A goal by former Charlestown Sarsfields player Conor O’Donoghue helped London to a historic first piece of senior football silverware since 1988, as the Exiles got the better of Leitrim in Saturday night’s FBD Connacht SFL Plate Final at the Connacht GAA Centre of Excellence.
The 3-12 to 1-9 win should come with a health warning as experimental Leitrim handed a dozen players their debuts over the course of the hour, however, coupled with a drawn against Sligo a fortnight earlier, it has been a fruitful January for London in advance of the National Football League.
Wing-back O’Donoghue hit the Leitrim net in the 40th minute to push the Exiles 10 points in front, 2-10 to 0-6, having already scored a point, and fellow Mayo man Ciaran Gaughan from Bonniconlon was introduced off the bench not long after.
London were actually reduced to fourteen players with six minutes of normal time remaining but were still able to add a third goal, courtesy of second generation Mayo man Shay Rafter, who was the game’s top scorer with 1-3.
