Leitrim County Board secretary Diarmuid Sweeney says they would be better off competing at junior level on the inter-county stage.

Just two days after their 0-9 to 4-18 qualifier humiliation at the hands of Down in Newry, Sweeney said to the Examiner: "We can't expect to keep taking hammerings like Sunday,

"Under the current system, there is always going to be a gap between teams and it is only going to grow as time goes on.

"There is talk of entering Leitrim in the Junior Championship and forgetting about Senior status. It would be a big move. Consideration needs to be given to that and the question needs to be asked 'would Leitrim be better served in the junior championship'.

"The Junior Championship can be competitive and maybe that is the level we are at.

"We got to the Junior Connacht Final this year with a stand-alone Junior team and had we the Senior boys involved, we could have gone further and had a good run for the All-Ireland, playing at a level where we really are at."

The Connacht county's secretary added: "I wouldn't like us to reach the stage where we don't enter like Kilkenny did.

"In the absence of a B Championship at Senior level, we just focus on the Junior. That would allow us to build for a period of time until we are able to compete further up the ladder.

"There needs to be a sit-down about this, the same for the counties who are in a similar position to us. For certain counties, defeat is inevitable each year. It can't continue." Tweet

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