Tyrone lose to Leitrim in dramatic Croke Park final

TYRONE 3-10

LEITRIM 3-11

By Barry O’Donnell

NEAR on half an hour of disjointed football in the meat of this contest cost Tyrone dearly as Leitrim stunned them to annex the All-Ireland Intermediate Championship crown at Croke Park yesterday afternoon.

Having provided themselves apparently with a solid platform to push on for victory, when establishing a five point lead just beyond the midway stage of the first half, the shell-shocked Red Hands were subsequently outscored 2-9 to 0-3 between the 21st and 46th minute, either side of the interval.

Rarely do such jaw-dropping stats end well for the team on the wrong end of them and especially in an All-Ireland Final, and while Tyrone to their tremendous credit, fought valiantly to the bitter end they came up agonisingly just short.

The hard-working Chloe McCaffrey so nearly pulled it out of the fire at the close but her attempt for an equalising point, just as the clock ticked into the dying embers, sailed wide of the post at the Canal End, and so Tyrone hopes of a second national title at this grade ended.

It was tough on McCaffrey, who together with Aoife Horisk and captain Aoibhinn McHugh, were among the stand-out performers for Tyrone on the day, but despite the narrow margin of victory come the final whistle, there was no mistaking that Leitrim full warranted their triumph.

Given the prize at stake it was perhaps understandable that the opening exchanges were fairly cautious, though Tyrone did endure a few scares in around their own goal.

First Ailbhe Clancy saw a shot blocked by Red Hand keeper Amelia Coyle, with the Leitrim attacker firing the rebound wide from close range. Then before three minutes had elapsed the Connacht side carved open another great opportunity, with Laura O’Dowd releasing one but Coyle stood up strong to thwart her effort and the danger was averted.

In contrast Tyrone were finding it difficult in the initial stages to puncture holes in the Leitrim rearguard, before Maria Canavan thundered over a tremendous fifth minute score off her left peg.

While the Ulster girls shaded possession they also began to wrack up a sizeable wides tally, with other attempts dropping short, and they paid for such profligacy with the concession of a 12th minute goal.

Muireann Devaney, a real livewire in attack for Leitrim throughout, released colleague O’Dowd surging up in support and she lashed a shot high past Coyle into the net.

With their confidence swelling Devaney took another pass in her stride and swivelled to slot over a quality score, as the westerners eased into a 1-1 to 0-1 lead.

However for the subsequent ten minutes the Red Hands turned the momentum of the contest completely on its head, with skipper McHugh leading the attacking onslaught.

They hit 2-2 in double quick time to seemingly put themselves firmly in control. First McHugh powered her way through in the 12th minute before teeing up the grateful Aoife Horisk to apply a low finish beyond Leitrim keeper Michelle Monaghan.

Tyrone had their tails up now and it took a fine smothering block from Monaghan to deny Caitlin Campbell another goal, as the Leitrim defence was carved open again.

A McCaffrey pointed free and wonderful Horisk conversion from out on the left wing put Tyrone two up and in the 18th minute they registered another green flag. Keeper Monaghan could only parry Aine Grimes attempt into the path of Horisk and she made no mistake to clinically dispatch her second goal.

Leading 2-3 to 1-1 Tyrone looked set clear to justify the favourites mantle they carried into the tie but from then on it turned into a horror show for them, as Leitrim’s running game and tenacity in the tackle helped them wrest a firm grip.

The warning signs were flashing after Coyle reacted smartly again to deny Michelle Guckian a goal at her near post, but from a ’45’ knocked in by the Leitrim skipper soon after, Clancy collected possession on the edge of the square and turned to find the goal.

A further O’Dowd score, after galloping clear up the right, added to a Guckian brace of frees, and with the impressive Clancy also splitting the posts, Tyrone found themselves trailing at the interval 2-5 to 2-3.

There was no let-up from the Connacht side on the restart, with Tyrone toiling across every sector of the pitch to make any progress.

Guckian banged over two further points (one free) and Clancy added to her growing collection with a sublime effort.

Sub Sorcha Gormley injected a bit of life into the Tyrone attack, and whistled one over from close range, while McCaffrey was also on target.

Yet they were unable to build up a sustained period of pressure and with Guckian and Clancy capping more polished approach work with scores, Leitrim showed no signs of letting up.

Indeed in the 46th minute Clancy rolled in a penalty goal after Devaney was fouled by Joanne Barrett (who was yellow carded as a result), leaving Tyrone down a player heading into the closing stages.

After sub Elle McNamee pointed Tyrone were afforded a timely fillip as McHugh blasted a shot to the net in the 48th minute, after McCaffrey’s initial attempt for a point came back down off the post.

For the first time Leitrim began to look a tad apprehensive and McCaffrey again and sub Emma Conroy gnawed away at the deficit with further fine points.

The gap was then down to the bare minimum after a close range McCaffrey free, but try as they might they couldn’t get back on level terms before the close.