The challenge for Mohill is to try to advance to a first Connacht decider

One month after Mary McAleese was inaugurated as President of Ireland in late 1997, the footballers of Allen Gaels faced Corofin in a Connacht club senior football championship final.

Corofin ran out 2-10 to 0-11 winners of the provincial decider that December. Mary McAleese later went on to serve a second term in office and these days she chairs the Steering Group on Integration of Gaelic games, trying to bring all three associations under the one umbrella.

But Leitrim clubs are still waiting for it to rain silverware – no side from the county has ever won a senior provincial club title. Indeed, no team has even managed to navigate a passage back to a final since that appearance by Allen Gaels all of 26 years ago.

At Dr Hyde Park this Sunday, Mohill have the opportunity to at least bridge that gap when they face Roscommon champions St Brigid’s in a Connacht club SFC semi-final. Mohill won the Leitrim SFC final on October 8th, so their provincial aspirations have been on ice longer than they might have liked – during that period St Brigid’s have played a county final and a Connacht quarter-final.

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“That might put them a little bit ahead of us in terms of competitive games in recent weeks,” says Mohill manager Eamonn O’Hara. “But we would be trying to look at the positives of it because hopefully we should be fresh and any little knocks will have had time to clear up.”

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The Mohill squad trained last Sunday morning and then travelled to Hyde Park to watch St Brigid’s against Coolera-Strandhill. But it wasn’t just an information-gathering assignment – after St Brigid’s 0-13 to 1-3 victory the Mohill squad had arranged to have runout on the pitch.

“Waiting as long as we have been, we had been able to organise a few things to keep us ticking over,” explains former Sligo footballer, O’Hara. “We didn’t want to be presumptuous so we arranged to get out in Markievicz Park as well as the Hyde.

“We made a day out of it last Sunday, it was good to get the group together and to get out on the pitch was no harm for some of the lads who haven’t played there before.”

Mohill have never been to the provincial showpiece event, so there are no shortage of glass ceilings for the group to potentially smash this weekend.

They have been formidable in the Leitrim SFC in recent years – Mohill contested six of the last seven finals, including the most recent four. They have a 50 per cent strike-rate in that period, winning three and losing three.

The 2022 season was O’Hara’s first at the helm, having previously managed his native Tourlestrane to five consecutive Sligo senior titles between 2016-20, with Mohill coming up short in the Leitrim final 12 months ago.

They lost four starters from that 2022 decider – the usual mix of injuries and travelling – but still managed to get back to this year’s final and emerge victorious. The challenge now is to try to advance to a first Connacht decider – though O’Hara says they will not be using that as a major motivator within the dressingroom.

“That can bring its own pressure,” he says. “And while it might resonate with some of the lads, it’s probably more significant that since 2006, Mohill have won five county titles and they possibly feel they have been in enough finals over the last few years to have won more.

“We have probably been lucky enough to get drawn in a Connacht semi-final, but we haven’t looked at it in terms of possibly becoming the first Leitrim team in so many years to get to a final.

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“Where I keep challenging the lads is in terms of when you look at the teams who have got to Connacht finals over the years, Moycullen, Corofin, St Brigid’s, Ballintubber, all of those sides had been regularly contesting county finals.

“So that helps you build up a resolve and hardness about you, which helps you to get across the line. This weekend our lads will have to pull on all of their experience from the last few years.”

Over the course of the season, the 2002 All-Star organised for Mohill to play several training games against Boyle – who went on to contest the Roscommon final against St Brigid’s last month – so his men have at least been exposed to that level of competition in-house this season.

Still, if Mohill are waiting for a breakthrough in Connacht, St Brigid’s are one of the most decorated clubs in the province having won the title on four occasions. They were also crowned All-Ireland club champions just a decade ago.

“When you compare both clubs, obviously it’s going to be a huge ask, but there are a very proud bunch of lads in Mohill, they’ll be gunning to win the game.

“It’s all about putting in a performance and hoping St Brigid’s might be off a bit on the day. If we are still in the trenches battling with 45-50 minutes gone, I would fancy our chances. But getting to that point is the challenge.”