It’s only three years ago that Rory Gallagher’s Derry had to conjure a couple of late points just to draw with Leitrim in an Allianz League game.
Keith Beirne was on fire for Leitrim that day, striking nine points at Celtic Park, and he winces at the trajectory of both teams since.
It’s not so much that Leitrim plummeted – though they did drop back down to Division Four at the end of that 2020 league campaign – it’s more that Derry took off like a shooting star.
Their present location is at the summit of Ulster, careering towards Division One in 2024. Leitrim, meanwhile, remain stuck in Division Four, but with a potential Get Out of Jail card in the form of an attractive Connacht championship draw.
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Beat New York this Saturday, then overcome Sligo or London – two more Division Four teams – and they’ll be through to a first provincial final since 2000. Moreover, they’ll have given Tailteann Cup football the slip.
“They are proof of what can be done,” said Beirne of upwardly mobile Derry.
“I know they are coming from a different background, they were Division One in 2015. But they fell down and they rose back up again. We could compete with Derry [in 2020] and we can compete, we know we can be there. We were up by three or four points that day against Derry and we let in a dodgy goal that threw that result into a draw. We know we can get to a higher standard.”
Few players are approaching the championship with as much optimism and ambition as Beirne.
Quite aside from the decent draw, he’s in the form of his career, shooting just shy of 10 points on average per game in Division Four this season. Last year, he made the inaugural Tailteann Cup Team of the Year.
It helps, no doubt, that manager Andy Moran was once a terrific inside forward himself.
“It is just that professional side of things that he has really stepped up and that is bringing us on tenfold,” said Beirne.
Four wins in the league took them to the brink of promotion. Normally, that would have represented the high point of Leitrim’s season, but the championship draw has opened up fresh possibilities.
“The Tailteann Cup was excellent last year but the chance of playing in the All-Ireland series cannot be overlooked, it’s a huge target,” said the Mohill man of potentially qualifying via a Connacht final appearance.
To make it happen, they must beat New York on Saturday for starters. Five years ago, Leitrim escaped the Bronx with a one-point extra-time win.
“We finished the league at the end of March and weren’t playing until May 6th that year,” said Beirne of 2018.
“You had weeks of build-up on an astro turf pitch to get used to the footing but that is gone this year.
“It is a tricky one, New York is a very tricky one. No one wants to lose there but they are eventually going to get someone, some day. You just have to hope it’s not you.”
