Leitrim Star Praised For Post-Match Interview After Inspirational Performance Against Mayo

Leitrim may have lost their Connacht semifinal to Mayo on Saturday afternoon but it was a case of pride restored for the men in green and yellow in Carrick-on-Shannon .

Steven Poacher's men entered the game as 21-point underdogs to Mayo. The decision to forfeit the league game to Fermanagh proved to be a debacle, and Poacher said last month that Leitrim's focus this year would be on the Tailteann Cup.

It's been a hugely challenging few months for the Leitrim footballers. They lost twenty players from their panel last year. They lost their manager in the autumn. They lost every game in the league.

So it was brilliant to see their young and talented squad put in such a spirited performance this afternoon against a Division One opponent.

Leitrim trailed by one at halftime and lost by seven in the end.

Their talisman on the day was Barry McNulty, the Glencar-Manorhamilton midfielder who starred in UCD's Sigerson Cup campaign this year. McNulty would kick 0-8 - including two two-pointers - and be named Man of the Match after a towering display.

Equally impressive was his man of the match interview with Mike Finnerty of GAA+ where he talked about how his young teammates had regrouped after last month's controversy.

I suppose we probably wouldn't have been given much of a chance coming in here today. And I have to give to the lads. Their spirit was exceptional. Maybe this year a lot of people were doubting their character, but I can't say enough about the team and management there. I can only be so proud of the lads and the performance they put in.

When asked about the noise the followed that Fermanagh forfeit, McNulty said it didn't impact the team at all.

I suppose there's always going to be outside noise. I suppose in Leitrim we've seen that a good bit over the years, that outside noise. Lookit, when you're inside that camp, it's completely blocked out. Everything that's said on the outside, it passes right over our head, we don't really take heed to the outside noise.

It didn't get to us and the performance showed that. We stuck to the game plan there, and it kept us in large parts of the game. And I think we really frustrated Mayo. At times they weren't getting shots off, and I think it really showed.

McNulty's best answer came when describing the difference between Leitrim and Mayo in the end.

You have to look at the bench. You look at Eoghan McLoughlin, Diarmuid O'Connor, these boys coming off the bench, and then we have lads coming on making their debuts at a young age like Paul Honeyman, like they're all young lads like. We're a young team. I suppose when you look at the amount of players we've turned over in the past year, we've lost a lot of experience. I suppose that's the difference, the experience. Like they've played in tight games like this. For our lads, it's all new to them, and I suppose I can only be so proud of them coming on.

I think this performance will stand to us massively in years to come where in a game like this, you might get a bit closer, and you'll have experienced it before so you might get over the line.

McNulty was praised by the GAA+ panel for his play and his words after the game. It'll be fascinating to see what Leitrim do in the Taliteann Cup. With the likes of McNulty in their ranks, the future looks pretty bright.