this inept set-up.

OnTheBank (Leitrim) - 29/01/2018 13:06:31

Club Championship 2019 - 3 Like(s)
Watched 3 games in our senior championship this weekend. Watched Aughnasheelin and St Marys on Thursday night. Marys won easily but in a strange way its Aughnasheelin who come out with more of the credit. They're missing a raft of players but at times still rattled Mary's. Barry McWeeny who in my eyes has been one of the best and most consistent players in Leitrim in the last 20 years (still a better centre back than anyone on the county panel this year) drove them on until he was black carded. St Marys are coming but aren't there yet to be considered contenders. They have some lovely young players in the likes of Diffley but I still think they need another year or two before they will really challenge the big guns. On their day they could well cause a shock to some of the favorites, especially if Mulvey is on form. I then went to the double header in Pairc Sean on Saturday evening. Not over-exaggerating to say that the quality in the first game between Dromahair and Allen Gaels was disgraceful. Thank god we are reducing the number of teams in the Senior championship next year as it has to be damaging our top teams playing the likes of these pair who just are nowhere near Senior championship level. It's not unfair to say they would be average Junior clubs in Mayo, Cavan or Galway. The only shining light in the game was Caleb Duffy. He is a brilliant young talent. Everything must be done to get him included in the senior inter-county set-up for 2020 even if he is in college abroad. Then to the big game of the weekend with Ballinamore and Augahwillan. It has to be noted that conditions were poor and didn't help the spectacle. Ballinamore won by three but in truth they could have won by a lot more as they seemed to be the only team really interested in the game and it was only the clichéd (at this stage) Aughawillan spirit that got them back into the game in the second half. Both these team I would guess will supply the most players to our county team next year. Niall McGovern overshadowed his older brother Dean and finally the penny seems to be dropping with him and he looks in better shape than previous years and put in a good performance. Aughawillan seemed to be way off their renowned intensity levels in the first half even though Pearce Dolan scored a fabulous goal for their first score of the game and Ballinamore were coasting. In the second half Mark Plunkett began exerting his influence and it looked as though the Willies were going to come back and win it until Dolan got a deserved black card with 15 left and Ballinamore took the sting out of the game. Ballianmore are a very good and any team with a middle third with huge men like Dean/Niall McGovern, Shane Moran, Donal Feely, Wayne McKeown and McTague can bring the fight to any team but I still have a nagging feeling that they are still just not as good or smart as either Aughawillan or Mohill when it really comes down to it. The two main take-aways I took from the game were: Gary Plunkett, if he isn't good enough to start or even get on the field in some games for our senior county team then we must have some unbelievable attacking players in the county. He single handily kept the Willies in the game. He was winning all sorts of ball high or low and Ballinamore could not handle him. The only problem for Aughawillan was that he was far to isolated. Secondly, Shane Moran. He is a pure tank of a man and I really think he is coming into his prime. Still not sure if he is best used at full forward or further out the field though. However, it's his play acting that was very frustrating and unnecessary the other night to the point that the Ballinamore fans beside me were even getting annoyed. Numerous times he charges straight into contact and just flops onto the deck unnecessarily. The referee on 2 occasions told him to get up. In my eyes with the power and talent that he has he has no need to be bringing this into his game and it took away from a good performance.

OnTheBank (Leitrim) - 05/08/2019 12:06:38

Division 4 - National League - 3 Like(s)
First competitive game of a massive year for Leitrim Football. There's a buzz surrounding the team at the moment which I haven't heard since Dessie Dolans tenure. I must say that Terry Hyland came across brilliantly but also very realistic in his address to the supporters club in Croke Park last Thursday. This is a crucial game. Wexford are no great shakes but they will have the ability to overturn us if we don't perform. We left the game behind us in Pairc Sean against them 2 years ago. We've had some bad luck with injuries in that Fergal McTague has been ruled out for most of the league after sustaining a hamstring injury against Longford in a challenge game last week. This creates a huge headache for Terry and co as it looked like our six defensive slots were nailed on. Hopefully McTague will recover well as he has huge potential. Here's what I think will be very close to the starting team McKiernan Maguire M. McWeeney Aidan Flynn Mulvey M.Plunkett S.Quinn Dolan Moran S McWeeney Heslin D.Flynn O'Rourke McGovern Plunkett I'm taking a complete guess as to who will come into to the full back line with the news Young McTague is out. I think Terry Hyland will go with Aidan Flynn who has height, power and pace even if he has only ever played 1 or 2 games in this position ever. I would however select Oisin Madden, he has pace to burn and is better on the ball than Flynn but some view him as to small for the Full back line. Sean McWeeney playing as a sweeper should offer extra cover in defence to whoever is there though. I would love to see Darragh Rooney on the 40 with Heslin moving to the wing. He is starting for DCU's Sigerson team and kicked 2 points from play for them last week so I would find it strange that he might not be starting for us. Terry is likely to go with the more physical option in D.Flynn however. In Gary Plunkett and O'Rourke we have 2 men well able to take on their men and be direct. O'Rourke was the best player on the pitch against Longford last week and scored a brilliant goal. McGovern should be a good foil for the two of them, hopefully he comes through Sligo IT's Sigersons game this week against Tralee IT without injury, it is said he was one of their stand our performers at Midfield last week. I think this game should draw the biggest crowd for a league game in a long time. I haven't heard anything about Tom Quinn lately other than that he had been asked when Terry was first making his panel but had turned it down at that time due to time constraints but that he would reconsider in the new year if his circumstances changed. Anyone that says his addition wouldn't be helpful is foolish to say the least. He could fill our number 6 position which would allow Mark Plunkett to go back to the Half forward line. In my eyes it would bring us on to the next level. Hopefully the talk here is true but no word yet.

