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Beirne dismissal is fatal for London  By
Larry Cooney
Leitrim 1-12
London 2-5
Connacht SFC
London are still waiting for their first Connacht Championship victory
in 30 years but few footballing days in the capital have proved more memorable
than this.
The bare statistics record that Leitrim won by four points and while few
could argue that Leitrim were well worth their victory the composure,
quality and confidence on the ball and hunger for the fight displayed
by London will be remembered for many years.
A slippery surface made conditions far from ideal for both sides but it
was noticeable how much better Leitrim coped and they also enjoyed the
advantage of a strong wind in the opening period.
Although London had the fillip of an early lead through a Darragh Kinneavey
pointed free Leitrim responded immediately when Conor Regan picked off
a nice point from play within a minute.
The Leitrim midfield partnership of McCloskey and Michael Duignan were
also well on top for much of the opening quarter.
They should have enjoyed more than just a 0-4 to 0-1 lead and would have
been further in front had Brian McBrearty not made a superb save from
Donal Brennan to deny the corner-forward in the seventh minute.
However despite Brennan’s early lapse Leitrim’s inside line
of forwards were still causing the London defence considerable problems
especially topscorer Ciaran Duignan who gave a man-of-the-match performance
with 0-8 including 0-4 from play.
Declan Maxwell could also have had a goal for Leitrim when put through
by Regan but again McBrearty denied him a certain goal just before the
end of the first quarter.
Kinneavey and Foley traded points midway through the first-half. Leitrim
led by 0-8 to 0-2 when London were given a real boost when centre-back
Conor Beirne joined the attack to set-up Chris Donnellan who finished
superbly with the opening goal of the game to leave just three points
between the sides.
Leitrim responded immediately with a point from James Glancy but just
as London thought they had played their way back into contention, Declan
Maxwell set-up Donal Brennan to finish off a great move for Leitrim for
a goal on the stroke of half-time to leave the score Leitrim 1-9 London
1-2.
On the resumption London desperately attempted to get back into the game
and although they outscored Leitrim 0-3 to 0-1 in the third quarter they
never recovered from the harsh dismissal of Conor Beirne in the 48th minute
for a foul on Conor Regan.
The Exiles succeeded in holding Leitrim scoreless for 20 minutes of the
second period but by the time substitute Niall Clinton scored their second
goal with four minutes remaining it was already a lost cause for the London
lads who finished with 13 men.
Paul Hehir was also dismissed for a second yellow card for a foul on Conor
Regan just three minutes before the final whistle. |
