By Cian O'Connell

The summer of 1994 is still fondly recalled in Leitrim. Several links to that Connacht winning team are involved in the current Leitrim set-up with Brendan Guckian's appointment as manager offering a drop of hope to the locals.

Sunday's clash in Ruislip against London will be demanding for Leitrim, but Guckian is encouraged about the potential of a new crop of footballers in the county.

London beat Leitrim after a replay in the 2013 provincial semi-final, but there has been significant changes since then. "We’ve a huge turnover in players over the past number of years," Guckian says. "We’ve 13 new lads in on this year’s squad. 

"A lot of them would be under-21 so we’ve a big turnover. In saying that, we’ve some of the more experienced players still there and they’re obviously a huge part of the set up."

Guckian, who was in the Leitrim panel in 1997 when they survived a real scare in London, expects a demanding encounter. “Looking forward to it, apprehensive obviously," Guckian admits. 

"We’ve a difficult task ahead. We played London in the League and they made it difficult for us in the second half, but we’re under no illusions, we’ve a tough task ahead of us but preparations are going well. The lads are working hard."
Declan D'arcy was the Leitrim hero in 1997.

“Yeah, we were very fortunate," Guckian recalls.  "Got a penalty at the end of normal time. Declan Darcy converted the penalty and we came out the right side of it then in extra time, but it was a very nervy extra time.

"It was three years after the Connacht final. There were still a good crop of players so it just goes to show the strength of London. When they go at it, they’re a very formidable side."