OnTheBank (Leitrim) - 22/01/2019 11:48:32

Qualifiers 2019 - 3 Like(s)
A good win over Wicklow and good that a few of our players had big performances. We got over the line just about but I thought we were far the better team overall but our shot selection and execution in the final third was so poor along with our strange tactical and personal set up which wasn't helping us to be fair. Can't fathom why Sean McWeeney played as a conventional centre forward. Never once have I seen him anywhere near a forward position for either club or county it's unfair on the other forwards who aren't getting game time and on McWeeney himself who is being played out of position and isn't working either. Same goes for D.Flynn he's starting on the team to take left footed free taking but missed his opportunity and isn't able to track back. In the first half all of Wicklows attacks came down his wing on the old shed side. If I was Jack Heslin or Cillian McGloin I wouldn't be impressed. Evan Sweeney had no impact what so ever on the game again and was lucky to stay on as long as he did. The other big decision was to play Mark Plunkett Centre back. To be fair this worked out. McLoughlin who was giving him a roasting in the league game only came on with 5 minutes left, thankfully. Plunkett was arguably our best player and controlled the game. His foot passing opens up so many options for us and for someone who is a forward by trade he's probably our best tackler. I would still prefer to see him further up the field if I'm honest. Not much more to say about Paddy Maguire, he's just excellent. Aidan Flynn showed why he should have started in the Hyde. Shane Quinn gave great energy and covers a crazy amount of ground in every game but his decision making and passing at times can be poor. Ray Mulvey was okay and kicked a good point but as a team we can't afford to have a wing back kicking 3 or 4 wides. Conor Reynolds has been the find of the year. Nobody would have expected him to have been near the county team at the start of the year yet he is worth his place. He is so honest and is well able to get stuck in and he will only get better going forward. Pearce Dolan and Ryan O'Rourke won us the game. Great to see Dolan really thrive on this team and look like he has a bit of confidence as everyone has been waiting for him to put in a performance like the other day. Once he puts on more timber this should become a regular occurrence. Finally, Ryan O'Rourke was a joy to watch again. Now it has to be said this was against another Division 4 team but they couldn't handle him. He gets everyone excited when he's on the ball and he could have had a goal and a few more points along with the 7 he kicked. Once again against Clare he will be in for some extra treatment against defenders who are used to marking the Cliffords, Geaneys of this world so he will need to get more help and also get better himself. From a county who hasn't had much success in the qualifiers I'm hoping nobody is taking this for granted.

