February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
By Mike Fitzpatrick
Leitrim 3-16, Stamford 1-8
Leitrim pulled out all the stops to reach the promised land.
Having beaten a hotly fancied Stamford side in this senior football Div. 1 game, Mike Brosnan’s men will now contest the playoffs in a couple of weeks. Leitrim, having shipped over intercounty stars Mickey Linden and Michael Walsh from the Mourne, they surged ahead, rarely looking in trouble.
Mickey Walsh opened the scoring with a brace of points, followed by a Bill Dennehy goal and point, a Linden point, and another three pointer under the bar from Tommy Gee.
By half time, Stamford’s efforts from Kevin Cloonan, Tom Williams and Paul Galvin still meant that they trailed by a severely worrying nine points.
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Leitrim had one thought in their mind throughout, to reach the playoffs and attempt to snatch their title back from Kerry. The team of the nineties, which won all before them in the last decade, lost out on their championship last year to the lads from the kingdom, and for many of their panel, this could be one of the last rolls of the dice at a serious chance of picking up one more senior championship medal.
Stamford, having already qualified for the playoffs, will not be too disheartened at this loss. The real fight starts next week when the first playoff game takes place at Gaelic Park.
Always a dark horse for the championship, this young Stamford club will be certain to cause an upset or two before mid October.
The second half of this game merely emphasized the point that Leitrim are a force fully intending to grab their crown back
Leitrim: Sean Jones, Malachy McHugh, Morgan O’Shea, John McGuinness (0-1), Mike Murphy, Eamon Breen, John Donohue, John Meehan, Conal Martin, Jim Donohue (0-2), Tommy Gee (1-2), Michael Walsh, Mickey Walsh, Michael Walsh (1-2), Mickey Linden (0-3), Jonathon Daly (0-1), Bill Dennehy (1-5).
Stamford: James McAlarey, Phil Wickham, Pat Coyne, Paul Rafter, Jason Williams, PJ Lannigan, Mark Comerford, Paul Galvin (1-4), Keith Hennessy, Tom Williams (0-1), Richie Purcell (0-1), Justin O’Halloran, Justin O’Halloran, Spike Martin (0-1), Kevin Cloonan (0-1), Declan Curtin.