Despite some tough years fighting his corner on behalf of his county, retired Leitrim All Star Seamus Quinn says it was an honour to represent his county for over a decade. Leitrim's defeat to Dublin in their All-Ireland football qualifier clash last July marked the end of the road for one of the county's greatest players, Gortletteragh's Seamus Quinn. Though just 30, Quinn decided that he had given as much as he could to the Leitrim cause over an 11-year period. In that time, he established himself as one of the best full backs in the business and this was duly recognised when he was honoured with an All-Star award in Leitrim's Connacht championship winning year of 1994. "I've no regrets from my time playing with Leitrim," he says. "I won a Connacht championship medal within a year of joining the county panel and I suppose at the time, I expected to win a few more. But it didn't work out like that and the last few years have been quite lean by comparison. "Despite all the disappointments, though, I always regarded it as an honour to pull on the Leitrim jersey. Playing inter-county football is not all about achieving success. There's a lot more to it than that, especially the friendships you make. "I gave everything I could to Leitrim, but I felt the time had come to call it a day. I have a wife and two young kids and I'm looking forward to spending more time with them from now on," he adds. Quinn burst onto the inter-county scene during one of the most exciting periods in Leitrim's GAA history. The Connacht minnows had been improving steadily under PJ Carroll before John O'Mahony took over the reins and delivered a first provincial title in 67 years. A key figure in the breakthrough was a fresh-faced Quinn, who had made his championship debut the previous year against Galway in Tuam. "We beat Galway that day, but then lost to Roscommon in the next round," he recalls. "We didn't lose heart, however, and came back the following year more determined than ever. We beat Roscommon in the first round, beat Galway in the semi-final after a replay and kept the run going against Mayo in the Connacht final. "It was an incredible experience and even though we lost to Dublin in the All-Ireland semi-final after that, 1994 will go down as one of Leitrim's best ever years. It was a great honour for me to finish the year with an All-Star - Mickey Quinn had been Leitrim's only All-Star up until then." The subsequent years proved to be hugely frustrating for Leitrim. Quinn reckons they would have put Connacht titles back-to-back in '95 had they got over Galway in the first round. "I'd say our team was even stronger in '95, but Galway beat us in the first round by a point. That was a big setback for us and I don't think things were the same again after that. We reached a Connacht final under Joe Reynolds in 2000, but again Galway spoiled the party for us." Reynolds was succeeded as manager by Longford native Declan Rowley, who before stepping down at the end of this season's campaign, had spent three years rebuilding the team. "The last few years have been all about rebuilding," notes Quinn, who happens to be a first cousin of Rowley. "Declan came in after Joe Reynolds and began the process of blooding new players. He brought in young fellas like John McKeon, Michael McGuinness and Shane Canning in the first year or two and this year they were joined by the likes of Michael Foley, Declan Maxwell, Barry Prior and Johnny Goldrick. He's left a strong basis for the next manager." This year's National League campaign was largely disappointing for Leitrim who lost four of their seven Division 2A outings to Donegal, Clare, Offaly and Roscommon. In the other games, they edged out London and Carlow and drew with Monaghan. Given their league form, the green and golds were rank outsiders to defeat a Roscommon team, that had already accounted for Sligo after a replay, in the Connacht semi-final. Sean McDermott Park in Carrick-on-Shannon was packed to the rafters for a local derby clash that has thrown up its fair share of shocks down the years. As it transpired, another shock almost materialized with Leitrim giving their best performance of the year to earn a 1-10 to 0-13 draw. The signs looked ominous for them when the visitors led by 0-9 to 0-5 early in the second half but Leitrim then hauled themselves back into contention when impressive newcomer Michael Foley slotted home a penalty. The underdogs struck five wides before substitute Pat Farrell equalized with 15 minutes remaining. Centre back John McKeon stormed up the field to put them ahead and though Frankie Dolan equalized for Roscommon, points from Declan Maxwell and Shane Canning put Leitrim 1-9 to 0-10 up as the game moved into the final five minutes. But quick-fire points from Francie Grehan, Dolan and Seamus O'Neill looked set to deny Leitrim until wing back Barry Prior began a move deep in his own half and popped up at the other end of the pitch to take a pass from Maxwell and fire over a great equalizing point to earn his side a second bite at the cherry. In a poor quality replay at Hyde Park, the sides were level at 0-5 each just after half-time and the invitation was there for Leitrim to go on and complete the upset. But instead it was Roscommon who grasped the nettle and they never looked back after John Hanly scored the only goal in the 45th minute. The home side eventually triumphed by 1-9 to 0-5 and Leitrim's misery was completed when Foley missed a penalty in injury-time. Despite having home advantage for their All-Ireland qualifier against Dublin, Leitrim were decisively beaten on a 1-13 to 0-4 scoreline. Such an outcome appeared unlikely after 18 minutes when Barry Prior's point gave the home side a 0-3 to 0-2 advantage. "I don't want to come across as being overly critical of our forwards, but lack of firepower was a real problem for us in this year's championship," Quinn opines. "We were particularly poor in this regard in the replay against Roscommon and in the qualifier against Dublin. In the Dublin game, we could only manage one point in the second half and that simply isn't good enough at this level. "I felt we blew a great chance when we let Roscommon come back at us in the drawn game at Carrick-on-Shannon. We played well enough to win that game, but in the end we were the ones who needed a late point to force the replay. "The replay turned out to be a nightmare for us, what with John McKeon getting sent off and Declan Maxwell getting injured. We have a small enough pick as it without losing players of that calibre. "The Dublin game was also disappointing, but it was always asking a lot of us to come back seven days after losing to Roscommon and be expected to put up a good show against a quality side like theirs." Quinn, who will continue to line out for his beloved Gortletteragh (he is still awaiting his first senior county medal), is keeping his fingers crossed that Leitrim's fortunes will pick up in the coming year. "We desperately need to have a bit of success again. We've a lot of young players in the county who would be more interested in playing for Leitrim if the senior team was successful. It would be great to get back to the stage we were at 10 years ago, but it will take a lot of hard work and a few lucky breaks for that to happen," he concludes. Tweet

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