OnTheBank (Leitrim) - 10/06/2019 10:21:39

Qualifiers 2019 - 3 Like(s)
Wicklow in Pairc Sean is as good as a draw as we could have expected but they will be saying the same thing. It will give both management and the players a perfect opportunity to redeem themselves. This game is not without risks though. Our players will be low on morale and our panel is a lot lighter than it was during the league. We scraped past Wicklow in the closing stages which after their performance against Kildare may now look like a better result than it was at the time especially when you consider it was up in Wicklow. Wicklows 3 best players are their Goalkeeper Marc Jackson who is deadly from frees, Anthony McLoughlin who is very fast at centre forward (and thankfully went off injured in Aughrim) and Conor McGraynor who is a man mountain and deadly accurate at full forward. Will be interesting to see what condition the lads are in. Supposedly they have been training extremely hard when in with the county but many of them have also been enjoying themselves which you can't really blame them for after the debacle in the Hyde and knowing that the league in 2020 is now our focus. When considering all that and what we have seen from our panel so far here is the team I would play. In my eyes we need far more speed in our team on both ends of the field. Cathal McCrann Michael McWeeney Fergal McTague Aidan Flynn Ray Mulvey Paddy Maguire Shane Quinn Mark Plunkett Pearce Dolan Jack Heslin Gary Plunkett Cillian McGloin* Ryan O'Rourke Shane Moran Dean McGovern That would leave McTague on McGraynor and Paddy Maguire on McLoughlin. I have an astrix beside McGloin as I'm not sure if he is fit. But his pace is going to be crucial for this group of players going forward. Either Dean McGovern or Shane Moran can take it in turns to drop deep to support the middle third and to leave space for the likes of O'Rourke, Heslin and Plunkett. I have a feeling that Domhnail Flynn may start once again as we have a lack of Left footed free takers. Donal Wrynn has been in training but I don't think he will feature until next year. One Player who has been impressing is Jack Gilheany so don't be surprised if he is a bolter. It will be interesting to see what approach the management team make. Will they go back to the defensive style used during the league or will it be open like in the final and against Roscommon. In my eyes unless you are trying to put in place systems for next year it would be strange to go back to a sweeper/deep lying style against another Division 4 team when we didn't against one of the best attacks in the country. Would love to see the likes of O'Rourke, Heslin and Plunkett let loose on a team in and around our level such as Wicklow. Would give them great confidence going forward. Look we're not as bad as we were against Roscommon when you factor in some of the bizarre management calls or we are not as good as some were making out after the league. We are somewhere in the middle. A win here and a bit of confidence will really help us going into Division 3 next year and with a few additions and an extra year of S&C there's no reason why we can't be competitive then.

OnTheBank (Leitrim) - 27/05/2019 11:39:30

Championship 2018 - 3 Like(s)

OnTheBank (Leitrim) - 15/05/2018 15:28:04

Leitrim U20s - 3 Like(s)
I went to the U20 game in Pairc Sean on Saturday and I'll try to start by going through their best players/ points. Riordain O'Rourke looks like a real talent. He shows out in front for the ball very well. Not as exciting or fast as Ryan O'Rourke but should turn into a very good footballer who I imagine will be on the the extended county panel next year as long as his shooting improves a slight bit. Ciaran Cullen is tremendous to watch. Fast, Brave and one of the best ball carriers I've seen around and not just in Leitrim. He needs to fill out though as he is very very light and more importantly quite similar to Jack Heslin he needs to improve both his finishing and his decision making in the final third which really lets him down. Not over exaggerating to say that you could play him on any line of the field and I'm not actually sure where his talents would be best used but theres little doubt that he will be on the Senior panel next year and a guaranteed starter if he fills out. Shaun Chandler looked excellent as he has done for the past few years before he went off with an arm injury which hopefully he isn't out for to long. He is the most physically developed player on that team his only difficulty will be his height but as we have seen with Eoin Murchan in Dublin if you're good enough that should be all that matters. Another who will be fast tracked next year. Mark Diffley from Carrick looks a real talent from what I have seen the last few years but under this management he seems bereft of confidence which is a massive shame. Liam Rowley from Mohill a player I don't know to much about looks like a very solid half back to and it will be interesting to see if he can break on to the Mohill senior team. Same goes for the two Harkins who are very impressive. Aaron Hoare has all the tools needed to play senior football bar pace and agility. With a proper S&C plan theres no reason why he can't develop further. By a huge margin the best player on the field was Jack Gilheany at centre back. This is a huge problem position for Leitrim football and he looks like the man that could solve it. He's strong, cool on the ball reads the game well and most impressively from the stand you could hear that he communicates very well and is the leader of that team. From what I seen at that game and when I have seen him play for Fenagh he is Leitrim best option for the qualifiers at no.6. Now on to the to what I seen as major issues: We were playing at home on a lovely day for football with a good wind in the first half yet and with loads of talented players and we left two men inside the oppositions 45 and played two sweepers of our own. It was Kamikaze stuff. Now to be fair to Riordain O'Rourke and young Tom Prior they battled well and picked off a good few scores along with a good goal from Ciaran Cullen but they were so so isolated. Just like the senior team our conditioning looked poor apart from Jack Gilheany who has been developed by Clongowes in Rugby and Shaun Chandler who anyone that has seen Leitrim Gaels play know that he is obviously into gyming himself which is good to see. This is hard to understand and is obviously a major issue in all our development squads when you compare them to the teams we are facing. The manager watched the game from the stands in the first half and then came down on to the line for the second. His conduct was unhelpful to say the least. Like something you would have expected to see in the 1980s just roaring and shouting at the players and the referee etc. and it clearly had a negative effect on some of the team. All the while this was watched on by our chairman etc. To me this just puts fear into the players who then aren't confident in what they are doing and this manifested itself in the last minute when we were a point down and had a 30 metre free which we took short and lost possession. Game over. Players didn't have the necessary confidence to take the shot on. People may say I'm over reacting but ask around and you will here the stories of what's been going on with that team this year all the while clubs are getting it hard for the county manager to let the young lads train before club matches with them. Once again this county Board have alot to answer for when they appoint people without any decent CV behind them into important jobs. Made even more stupid by the fact that James Glancy is sitting on his tod not involved with any age group up in Manorhamillton. This is furtherer magnified by the fact that Cillian McGloin won't play for this management once the Seniors are out. This so frustrating as he would make some difference to that team. Still think that come championship they could pull of a shock as there is some serious talent on the team along with Gilheany, Cullen, Hoare, O'Rourke etc they are missing Jordan Reynolds and James Clancy 2 forwards with huge potential.

