‘I knew all year that this was our year’ Leonard pays tribute to team-mates

TOURLESTRANE marked their 18th appearance in the Sligo Senior Championship final on Sunday with a victory over Eastern Harps.

This was their 13th title, and their 6th in the last ten years.

Only Tubbercurry have more Senior Football Championship titles than Eamonn O’Hara and Gerry McGowan’s charges.

They also became the first Sligo club to make it two titles in a row since St. Patrick’s in 1988/89.

“This is brilliant for the club and brilliant for the parish,” James Leonard, Captain, said afterwards.

Tourlestrane’s first half performance was far from ideal, but 33-year-old Leonard insists that his teammates knew that Eastern Harps would give them a tough challenge on the day.

“That was a tough game there today, Eastern Harps put it up to us. At half-time a lot of us were thinking that this two-in-a-row curse was going to set in again but a lot of words were said at half-time but thankfully our second half was that bit better and it was enough to get us over the line.”

And even though many would have given Harps no chance whatsoever, Leonard says they had warned one another not to be surprised if Harps were on top at the half way mark.

“We said before the game that we knew Eastern Harps were going to come here very strong. We’ve been hearing all week that people were writing them off but we knew that they were seven points down against St. Mary’s in the semi-final and they fought back so we knew they would come here with that fight.

“We knew before the game that if you’re down at half-time don’t be surprised.”

While Harps were in the lead at the conclusion of the first-half, Tourlestrane remained calm and took their chances in the second-half, securing the title with a hard fought performance.

“They were by far the better team in the firsthalf but we knew if we stuck to our process, what we’ve been doing all year and take our chances, we were that bit more clinical in the second half paid dividends,” he said.

Leonard paid tribute to the hard work of his team-mates, who put in a huge effort all year.

“I can’t say enough about the lads, it’s all down to them. Some people say about the work ethic, that the work ethic might drop in year two after you win it. I suppose it probably proved to be the case for many years in Sligo but I think they brought it on even more this year.

“I knew all year long that this was our year to do it. We were very strong, the boys couldn’t train hard enough and it all paid off today.”