Allianz National Hurling League Division 4 – Report
Allianz NHL Div 4 – Round 5
Monaghan 2 – 11
Leitrim 1 – 12
Lady luck certainly did not smile on the Leitrim hurlers on Sunday afternoon in Ballinamore when they took on Allianz NHL Division 4 unbeaten side and table toppers Monaghan.
Monaghan came from behind to grab a Scórcely deserved victory over Leitrim with goals by Sean Leonard and Brian Phelan in the last five minutes of an entertaining tie.
Prior to that Leitrim led this encounter from the 24th minute until Phelans strike in the 70th minute, which put the Farney men, who had been facing an unexpected defeat, ahead again. After controlling the exchanges for 46 minutes it certainly was very disappointing for Leitrim to surrender the win in the closing stages of this contest.
Despite the defeat it was undoubtedly Leitrims best all round display in their five games of the league, even though only slightly better than their come from behind win over South Down a few weeks ago in Carrick.
All the Leitrim backs performed well and curtailed the Monaghan forwards to limited Scóring opportunities until the crucial final five minutes while Vinnie McDermott at fullback and young Sean McWeeney at wing back were rock solid.
Keith Connolly turned in an excellent display at midfield while his partner Michael Poniard put in a tremendous amount of good work. All the Leitrim forwards worked hard with Ian Bermingham, Clement Cunniffe and Liam Burns to the fore.
It is hoped that all our suspended, injured and unavailable players get back to training now for the Lory Meagher Cup and build on this great hearted performance.
Leitrim: Paul McKiernan, Kevin McGrath, Vincent McDermott, David Tiernan, Morgan Quinn, Sean McWeeney, Kieran Boyle 0 – 1, Keith Connolly 0 – 2, Michael Poniard, Paraic McWeeney, Clement Cunniffe, Ian Bermingham 0 – 6(2f.), Michael Burns, Liam Burns 1 – 0, Cathal McCrann 0 – 1. Sub Kevin OConnor 0 – 1 for M. Burns (12 mins).
Referee: Ashley Stapleton (Laois).
29-Mar-10 by Paddy O Connor – PRO – Hurling
