Watch: "Men against boys" as Mayo show no mercy for hapless Leitrim
July 11, 2021
Mayo's Ryan O'Donoghue celebrates after scoring a goal against Leitrim. ©INPHO/Tommy Dickson.
Pat Spillane admitted that it was “men against boys” as Mayo ran riot against a hapless Leitrim in this afternoon's Connacht SFC semi-final.
Just two weeks after they tanked Sligo by 20 points, Mayo led their Division 4 opponents 3-11 to 0-4 after a completely one-sided first-half at MacHale Park.
Darren McHale (2) and Darren Coen hammered in goals for James Horan's side, while Leitrim could only manage a paltry one point in the first 25 minutes.
'The easy thing to say is, "get rid of the provincial championship" - that's wrong'
— The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) July 11, 2021
Pat Spillane, Cora Staunton and Seán Cavanagh discuss the current state of football after a one-sided first half in Castlebar
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"Look, years ago I would have cracked jokes and made fun of Leitrim here at half-time, but it's unfair," Spillane said on the RTÉ Sunday Game Live programme.
"This is men against boys, this is a senior team against an under 16 team, but we shouldn't be surprised, Sligo beat Leitrim by seven points in the league, Mayo beat Sligo by twenty points pulling up so let's not act shocked or surprised that this [match] is one-way traffic.
"We talked about the teams at the start, we looked at Mayo, in terms of athleticism, conditioning and physicality, just to look at them, they are miles ahead and that's not talking about pace, skill and fitness, it's a different league."
The Kerry legend still favours the provincial championship structure but says something needs to be done to guarantee counties like Leitrim more matches.
"The easy thing to say is get rid of the provincial championships, that's wrong," Spillane continued.
"What they need is more games, when Covid-19 came, after the first of March [last year], Leitrim were finished, they played one league game, one championship game. Two games last year. They played three games in the league this year, one championship so six games. With six games, how can you improve?
"They need more matches, a provincial championship tweaked, a chance to play in the All-Ireland and a competition against their own standard."
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