Were Leitrim playing yesterday?

Well, don't ask The Irish times.

From today's Irish Times Sports:

Leitrim ready for final hurdle

Tommy Murphy Cup Semi-finals/Leitrim 2-12 Carlow 0-8: After Niall Barrett and Mark Carpenter put Carlow two points in front after five minutes at Birr yesterday, Leitrim responded to lead 0-4 to 0-2 through points from Shane Foley, Donal Brennan, Noel Doonan and Ciarán Duignan.

Leitrim led at the break, 0-8 to 0-5, and effectively sealed victory 11 minutes from time with a Duignan goal for 1-11 to 0-7.

There was still time for Brennan to add another goal for Leitrim.

LEITRIM: C McCrann; D Reynolds, M McGuinness, D McHugh; F Holohan, B McWeeney, S Foley (0-1); N Doonan (0-1), C Carroll; C Regan (0-1), M Foley (0-1), B Prior; J Glancy (0-2), D Brennan (1-2), C Duignan (1-3). Subs: P McGuinness for Prior, D Beck for M Foley, M Greene for S Foley, D Maxwell (0-1) for Glancy.

CARLOW: G McGuill; B Hannon, S Murphy, J Ryan; B English, J Hayden, P Cashin; P Walsh, D Byrne; A Kelly (0-4, frees), T Walsh (0-1), P Hickey; J Kavanagh, M Carpenter (0-2), N Barrett (0-1). Subs: B Murphy for Barrett, W Minchin for Kavanagh.

Referee: A McAlynn (Derry).

© The Irish Times

--

From today's Irish Independent Sports:

Leitrim end a 12-year Croke Park hiatus

Leitrim 2-12

Carlow 0-8

Tommy Murphy Cup semi-final

THERE were scenes of jubilation following the final whistle as Leitrim returned to Croke Park for the first time since 1994 following an impressive victory over Carlow at Birr yesterday in the semi-final of the Tommy Murphy Cup.

Two second-half goals set up Leitrim for a meeting with Louth at headquarters in two weeks' time.

Carlow set the pace in the early stages with points from Niall Barrett and Mark Carpenter.

Shane Foley opened the Leitrim account after 11 minutes, and there then followed a sequence of seven further points between the 12th and 31st minutes, broken by a 20th-minute point from Carpenter.

As the green and gold dominated the exchanges, led by a potent strike force of Donal Brennan, James Glancy and Ciaran Duignan, Carlow stayed in touch with late points from Alan Kelly and Carpenter to leave the score 0-8 to 0-5 at half-time.

Colin Regan extended the Leitrim lead with a point from play five minutes into the second half, but a Tommy Walsh point reduced the arrears three minutes later as Carlow took the game to a nervous Leitrim.

Two further points from Brennan and Duignan kept Leitrim firmly in control going into the final stages.

Despite good work from Walsh and the excellent Mark Carpenter, the Leitrim defence, led by Michael McGuinness, Dermot Reynolds and Frank Holohan, denied Carlow several scores.

Their frustration gave way to dismay 11 minutes from time when a well-worked move by the Leitrim forwards culminated in a goal by Ciaran Duignan, whose initial shot struck the upright.

However, he collected the rebound and shot to the net to push his side 1-11 to 0-7 in front.

Again Carlow responded through a Carpenter point in the 62nd minute but it was Carlow's last score as Leitrim overran the Carlow defence, and their efforts were rewarded by a second goal from star forward Donal Brennan one minute into injury time.

SCORERS - Carlow: A. Kelly 0-4 (0-4f); M Carpenter 0-2, T Walsh, N Barrett 0-1 each. Leitrim: C Duignan 1-3, D Brennan 1-2, J Glancy 0-2, S Foley, N Doonan, C Regan, M Foley, D Maxwell 0-1 each.

CARLOW - G McGuill; B Hannon, S Murphy, J Ryan; B English, J Hayden, P Cashin; P Walsh, D Byrne; A Kelly, T Walsh, P Hickey; J Kavanagh, M Carpenter, N Barrett.

Subs: B Murphy for Barrett; W Minchin for Kavanagh.

LEITRIM - C McCrann; D Reynolds, M McGuinness, D McHugh; F Holohan, B McWeeney, S Foley; N Doonan, C Carroll; C Regan, M Foley, B Prior; J Glancy, D Brennan, C Duignan.

Subs: P McGuinness for Prior; D Beck for M Foley; M Greene for S Foley; D Maxwell (0-1) for Glancy.

REF - A McAlynn (Derry).

--

Was anyone from the Times even at the game?

Also, why does a limp Dublin v. Westmeath quarter-final warrant four articles in today's Monday Sports while the much better Laois v. Mayo match only gets two?

The Irish Times is a fine paper with a good sports content. Why not have a great sports content? I don't wanna have to buy the Indo again.