After sealing their promotion to Division 3 of the Allianz Football League, Leitrim manager Andy Moran paid tribute to his players and the county's supporters on what, in his own words, was an emotional day in the aftermath of the win over Tipperary.
The six-point win over the Premier at Avant Money Páirc Seán Mac Diarmada ensured that the Connacht outfit will play at a higher level in 2025, while also securing a first Croke Park outing in five years with a Division 4 final against Laois to come on Easter Saturday.
Moran was not short for words when he spoke to RTÉ Radio's Sunday Sport on finally securing an escape from the bottom tier.
"Division 4 is so competitive and it really kind of preps you with the teams being so even," he said.
"You see how well Sligo are doing since they went up to Division 3.
"We won a game with a last-minute penalty [against Wexford] and lost a game after a last-minute goal against Carlow. Last week against Laois they got a free that hit the post with the last kick of the game. It such a tight division; we are just delighted, delighted for the people of Leitrim and for the players that we came out on top today.
"We're going to Division 3 and I heard a lot of noise during the week about killing league finals; they can kill them all they want for Divisions 1 and 2 but they won't be killing them for Divisions 3 and 4. Páirc Seán at the end of the game was amazing; it was emotional.
"Leitrim is a football-mad county and to bring them people to Croke Park, well it's going to be an amazing day. The week is going to be green and yellow around Carrick-on-Shannon and all the towns around Leitrim."
This is Moran's third year at the helm. They were close to escaping from Division 4 last year, losing narrowly to Sligo on the last day. Then came that reverse against New York in the Connacht championship. However, the former Mayo star praised the manner in which is troops responded after a few frustrating seasons.
"We've had a tough run," he added.
"Covid was really hard on the smaller counties; they didn't have the resources in terms of the strength and conditioning, physical work, and all that. The last three years we have been building. Obviously we lost to New York famously last year which got a lot of headlines.
"The key things is that the lads stuck at it and they didn't shy away from it; they kept up the work during last year's club championship, kept lifting weights, kept doing the strength and conditioning. It really has paid off for us.
It's all about the players, those that have represented Leitrim over the last three years. Some players stepped away but played for a year or two to bring younger fellas through and those younger fellas showed what they could do today."
For a county with a limited playing pool, Leitrim have always found it difficult to maintain squad depth.
"It's the hardest thing," was Moran's honest assessment in that regard.
"There are plenty of footballers in Leitrim; there is real talent in terms of forward play. It's just keeping a hold of them into their twenties, till they're are 24 or 25. A lot of them travel to Australia and do whatever travel stuff, but it is hard to keep the depth.
"Jack Heslin, who would have been a great player for us over the last few years, is doing his year in Australia. David Bruen, captain for us in my first year, is also in Australia. When we were playing for Mayo it was all about trying to win that All-Ireland; in Leitrim there are different objectives and we have to balance all them.
"I got a lot of advice from Colm Collins on how you do that. It's been great but a huge learning curve as well."