OnTheBank (Leitrim) - 04/06/2019 09:59:54

Qualifiers 2019 - 3 Like(s)
If we put in a good level of performance like I know we can this weekend then we can really see the start of a good few years in Leitrim football. Now that doesn't mean I think we can win but I would like to think we can get within 6 points. We mightn't like to admit it but that would be a brilliant starting point for next year for this team. We lost by 15 to a Division 1 team in Roscommon and bet a Division 4 team in Wicklow by 4 points so to get within 6 of a strong Division 2 team in Clare would be a great result in my eyes. The word is that we could be missing Oisin McCaffery who has been away all week and that Fergal McTague is also out of contention with injury but that Jack Heslin might be fit to return along with Sean Flanagan for a place on the bench. The team I would line up with is: McCrann Flynn Maguire McWeeney Quinn Reynolds Plunkett Mulvey Dolan Moran McGovern McGloin Heslin Plunkett O'Rourke Gary Brennan is a massive man and there's no point in saying we will out fetch him in midfield but that's not to say that Moran and Dolan can't take turns in trying to disrupt him along with Mark Plunkett if we have McGloin and Quinn dropping deep. I'd also play Dean McGovern out as a third midfielder to clog up that middle third. This would leave Gary Plunkett, Ryan O'Rourke and Jack Heslin on their own upfront but we have to be realistic and say the likes of Jamie Malone, Cleary and Tubridy will go to town on us if we leave as much space in our defence as we did the last day. Heslin, G.Plunkett and Ryan all have good pace and can win their own ball so they can take on their men and then just hope that the likes of Ray Mulvey, Shane Quinn, McGloin and Conor Reynolds can get up in support. We need to try and keep Clare under 15 points or so if we are to have any hope. If we can snatch a few goals and keep ours intact then we could shock them but being realistic this game is all about getting a good performance that we can build on for next year when we should have more experience and added more players. It's been Leitrims most successful year since 94 so hopefully they get the support they deserve this weekend!

