Victorious manager Jonny Garrity said he knew it would need a top class display to bring the Mary Quinn Memorial Cup back to Leitrim in a thrilling TG4 All-Ireland intermediate Final with Tyrone at Croke Park.
“We had to produce something special to beat a team of that quality,” he said.
“We had to dig right down into our reserves; as players and people. We did all that. When all is said and done, the girls were exceptional.”
Leitrim’s Michelle Guckian lifts the All-Ireland Intermediate Cup
His side had to survive a late Tyrone fightback to win the title for the first time since they captured their only crown in 2007.
“We didn’t do a lot of things that were good in the first-half, we were always on the backfoot,” admitted opposite number Sean O’Kane.
Leitrim led by 2-5 to 2-3 at the break with Laura O’Dowd and Aibhe Clancy getting the goals, while Aoife Horisk hit the net twice in the space of six minutes for Tyrone.
Leitrim’s Charlene Tyrell tackles Aoibhinn McHugh of Tyrone
After 18 minutes without a score, Tyrone substitute Sorcha Gormley hit a neat point in the 39th minute. Horisk followed up with a point but Leitrim cancelled those scores with excellent points from Michelle Guckian and Clancy.
In the 45th minute, Tyrone’s Joanne Barrett was sin-binned when she brought down Muireann Devaney. Up stepped Clancy and she made no mistake from the penalty spot.
Tyrone Manager Sean O’Kane admitted his side came up short
Tyrone were back in the game in the 49th when Aoibhinn McHugh got in for a goal. Two points from Chloe McCaffrey, one of them a free, and an Emma Conroy effort cut the gap to one in the 59th minute but Leitrim hung on to claim the crown.
“I felt that when the penalty went in, we had too much to do,” added O’Kane.
“We battled again. Just going through the after-match, we had 16 wides and two short. The quest is over for another year. That’s the reality of it.”
Aoife Horisk finds the net for Tyrone
Scorers, Leitrim: A Clancy 2-3 (1-0pen), M Guckian 0-5 (4fs), L O’Dowd 1-2, M Devaney 0-1.
Tyrone: A Horisk 2-2, C McCaffrey 0-4 (2fs), A McHugh 1-0, M Canavan, E Conroy, E McNamee, S Gormley 0-1 each.
LEITRIM: M Monaghan; E Quigley, C Tyrell, C Owens; S Reynolds, K Bruen, Elise Bruen; N Tighe, M Guckian; O Flynn, L O’Dowd, M Devaney; A Clancy, S Quinn, A Redican. Subs: L Fox for Quinn (37), B O’Rourke for Guckian (49), M Murphy for Quigley (57).
TYRONE: A Coyle; J Lyons, J Barrett, E Quinn; C Daly, M Corrigan, C Campbell; A McHugh, M Mallon; A Grimes, A Horisk, E J Gervin; C McCaffrey, Z Loughran, M Canavan. Subs: S Gormley for Loughran (35), E Mulgrew for Canavan (47), E McNamee for Grimes (44), Grimes for McNamee (53), McNamee for Mallon (54), E Conroy for Gervin (54).
Referee: Barry Redmond (Wexford).