Reaching the final means the world to Leitrim Gaels' Donal Casey

Sometimes you forget the simple joy of achieving a feat for the first time ever but there is not danger of that for Donal Casey as his first words absolutely captured the essence of what it means to Leitrim Gaels to contest their first ever Connacht Gold Leitrim SFC Final next Sunday.

“I swear to God, it absolutely means the world,” is the apt answer that captures both what it means for Donal and Leitrim Gaels, “It's a full year of slogging and it's just great to finally get over the line and get into the final now.”

But Donal is thinking more of the club stalwarts who have battled for the Gaels for so long rather than any personal achievements: “It's not even myself, it's the Aidan Flynn's of the world that are here, what, 15 years playing and they're finally getting here. They're the men that we look to, so it means absolutely everything.”

One of Leitrim’s, let alone the Gaels, outstanding players, Donal typically plays it down, preferring to emphasise the efforts so many are putting into a team effort. Asked what it meant for him to reach a final after an almost year long battle with injury, Donal said “It is big but again, I'm just one person amongst, what, 50 lads, do you know what I mean?

“Everyone else is doing their own, they have their own journeys and I've had my journey and thankfully I'm here and able to play and help out. When you see David Bruen coming home, the effort that he's put in, away from the pitch, away in Australia, it's huge. We do it for our club, we do it for our family. We're all great together, we're a tight bunch of lads and it's great to have everyone home now for the final.”

PERFORMING ON THE DAY IS WHAT MATTERS TO LEITRIM GAELS' AIDAN FLYNN

Dealing with the excitement of a County Final is a novel experience for the Gaels but Donal stresses it is up to each player to do with as they see fit but to be ready on the training field: “I think you take it in your stride, absolutely. You have to enjoy it too but I said to lads coming in here today, there's a lot of noise, there's a lot of pressure, just enjoy it.

“If you don't enjoy it, what's the point? Do you know what I mean? All this, the two weeks build up now, just enjoy it and take it as it is. But when it comes to training, we switch off and come back in as a group.

“The excitement is great. That's what the supporters, family & friends deserve - a bit of excitement. We haven't had this before, this time of year. Normally we're dead and buried and finished, so to have this is excellent. But again, as a team, we stick together and we do what we have to do.”

The constant message from the Gaels has been the group but it is hard to get away from the impact of the Jones brothers on a club who had never reached a Senior Final before and while Donal acknowledges the impact the Fermanagh trio have made, he says it doesn’t matter to the team: “Sure, we're used to noise and it makes no difference to us what people say or what people think. 

“It's the same thing - we go out every day, it makes no odds what people's opinions are, it doesn't matter to the team. The lads have brought experience and a level of professionalism and everyone else has come up to that level. We'll take anyone in with open arms and they've brought the team up to a different level this year and hopefully that'll allow us to move forward.”

The defender also credits a different mentality within the Gaels set-up this year: “There was a different feeling this year, there was a different mentality within the team. We knew we were getting there, we set out our goals and we hit them the whole way through. Ballinamore  are brilliant but there's four or five outfits there that are top class outfits and on a day, anyone can win it. But for us, we just stay focused on ourselves.”

As for the final, Donal has a simple outlook - finals are there for winning! “Absolutely, number one - that's the most important thing of the least important things. Everything will be finished after Sunday, we can relax, put the feet up. We knew we'd get to the final, now it's just about giving that extra 5% and getting over the line and hopefully we'll bring the Fenagh Cup home.”