OnTheBank (Leitrim) - 19/06/2019 14:43:23

Leitrim's 2019 In Review - 3 Like(s)
Leitrim's year in review and going forward: For umpteen years we've all spoke how important it is for Leitrim to get out of Division 4. Finally we've achieved this. This was the main priority for the year so it was a brilliant success. This was both a mixture of having a proper manager and backroom staff along with our best players committing to the county team which hadn't been happening under the previous managements. Our last game of the year was a 9 point defeat to a top-end Div 2 team. We will be playing Div 3 here so you would expect Clare to also defeat them by 3 or 4 points. So we need to make up the difference of 4 or 5 points to stay in the division. This can be done by getting a few lads involved that weren't on the panel this year, 6 moths of proper S&C, another year with proper coaching under Terry and the experience that the players would have learned this year. It is imperative that we keep all our main players together for next year. We may have lost but that day in Croke Park will live long in the memories and hopefully inspire the current players and those of the future to keep plugging away and trying to get better. Doing so well in the league nearly lulled our supporters into a false sense of security and put our (mine included) expectations way to high. In hindsight and what we have seen Roscommon do since we could not have expected to compete with them coming from where we were in 2018. But to lose by the margin and in the manner we did was more than disappointing. The managerial decisions made by Terry were bizzare and I still can't figure them out. For example, McTague from Aughawillan was hung out to dry on his debut, in a position he never played before and we haven't seen him since. Now this is a player that anyone who seen the club championship in Leitrim last year would have earmarked a solution to our fullback issue which has been going on for years, yet his confidence has to be effected by the charade. Add this to then starting Sean McWeeney as a conventional forward and leaving real forwards on the bench - which can't be good for morale especially when it wasn't working. The one that really frustrated me especially after what happened with McTague was starting Oisin McCaffery against Clare when the dogs on the street knew that he had been away enjoying himself in Europe for two weeks before the game. How can any serious inter-county team start any player with that sort of preparation? Unsurprisingly he had to be substituted at half-time as he clearly wasn't at the pace of the game. One thing we showed throughout the league is that we have loads of attacking talent who all on their day are well able to take on any defence. The issue with them is that it can be quiet individualistic at times and that our forwards workrate badly needs to improve. Our scoring rates are massive and yet many myself included would say we haven't been getting the best out of the likes of Darragh Rooney and Gary Plunkett this is along with the fact that Jack Heslin, McGloin and Flanagan were constantly injured and Mark Plunkett was being used as a centre back (which no one could have predicted) when his best position is no.11 in my opinion. This is also without Keith Beirne even if people will debate the right or wrongs of why he wasn't involved with the panel. Think of what his free taking would have done for us alone. So from an attacking point of view we have so much to look forward to. We have a few young guns like Niall McGovern, Ciaran Cullen, Riordan O'Rourke and Mark Diffley who will be in and around the panel next year. Conor Gaffney will also be back fit so he will be another option I would assume. In defence we haven't settled on either a Centre back or a full back which is a nightmare as it effects the whole spine of our team. Now once again there is positive talk that the likes of Thomas Quinn, Chris Guckian and even Paul Brennan could all come in next year as the management have been in contact with them. In my eyes even if we got 2 of those boys it would transform our whole team. It would mean that Paddy Maguire would have help as he has once again been tremendous this year with little help when it comes to man marking. It could also free up Shane Quinn to go back to Wing forward where he could drop deep as a sweeper again and start attacks from deep. They would also bring with them standards and experiences that our young team badly needs along with a physicality that were are crying out for. Midfield is a problem. It seems as if they management don't have a clue who their best option are here. We seen the debacle with playing McTague here in Roscommon but apart from that Oisin McCaffery in his own club wouldn't be viewed as a midfielder. Pearce Dolan has won three county championships with his club at a young age as a midfielder but yet isn't trusted here for the county, which could be due to a lack of power which hopefully he will develop over the winter but playing him as a full forward was strange. Mark Plunkett and Shane Moran have been messed about between midfield and different positions aswell. Personally I think we need to nail this down. I'd go with Pearce Dolan and one other. Next year we will have the likes of Aaron Hoare, Conor Cullen, Niall McGovern to provide more competition along with Donal Wrynn, Mark Plunkett, Dean McGovern, Shane Moran, Sean Flanagan etc. Even Cillian McGloin could be an option here. But we need to settle on a combination and stop chopping and changing. On a side note I must say over the last two years we have developed Conor Reynolds and Aidan Flynn brilliantly. I single these two players out as not too many were predicting these lads at underage to become inter-county footballers. In a small county getting players like these is a huge bonus and if we could unearth 1 or 2 more like this it would be invaluable. S&C is one area where if the players really focus on over the next 6 months than we can see a real improvement in standards as they will physically be able to do things they couldn't this year. I do think this is an area where we need more outside help though as Enda Lyons is still very inexperienced in this role and it would be to his benefit in the long run and the teams in the short run if we had somebody with more experience in charge of this area. We also can't afford to have some of our main players injured. Jack Heslin and Ryan O'Rourke have been suffering from Hamstring injuries since their U21 days and they really need to be sorted. Cillian McGloin, Fergal McTague, Oisin Madden,Sean Flanagan and Damien Moran would also be great options but none of them had a sustained run injury free this year. In a county of our size we can't afford this. Lots to be hopeful about going into 2020. Some class teams are going to be coming to Pairc Sean so hopefully it will inspire all our top footballers to fully commit over the winter and impress in the club championship.

