The story of the Leitrim 1994 team

LAST Monday John O’Mahony received a text from former Leitrim player Aiden Rooney. Cavan and Tipperary winning their provinces, Rooney informed his one-time manager, “was like watching your favourite film twice in the one day.”
Cavan’s reward for their shock Ulster final win over Donegal is an All-Ireland semi-final against Dublin at Croke Park on Saturday, and it has been 26 years since a team has been ranked as such big outsiders ahead of a last-four clash with the Leinster giants.
The odds speak for themselves with Dessie Farrell’s side priced anywhere between 1/66 and 1/25 to reach another final in their quest for six Sam Maguires in-a-row.
While counties like Fermanagh (2004), Wexford (2008) and Tipperary (2016) have made surprise runs to the last four, you’d have to go all the way back to Leitrim in 1994 for such a David and Goliath clash.
Cavan may have a lot more tradition to call on, but they do find themselves in a similar situation.
The Breffni county’s 1-13 to 0-12 win over the Tir Chonaill county secured their first Ulster title in 23 years and only their second since 1969. Leitrim’s ’94 triumph was only their second ever provincial success and their first since 1927.
To lift the Anglo Celt, Cavan travelled an arduous journey to get over Monaghan, Antrim, Down and Donegal. After beating Roscommon, Leitrim needed two attempts to get past Galway before that famous victory over Mayo in the Connacht final.
It’s no surprise then, that O’Mahony and the Leitrim players see a little something of themselves in Mickey Graham’s squad.
“What underdogs always need to realise is that their destiny is in their own hands,” said O’Mahony.
“Cavan were the epitome of this. After watching Dublin hammer Meath, everyone – and Mickey Graham referred to this after their win – thought that Donegal would win with something to spare.
“Donegal were clearly number two in the pecking order after Kerry were eliminated and obviously that weighed on them big time.
“Cavan gave a display of bravery, courage and belief and a plan implemented to the letter by a group of players who played with a unity of purpose that couldn’t fail.
“To win the toughest province in the way they did of course brought back memories. Leitrim had four games because we drew with Galway so we had to beat Galway, Roscommon and Mayo. In that sense it was very similar and the traits of the two teams were very similar.”
There is one huge difference between Leitrim and Cavan though.
O’Mahony was so sure of his side’s success that he had pre-arranged an open-top bus parade for the evening of the final. With the Nestor Cup on show, Carrick-on-Shannon was a swarm of green and gold as crowds packed the streets to salute their heroes.
With the current Covid-19 restrictions in place, the best Cavan could do is a drive through at Kingspan Breffni while there were pockets of celebrations in various parts of the county. It was nothing compared to what would have been in place had it been a normal season.
Leitrim lost their semi-final to Dublin 3-15 to 1-9, but O’Mahony believes that the lack of festivities may allow Cavan to move to the task at hander quicker than his side did.
“The only advice relates to a point Mickey Graham made,” he said.
“Donegal were focussed on something farther on, now the challenge for Cavan is change their focus. They were only focussed on the Ulster final.
“What they have to do quickly is switch the mental focus to Dublin and that is a monumental task.
“No matter what happens in the semi-final Cavan have had a fantastic season but the comfort of that shouldn’t take from putting in another massive effort to maximise their potential and to leave everything on the pitch. That’s the challenge for them.
“I saw that as a difficulty in 1994. Leitrim were heroes when they won the Connacht title. We had open-top buses and we had a tour of the county. Because of the situation that hasn’t been the case for Cavan and in a way the fact there was none of that might help them focus quicker.”
The poster boy of that Leitrim team was Declan Darcy, who would go on to play and coach with Dublin, while full-back Seamus Quinn remains only the second person from the county to win an Allstar after Mickey Quinn in 1990.
Cavan are also starting to get their own poster boys, most notable granite man Thomas Galligan, but O’Mahony pointed to another player as a sign of the collective spirit that exists within the group.
“You look at Conor Madden,” he said. “He was named (v Donegal) but he didn’t start. Sometimes in a case like that you’ll get a fella sulking.
“Instead, he wasn’t picked, stayed alert, came on for two blood subs and ended up top scorer. That is one example of many of what this Cavan team is all about.
“You could go through them all, Thomas Galligan and Raymond Galligan the captain, but Madden was a very good example. He was there to answer the call, no matter what the opportunity was.”
Goliath, hailing from the capital, may have slayed Connacht’s David 26 years ago, but Cavan have already shown once this season that they can upset the odds. They’ll be aiming for another upset of Biblical proportions at Croke Park.
n.mccoy@gaeliclife.com