Leitrim v Roscommon 12-6-11

[ross4life]

No offence to Rod but it would be a great story to see our neighbours in leitrim back in a provincial final. Carrick is a tough venue for the away team and I wonder have Ros the stomach for the battle.

If we don't have the stomach for the battle in a big local derby in Carrick then Fergal & his players will need to have a good look at themselves.

I wouldn't begrudge Leitrim appearance in the Connacht final but they usually get to it by beating us in Hyde Park.

[ross matt]

Claffey,Carty,Domican,Ormsby Mckeague,I kilbride,keenan,finneran,kenny. Cregg,Shine, O'grady,Rogers, S kilbride D mcdermott. & all these subs came on in second half Miley,Garvey,Mannion,Devaney,Daly,purcell,kelly.

Strong enough lineout Ross.
Did you hear much about the game? I dont really know how good Westmeath are to grade what drawing with them in a challenge means.

I'd say they are a level slightly ahead of us but hard to judge challenge games as they are nothing more than a work out, we used 24 players in that game John Rogers injured his hand & Cathal Cregg went off with a hamstring injury on 40mins

I also read we beat Louth in Louth by 4pts on Tuesday night another strong team started Niall Carty played at FB & Domican at CHB. S Kilbride,D Shine got the majority of the scores.

Sound. Hope Cregg is ok for Carrick.

[Farrandeelin]

Pity ye Ros or indeed Leitrim bucks don't talk as much on this forum as us Mayo lads do.

[Rossfan]

Our people stick to our own excellent Stolensheep.
Meanwhile the Laythrum lads are still trying to come to terms with paper and pens 

[Blowitupref]

Good read from the Leitrim Gaa website.

Neighbourhood Watch

As it gurgles out from deep underground on the Cuilcagh Mountains, the Shannon River has no idea of the effect it has on life in Ireland. It is written of in song and story, it drains and floods in turn, it is the powerhouse for hundreds of boats and cruisers, it entertains many a hopeful angler, its route is mapped on countless brochures, it has attracted thousands of visitors to its banks and it has been photographed and painted for generations. Like the river itself, its story could go on and on.


But all of this pales into insignificance compared to the effect it has on what colour of jersey we will be wearing on our way to Páirc Seán on Sunday June 12th. Will we be decked out in green and gold or will we be sporting the primrose and blue?


It depends on which side of the Shannon we first saw light of day. Was it in Cootehall or Leitrim Village, Cortober or Bridge Street, Mahanagh or Mount Allen, Bornacoola or across the bridge in Rooskey, Drumsna or Kilmore – you could throw a stone from one into the other, but there is a very distinct dotted line somewhere on a map that makes all the difference. We’re either Leitrim or Roscommon and no one will ever change that.


The Shannon shouldn’t have to take all the blame, for the border in places is just a laneway or a gripe. Sean and Charlie Flynn could run out their front door at Cartron Beg on the Drumkeerin road and jump into Roscommon, but atwo more committed Leitrim supporters you couldn’t find. When the Connacht Champions of ‘94 toured the county with the Nestor Cup, hadn’t the Flynns the biggest bonfire in Leitrim – burning especially brightly just to tease the Roscommon neighbours!


There will be lots of cross-border teasing in the run up to the big game in Carrick.

Wait till we get ye in Carrick – look what we did to Sligo.

What did we do to Sligo last year? Ye haven’t a hope!

So the banter will go on – at the mart, in the pubs, in the Observer, on Shannonside, everywhere. A sort of civil war will break out in families that inter-married across the great divide, in some gardens both flags will fly side by side.


There will be plenty of hype and great expectation. Roscommon will repeat and repeat how they always fear coming to Páirc Seán, but deep down they will presume they will win again, noting that records show they have always left with a victory; Leitrim will say its time to draw a line in the sand -- no point in putting up a good show but being on the wrong end of the scoreboard.


Roscommon will be buoyed by the thoughts of the St. Brigid’s backbone in their team, but James Glancy will be reminding Leitrim that the Glencar Manorhamilton contingent provides one equally strong, as the Connacht Club Championship game showed last Autumn – man for man the fifteen on each side have very little between them, so it’s all to play for.


Páirc Seán will be a mass of colour as Dessie Foley steers the Kiltubrid Pipe Band around the pitch in the pre-match parade, past the “Lurganboy on Tour” banner behind the lower goals, in those tense moments before Amhrán na bhFiann and the throw-in. We will even have colour television!


But whose cheeks will be the rosiest with pride at about half three on Sunday 12th, as they head home to gloat at their neighbours a few yards away on the other bank of the Shannon? 

[Shrewdness]

Any comments on Paddy Power's odds for Sunday.......

Leitrim 11/4.............Draw 13/2.........Roscommon 2/5.

[Rossfan]

Put a €5 on the draw 
This will be a tough oul struggle as games against us are Leitrim's All Ireland ( no matter how much they deny it they always want to take us down a peg or two) .
As long as we don't get drawn into a dogfight , easier said than done when neighbours meet , we should win this one and bring a bit of business to Ros town on CF day.

