Ruislip is the venue for Sunday's Connacht senior football Championship Quarter-Final as London host Leitrim - ahead of the game, GAA.ie hears from London captain Liam Gavaghan and Leitrim's Donal Wrynn as both give an insight into the mood in their respective camps and how they see Sunday's game going.
**By Cian O'Connell **
Donal Wrynn was born four months before Leitrim’s last Connacht Senior Football Championship title.
One of the youngest captains on the inter-county circuit Wrynn has already established himself as a key performer for Leitrim, who face London at McGovern Park in Ruislip on Sunday afternoon.
The current Leitrim set-up has significant links with the fabled crew of 1994; John O’Mahony was manager back then and is now involved in Brendan Guckian’s backroom team alongside All Star Seamus Quinn.
Does it have any impact at all on the current panel? “Definitely it has a knock on effect,” Wrynn replies.
“The respect that the likes of John, Seamus Quinn, who won an All Star and of course Benny was part of the '94 panel, the respect they gained from people in Leitrim just knowing they were involved in a successful Leitrim team which there hasn't been many of gives belief and a bit of motivation to lads that we can get to that point at some stage.”
Leitrim’s football story has always been about dreaming – the ’94 campaign offering one of the Championships greatest ever tales when beating the bluebloods of the western game, Galway and Mayo.
Every small little nugget of good news keeps Leitrim encouraged and motivated with the improved competitiveness of underage teams another source of optimism according to Wrynn.
“Yeah, definitely the underage in the county, especially that Under 21 team we've a number of them involved in the senior team and they definitely are of a higher quality than the players that had been coming through.
“We might have eight of that panel involved in the senior team at the moment. It definitely gives you encouragement going forward.”
London footballers Lorcan Mulvey and Shane Mulligan celebrate following the 2013 Connacht Championship Semi-Final replay win over Leitrim at Dr Hyde Park.
During their Allianz Football League Division Four campaign Leitrim offered glimpses of their ability without ever achieving the necessary consistency to launch a serious promotion bid. Four wins and three losses was Leitrim’s spring form.
“We were competitive against Wexford, against Westmeath we weren't really,” Wrynn reflects. “We struggled that day as we had quite a number of injuries.
“If you looked at the team that played the week before the Westmeath game there were quite a lot of changes with injuries. Yeah, we were a little bit mixed. I thought our performances in general were quite good when we did work, but a few results we didn't close out.
“The Wexford game was a good opportunity and Limerick as well. They were two games we lost that we felt we left behind us. I think Wexford and Westmeath were just a step ahead of us.”
The impending trip will be a different type of an assignment according to Wrynn. “It is, yeah, it is unusual I suppose,” Wrynn admits.
“It is similar to New York, obviously it isn't the same, but you are going abroad. There is an unusual buzz to it and it isn't what you'd associate to a normal Championship game over here which makes it a little more complicated.
“You have to focus in on it a little bit more because they are going to be gunning for us. They will be looking at Leitrim as an opportunity since the start of the year, we know that. We are going to be going there with all guns blazing.”
In 2013 Leitrim were beaten by London after a replay in the Connacht Senior Football Championship. So Leitrim are completely aware of the pitfalls which exist. “I wasn't on the panel then, it was a year before I joined the panel, but there still would be four or five lads that were involved on those days.
“In fairness to them they are making the rest of the squad aware of that. They've highlighted that, we have quite a young team this year, but at the same time they have used their experience well and they have highlighted that to the younger players. This is going to be a real challenge in Ruislip.”
