She might have expected to be back a little sooner but on Sunday, Guckian will lead Leitrim out against Tyrone in their first visit to HQ since that day.
“Oh, it means everything,” Guckian confirms. “I know we’ve had tough days but when you’re with a group of people like the Leitrim ladies, and it’s a small-knit group and a small panel, but we’re a very, very close team.
“We all know that everyone has each other’s back and it is hard to step away from that. It is very difficult on the hard days to keep getting back up but they’re there to help you all the time. It’s for days like this that we make this commitment and keep coming back for more. It’s going to be a dream come true for us all to step out in Croke Park together as a team.”
That they are surprise finalists is an indisputable fact. Leitrim will compete in Division 4 of the league next year, having qualified for the play-offs earlier this year but missing out on promotion when they were beaten by Limerick.
“We didn’t have a great end to our league campaign in Division 4,” Guckian admits. “We’ve been trying to get out of Division 4 for a good while and didn’t have a great end to the campaign but we went back to training on the Wednesday, four days later after the league semi-final, and we had a little talk to ourselves because we know the talent and ability that is in this group and, if we put our minds to it, we can compete with the best at intermediate level.
“That’s what we did and the belief that the management have instilled in us is huge. The belief that they’ve had in us and the never-say-die attitude, they really have pushed that and gotten that more mentally in to us. It’s just been brilliant, they’ve really pushed us on a step further this year.”
Whatever was said, it worked. In their championship opener, in Ballinamore, Leitrim came from nine points down in the second half to beat Tyrone, their opponents on Sunday.
The same Tyrone who will compete in Division 1 of the next year’s league.
“It absolutely counts for nothing,” Guckian stresses. “Tyrone are a brilliant, brilliant team. They have an advantage over us in so far as they played here in a league final this year and they’re up to Division 1.
“It’s going to be a completely different game than it was in the group stages, we know that. Different pitch, different atmosphere. The excitement, the nerves, everything is going to play a part in that.
“But, look, we know that we can prove ourselves in the tough games. Against Roscommon and against Wexford we lifted our game again. We know we can do it and we just hope that we can prove it on the big day.
“It’s a dream come true to play in Croke Park. Anyone that picks up a football at three or four years of age and you’re watching the All-Ireland finals and you’re watching everything happening around you, that’s where you want to be. That’s where your dream is and that’s where you want to go.”
