\u200bGuilty as I often am of losing the run of myself, it is almost impossible not to think that Leitrim teams could be gracing Croke Park at least twice over the next few months. The Hurlers are making great strides in the Lory Meagher Cup but images of Croke Park sprung to mind especially\u00a0after the Ladies team produced a\u00a0display in Sunday\u2019s TG4 Connacht LGFA Intermediate Final demolition of Roscommon that usually has the bookies reducing the odds in a hurry!<\/p>\n
\u200bRegular readers will know I try hard not to let my emotions run away with me, indeed last week\u2019s reflections on the exertions of the Senior Men\u2019s footballers against Galway fell right into the category \u2013 a good performance and hope for the future doesn\u2019t necessarily automatically lead to immediate success, just as the unfortunate Down footballers who went from contemplating a place in the Ulster Final to suffering a record-breaking Provincial championship defeat against Armagh in Clones last Sunday.<\/p>\n
Steven Poacher will know that his native county aren\u2019t as bad as they were made look last Sunday and Armagh are a county who can blitz you in an instant if they get a run on you. Certainly Roscommon Ladies will know how the Mournemen feel as they suffered something similar at the hands of a ravenous Leitrim in Heartland Credit Union Pairc Sean Mac Diarmada last Sunday, the sort of defeat that leaves scars and puts the rest of the Intermediate contenders on notice that Leitrim are a force to be reckoned with.<\/p>\n
No more than Down\u2019s display in St Tiernach\u2019s Park last Sunday, there are caveats \u2013 I\u2019ve never seen a Roscommon team, male or female, so badly off the pace in terms of intensity and physical output. What you usually get from the Rossies, male or female, is full-blooded commitment and non-stop workrate, that\u2019s in their DNA, but this was a very un-Rossie like performance.<\/p>\n
Muireann Devaney, who plundered 1-10, had the freedom of the park, Laura O\u2019Dowd looked as if she could solo the length of the field unimpeded, and almost did on a few occasions, as Leitrim looked in a different class to a Roscommon side clearly not in the right place at the moment. We\u2019re used to ferocious battles with our near neighbours in the Ladies and while I believe Leitrim have an edge in depth and attacking quality, no Leitrim team ever left the field feeling anything other than they had been in a battle royale with the Rossies.<\/p>\n