OnTheBank (National) - 26/06/2019 13:24:04

Galway Footballers 2018 - 3 Like(s)
If as it is looking Kevin Walsh is staying freshness needs to be brought to our team. I know we are up in division one and playing the big boys but if we are going to impact on the championship it has to happen. We have to adapt a more adventurous game plan and commit to it. In my opinion outside of Dublin we have some of the most naturally gifted forwards in Ireland but our game plan is holding us back. As supporters we must stick by this promising group of players and show some positivity. Lavelle Silke Sean-Andy Kyne McDaid O'Donnell Heaney/K.Molloy Cooke Flynn Daly Walsh Conroy Burke Comer Armstrong I know many will say that this is far to attacking but what is the point in going out playing defensively and losing anyway. Obviously it's not the perfect team either and I'm probably forgetting a few but it is a basis to work with. The goalkeeping situation was an embarrassment for the management last year. When things were going well in the league a young keeper like Lavelle was being said by Walsh to be the keeper for 10 years. His kickouts are far superior to Power and his shot stopping is just as good. On the ball he is also better. However, coming into the Mayo match we changed our kick out strategy to go short. It clearly didn't suit our outfield players especially Flynn and O'Curraoin who are obviously on the team for their fetching and not their mobility. However, we persisted with it for the Roscommon game and it was a disaster. Lavelle then seemed to be made a scapegoat and was dropped for the Donegal game but we then changed the tactics back to what was working in the league and Power gets all the credit. How can this be seen as good management of a young player? The management after all the training sessions between November and June last year obviously decided that Lavelle was the number one and then don't back him after a bad performance? I thought it just highlighted some of the weaknesses of this management team. I also feel as good as both O'Donnell and Bradshaw are individually we can't facilitate both of them in a modern half-back line. If McDaid doesn't get the opportunity in Australia he needs to be brought in as one wingback. With the pace of the game we can't persist with both Flynn and O'Curraoin. Cooke needs to be believed in and Conroy can drop out to support him and Flynn as a third midfielder. That leaves space for Walsh and Daly on the 40 who are both strong runners with the ball and good foot passers. I no its not in vogue at the moment but a 3 man full forward line with Ian Burke, Comer and Armstrong/Meehan would test any defensive system if quick direct ball is played into them. This leaves a seriously strong bench. Cummins, Farragher, McHugh, Brannigan, Bradshaw, Sweeney, Molloy etc.

OnTheBank (Galway) - 19/10/2017 12:01:30

Division 4 - National League - 2 Like(s)
Firstly, Well done to all the lads they did themselves proud. Was an extremely proud day to be a Leitrim fan and the excitement around Drumcondra was amazing. If anyone had of said at the start of the year that we would have been promoted and run Derry to 4 points in Croke Park we all would have taken it. On the day Derry were the better team there's no doubt in that. From a management team that I think are immense I was perplexed by both the starting line-up and the substitutions that were made during the game. For anyone that has seen either club or county football in the last year in Leitrim it must be hard to understand firstly how Gary Plunkett didn't start and then wasn't even introduced. No-one could understand it. Why then when we were five points down with 15 minutes remaining did we introduce a defender in Conor Reynolds. Taking off Shane Moran who was playing well was also surprising to say the least. The big call Terry has made all league was to play Mark Plunkett as a centre back when he has been one of the best midfielders/or forward in the county for the last 5 years yet he was doing well at 6 then come the day of a final we play him midfield? Now he was arguably our best player but I seen no reason why he persisted it for the whole league to then change it. Same goes for Sean McWeeney who was sweeper all league yet was then moved to a man marking job for the final? I would imagine Pearce Dolan can't be to impressed after starting every league game and getting dropped for the final to pretty much get Emlyn Muliigan into the team who unfortunately had a shocker. We also need to persist with Darragh Rooney, looks like he found it hard to impact the game when he was introduced but with his talent we need to be finding a way of getting him into the team. I thought Ryan O'Rourke was excellent but we struggled to get him on the ball enough. Shane Quinn and Ray Mulvey were also brilliant. Plunkett and Moran were also very good at midfield and Plunkett would have been man of the match if he hadn't of missed two scoreable chances. Think we will see him at 11 or in Midfield from now on. Paddy Maguire was quiet enough but held his own. Michael McWeeney got a bit of a run around and could be worried about his starting position come Dr Hyde with McTague being fit by then. Been a great 3 months though and there is so much more potential in this team which is so exciting.