[Blowitupref]

Any comments on Paddy Power's odds for Sunday.......

Leitrim 11/4.............Draw 13/2.........Roscommon 2/5.

Odds alot shorter than the Connacht final last year & the Leitrim v Sligo this year, draw looks the best value.

[ross4life]

Do you guys expect many changes from the New York game? I think only one with Kenny starting instead of O'Grady.

                G Claffey
S McDermott, P Domican, N Carty
  D Ward, D Keenan, I Kilbride
     M Finneran, K Mannion
               E Kenny
C Devanney, K Higgins, C Cregg
            S Kilbride, D Shine

[Rossfan]

Barring any injuries I'd say you won't be too far out with that lineup.

[Lone Shark]

Time to get this thread up & running, can Leitrim cause another shock?

Yes they can / Is féidir leo.
However as Matt said Fergie will keep our lads  grounded and they will know that they can expect a ferocious challenge from our north western neighbours for whom this is their All Ireland.

If we go in with heads wrong there will be only one outcome - a replay in the Hyde 

Lads I've no vested interest in this game whatsoever but the condescension is absolutely dripping from this post and if that subconscious attitude is shared by any of the players Roscommon will be in bother. Equally if I was a Leitrim player reading this it would gall me much more than one of Roscommon's young players talking about a Connacht Final or some such - you'd just write him off as an eejit. This is much more dismissive and patronising altogether, and all the more so because it's not meant to be.

Intended or not, here's how it reads:

"Fergie will keep our lads grounded"  - the manager will be well aware of complacency in the squad and will try to stamp on it but if he wasn't there the players would be looking forward to a handy day out.

"this is their All Ireland" - We've much bigger fish to fry to be getting too emotional about this day, but for Leitrim, beating Roscommon is the most they can possible hope for. Ignore the fact that they border several counties, Roscommon is the real big name for them and if they can beat us, they'll have seannchaí telling the tale of the day for years. This doesn't matter to us, but it does to them.

"If we go in with heads wrong there will be only one outcome - a replay in the Hyde" I'm scanning this for sarcasm and I'm genuinely not sure - but taken at face value it suggests that the most Leitrim could dream of achieving is a draw, and even at that it could could only come about if Roscommon have the wrong attitude. If Roscommon play well, then Leitrim can do the divil and all, it won't matter a shi'ite.

I'm not sure about the last comment, but the second one in particular is a spectacular insult to Leitrim. I'll be interested to see if the likes of AhFeckRef thinks it as such.


I myself think Roscommon will win this but the idea that this attitude is even anywhere close to the surface in Roscommon would put me off any notion of betting on them.

[imtommygunn]

I dunno - I reckon Leitrim will win this one.

If they can beat Sligo no reason they can't beat Roscommon.

[Farrandeelin]

I can't see Roscommon losing this one to be honest. Sligo kinda blew their chance last year and it all went downhill for them since, so Leitrim beating them wasn't a great surprise. No more than all neutrals, I'll be hoping Leitrim can cause an upset.

[Tatler Jack]

I thnk Lone Shark that few Ros supporters would be over confident or condescending. Even if Fergie has the team fully prepared for a battle we can still lose and I wont consider it a surprise. There is little enough between the teams - we may have gained some experience from winning Connacht last year and the Brigid's players will also have experience of playing in an AI Club Final. On the other hand Leitrim have home venue, have momentum from the Sligo game and have a lot of new players that we know little enough about. The league game between us was close and we had a strong team out that day and were at home so nothing to suggest we should be overwhelming favourites.

I think those Ros supporters that feel we will win are taking a line from the League and maybe that we have had the edge over Leitrim at underage for the past 5 or 6 years. That may count for something but I am expecting a close game that may well be decided on a lucky break, a refereeing decision and probably whichever team takes it chances.

[Lone Shark]

I thnk Lone Shark that few Ros supporters would be over confident or condescending. Even if Fergie has the team fully prepared for a battle we can still lose and I wont consider it a surprise. There is little enough between the teams - we may have gained some experience from winning Connacht last year and the Brigid's players will also have experience of playing in an AI Club Final. On the other hand Leitrim have home venue, have momentum from the Sligo game and have a lot of new players that we know little enough about. The league game between us was close and we had a strong team out that day and were at home so nothing to suggest we should be overwhelming favourites.

I think those Ros supporters that feel we will win are taking a line from the League and maybe that we have had the edge over Leitrim at underage for the past 5 or 6 years. That may count for something but I am expecting a close game that may well be decided on a lucky break, a refereeing decision and probably whichever team takes it chances.

That's what I thought - as I type I'm here in St Brigid's country (the good lady is from Cam) and there would be plenty of respect for Leitrim in general, but that made me all the more surprised at the condescension in that post. I don't mind confidence - I respected Conal Keaney for his interview before the hurling in Croke Park against ourselves - but the belittling of Leitrim in that post above kind of took me aback is all. You can be confident by all means, but you don't have to demean the opposition in the process.