Maigh Cuilinn 4-13

Leitrim Gaels 1-9

By John Fallon at Pearse Stadium

The outcome of this Connacht senior club championship semi-final was easy to predict in advance, as a side who had never come out of their county travelled to do battle with a team which had never lost in the province since becoming a major force in Galway over the past six years.

But what was not easily predicted at Pearse Stadium on Sunday is how Leitrim Gaels, with half of their county final defence missing, would shoot out of the blocks and go 1-2 to 0-0 in front after less than five minutes. They were winning all the kickouts, mopping up all the loose ball and, even at that early stage, becoming more adventurous with each attack.

You can imagine Cathal Clancy and the rest of his Maigh Cuilinn management blue in the face all week warning their charges after an 11-point win in Sligo over Shamrock Gaels, not to underestimate the first-time Leitrim champions.

But Clancy and his mentors need not have worried. One of the biggest benefits of winning championships is that teams tend not to panic when they are in a sticky position, and Maigh Cuilinn refused to be rattled by the early Leitrim Gaels onslaught.

Sean Kelly stepped back to man the centre of defence; and his brother Paul and Tom Clarke started breaking ball around the middle of the field, with David Wynne, Johnny Maloney and Ger Davoren pouncing.

Bit by bit, Maigh Cuilinn found themselves with enough possession to start feeding an attack where the McDonagh brothers Fionn and Fiachra were prominent; while Dessie Conneely, of course, began to have a big impact and the scores started to flow.

The game was over as a contest by the break when Maigh Cuilinn led by 2-9 to 1-2, with Leitrim Gaels down a man for the opening seven minutes of the second-half after a black card, and by the time he returned the Galway champions were out of sight despite Peter Cooke not featuring again.

They could afford the luxury of running out the full complement of subs in the second-half as the Leitrim Gaels challenged wilted, and long before the finish the Maigh Cuilinn supporters were paying more attention to what was happening in Hyde Park where the Roscommon champions St Brigid’s were setting up a final date with them at the expense of Ballina Stephenites.

Three new names have been added to the Shane McGettigan Cup in the past four years, but on Sunday week in Hyde Park, will it be a case of Maigh Cuilinn adding to their maiden 2022 success or Anthony Cunningham’s St Brigid’s claiming their sixth crown since they won their first in 2006?

Leitrim Gaels, playing in their first-ever Connacht championship match after claiming a maiden county title which was greatly aided when the three Jones brothers came across the border from Derrygonnelly Gaels in Fermanagh, made a whirlwind start.

Pictured: Maigh Cuilinn’s Niall Walsh kicks a first-half point despite the best effoprts of Liam Chandler of Leitrim Gaels, as Aidan Flynn looks on. Photo: Joe O’Shaughnessy.