OnTheBank (Leitrim) - 01/04/2019 16:06:50

Division 4 - National League - 2 Like(s)
Great win and the +13 on scoring difference could be crucial in the long run. Very indecisive in what we were trying to do in the first half but we have to remember that 7 of the players who started yesterday did not play league football in 2018 and some of them did not play any inter county football at all last year. O'Rourke was clearly the stand out performer that goes without saying and I think there's even more in him. When he's on form like that he's worth going to see alone. For a player that is not that tall he competes for every time of ball that is played into him. Mark Plunkett's tackling and passing gave the whole team a platform to build off and for a young player it was great to see him encouraging and marshalling some of the other players into position. Aidan Flynn did very well for someone who is not usually a corner back and was solid. I thought Shane Moran was immense. Yes, he stupidly brought the ball into contact and over played a few times like he has always done and hopefully Terry and co. can eradicate that from his game but I have never seen him play with such an edge and physicality to his play. His work rate for a big man around the field was great to which has to be the bedrock to anyones performance. Our shooting was quiet poor which is strange to say when we scored 3-13. Jack Heslin can be slightly flakey in this regard but once it clicks for him he is going to be phenomenal as he just glides with the ball in hand. He even fisted a goal chance over the bar in the first half as it looked like he didn't trust his weak foot which can be worked on. Pearce Dolan and Mark Plunkett also missed or got blocked down with 2 attempts that they usually wouldn't so that will only improve. We also need to stop dropping shots into the keepers hands as it gives the opposition the chance to build quickly. The one thing that impressed me most was the impact that Gary Plunkett, Darragh Rooney and Cillian McGloin had off the bench. They all scored and assisted for point's aswell. We looked far more fluid and fast when they came on whether that is down to them or the fact we were on the front foot or that Wexford's legs were gone remains to be seen. I do think either Plunkett or Rooney will start next weekend. 7 players started that were 25 or under, only two that were 30 in Ray Mulvey and Maguire and Gary Plunkett, McGloin and Darragh Rooney are all under 24 who came on. Fergal McTague also would have started and he is only 22 or so. There is something to build on here if managed right. Have not seen that many young people at a league game in Carrick for a long long time!

OnTheBank (Leitrim) - 28/01/2019 13:36:35

Leitrim Senior Team - 2 Like(s)
On the actual game yesterday, it was both encouraging and frustrating in equal measure. We were the better team but goals win games. We have now shown over the last few years we have the ability to register high scores but we are leaking to many easy chances. The hope is now that we have the attacking talent that with good coaching our defence will improve. First of all we need to congratulate and recognize how good Paddy Maguire is. It's not an exaggeration to say that if he was around in the Dessie Dolan era he would be regarded right up there with McKeown and McGuinness and I for one can't give a better compliment. He nullified Conor Sweeney yesterday who is considered one of the best forwards in the country and has played International Rules for Ireland. We also kept Quinlavan quiet which is impressive. Donal Casey deserves enormous credit. He has been talked about for a while but he slotted in yesterday with little fuss and did not look out of place. I thought Mark Plunkett was looking good and linking up play very well when he moved to 11 before he was taken off at half time. Please god that he is not injured for next weekend. Donal Wrynn was exceptional at Midfield yesterday. As always he gives his all and it is good to see him settled in one position. Ryan O'Rourkes injury is the main concern before next week. It looked like a bang more than a twist/tear which is good news. When he got on the ball yesterday he was electric. However, whether it is just rustiness or poor strategy how we were using him or not using him was so frustrating. We could not get him on the ball in areas of the pitch where he would really impact the scoreboard. The same thing has happened in big games before where teams just crowd him out. Terry needs to find a system where he is isolated against just one man if possible. Now to the frustrations: Our hand passing was dreadful. Constantly putting the intended target in bother. We were so lateral and passive in how we tried to attack - Constantly coming to the game line and having to pass side ways or backwards which is a killer. It shows we are not moving the ball fast enough or receiving the ball at a standing start. Mayo will eat us up and spit us out if we carry ball into contact on a regular basis. Even though we scored 15 points we really should have had a lot more we kicked some desperate wides. A lot of these problems can be put down to rustiness but with Mayo in a week…. Our depth is a real problem Leitrim simply can't do without the likes of Shane Moran, Dean McGovern, Fergal McTague and Ray Mulvey - Along with Michael McWeeney not being in the country. Terry doesn't seem to fancy Pearce Dolan either which is hard to figure out when you watch club football in the county and then see some of the players he continues to trust. There's no point in talking about it until we are out but there are a number of players not on the panel currently who we simply can't do without even just for an impact off the bench. Jack Heslin, Gary Plunkett and Oisin Madden being three that jump out. Praying that we keep it competitive next week but I am very very worried. There is no doubt there has been enormous progress in the last few years and we were very competitive in Div 3. We need to build on this now.

OnTheBank (Leitrim) - 26/10/2020 08:49:37

County Panel 2019 - 2 Like(s)
First thing first, that was tremendous fun and the buzz was back being a Leitrim supporter. Secondly, the result is of little consequence in the long run. We now know for a fact that we have the quality of footballers to begin competing at a good standard again. Now to the game: Here's how we started for anyone that wasn't at the game. Diarmuid McKiernan Conor Reynolds Fergal McTague Aidan Flynn Ray Mulvey Sean McWeeney Cillian McGloin Pearce Dolan Shane Moran Paddy Maguire Jack Heslin Shane Quinn Domhnail Flynn Dean McGovern Evan Sweeney Paddy was placed at Wing Half Forward to tag Lee Keegan after a while though he became our sweeper which I thought was strange seen as he is such a good man marker. Shane Quinn and Domhnail Flynn were also dropping deep and it looked as though we were trying to play on the counter attack. The first half was a mixture. Going forward it was clear that when we ran at them we could really make inroads. I never would have placed him at Full Forward but it has to be said Dean McGovern showed brilliantly and a good few scores came off him. Pearce Dolan was one of our best performers all game and picked off two great scores and another came back of the post in the first half. We got sucker punched for two very soft Mayo goals in the first ten minutes when we were controlling the game. Fergal McTague and Conor Reynolds both got caught badly for each of them. Shane Moran also hit the post when a goal was at his mercy so at half time we were down by 7 which didn't really reflect the run of play in my eyes. The main issue was every time we dropped a shot short or gave a cheap turn over they transitioned quickly and punished us which you expect from a team of Mayo's calibre and experience. A few times in the first half Moran and Paddy Maguire brought the ball needlessly into contact and got stripped of it which was stupidity. The second half was great stuff altogether. An unfortunate injury to Aidan Flynn meant that Paddy Maguire had to go back into corner back where he then turned in a Man of the Match performance and Mark Plunket came on and went to Centre back and Shane Quinn moved into Wing Back with Sean McWeeney excelling as the sweeper, these positional switches seemed to give us a lot more balance and Young McTague turned his game around and had an exceptional second half. We really went at Mayo, Jack Heslin tormented them the whole game and when Ryan O'Rourke came on they couldn't deal with us atall. Ray Mulvey was also coming into his own running from deep at Wing back. Once we got level we had oodles of opportunities to kill the game and are shot election or decision making let us down which will only improve with time. Heslin missed two, Ray Mulvey had a poor shot when Gary Plunkett was free, Ryan O'Rourke also missed two he would usually score and Damien Moran also had a poor wide. Dean McGovern's cheekiness after getting sent off was a stroke of luck that we deserved and Damien Moran kicked a brilliant equaliser off the outside of his boot. Wouldn't get to hung up on the penalties. Terry and co will now have 3 weeks to drill into these boys what he is looking for and in turn they will know that whatever they have been doing has been working which is good for morale. There is so many players to come back in so competition for places will be strong. Few things we need to work on, Our kick outs seemed to all go to Shane Moran which became very obvious and a lot of them were to lofted and gave the Mayo boys a chance to win them. We need to make sure that the full back line isn't left so exposed especially when the likes of McTague and Reynolds were making their debuts. Then we need to find a way of getting O'Rourke and Heslin in to as much space as possible and just let them rip and have players coming off their shoulder. We created six good goal scoring opportunities today. Scored two, hit the cross bar and a post and squandered another two. It's only the FBD and it's only January but it was hard not to enjoy that today and be positive looking at our prospects in Division Four.

OnTheBank (Leitrim) - 06/01/2019 18:20:49

Donegal v Galway - 2 Like(s)
We need to start believing in this team. If Paddy Tally has the impact on our defence which I expect him to have then I can see us going places. Even if we don't win Connacht, reaching the Super 8's has to be the target. It would be huge for our development. In our defence we have Sean Andy, Liam Silke and Kerrins who are all Division One standard but need a system to protect them further. In our forwards we have Walsh, Daly, Burke and Comer who all would get on every team in Ireland bar Dublin maybe. Add in the likes of Armstong etc. and we can outscore most teams. Cooke could be the game changer in midfield for to long we have been far to immobile and in the modern game you can't get away with that. I also feel Lavelle is the Goalkeeper to put our faith in for the year. For the League last year he was perfect but then once we changed our system he made a few mistakes and lost confidence. But If the management decided after all the training last year up until the Donegal game that he was number one that they must have good reason. Power is good but he can get lobbed very easily and his kick outs aren't great either. I do feel if they have faith and get a better system in place for Kickouts then Lavelle can be the solution. For this weekend We will need Johnny Heaney or someone with his pace to follow Ryan McHugh, I would also put Sean-Andy on McBrearty to really test him at this level. Bradshaw need to prove himself and marking MacNicholas should do it. These games are made tuffer by the fact that we are missing guaranteed starters like Silke, Burke and Daly. I'd Also start McHugh up here as its going to be a dogged game with lots of frees and he also has earned the chance over Sweeney. I also think if given time Cunningham could make a difference.

OnTheBank (Galway) - 31/01/2018 19:48:31