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Well, we could have drawn it at the end but, equally, we could have been hammered today.

Monaghan were far the better team out there - not particularly classy, but fitter, stronger, more determined.

Goalkeeper - cost us the first goal by palming an incoming ball up into the air rather than catching it, saved us a couple of times, but generally needs to cut down on the showboating.

Full-back line - Masterson was the best of the three - at least he was the only reasonably solid one of them - but this area was a weak point for us last season and it still is. The other two had a very poor day at the office. Noel Farrell reasonable once he came on for Brady.

Half-back line - I may be accused of being biased but I thought Shane Mulligan was the best of the three here, but he needs to learn to control his temper. Enda Ledwith unable to catch a ball over his head and Hannify was a significant improvement when he came on for him. Little Dec poor today.

Midfield - very poor. Both liable to their usual idiosyncracies. McElvaney can say that he did manage to get the last goal from a goalmouth scramble, but it's worrying that there are no obvious backups at this position in case of any problems arising and that the trials didn't seem to uncover any. You could place Paul Barden here but only at the cost of weakening the attack.

Half-forward line - O'Hara not at the races and quickly replaced by McGee who didn't do much and who was eventually in turn replaced by Smyth who at least looks somewhat like the part. Smullen had to spend too much time in defence for the team's benefit but overall did more good than harm. Paul Barden was probably one of the two or three best Longford players on the field today and the only Longford forward who always looked dangerous.

Full-forward line - David Barden lost more ball than he got today. Berry rescued things early on with the goal, did a lot of foraging in a scrappy game and was probably the hardest worker on the team. Kavanagh was being hauled and dragged by the Monaghan number 4 without any action being taken by the referee until the end but seemed off-form anyway. Davis looked good when he came on but wasn't on for long enough to draw definite conclusions.

The amazing thing was that we managed to come back from 9 points down to 2, and that we could have drawn if Kavanagh had converted the first free and Davis hadn't tried to make a goal out of the second one, but for much of the game we looked shapeless and disorganised. A lot of work to be done for Sunday week.

Postscript 2: The jersey seems to have been re-designed since last week. The numbers on the back are now in gold instead of white, and there's a gold stripe on the shoulders along with the white ones. Looks a bit more like the business at least.

[that]

Team for Sunday:

Paul O'Hara replaces Kevin Mulligan, who suffered an ankle injury on Sunday (yes, Billy, that ankle). Necessitates some rearrangement of the forward lines:

Damian Sheridan (Dromard); Dermot Brady (Longford Slashers), Diarmuid Masterson (Dromard), Cathal Conefrey (Dromard); Declan "Cornadrung" Reilly (Colmcille), Enda Ledwith (Abbeylara), Shane Mulligan (Mullinalaghta); Bernard McElvaney (Ballymore), Liam Keenan (Ardagh); Paul O'Hara (Killoe), Paul Barden (Clonguish), Trevor Smullen (Ballymahon); David Barden (Clonguish), Brian Kavanagh (Ardagh), Pádraig Berry (Abbeylara).

[Peter Hanly Senior Football ChampionshipRound 1]

Peter Hanly Senior Football Championship

Round 1

1. Longford Slashers v Rathcline
2. Granard v losers of game 1
3. Ardagh v Seán Connollys
4. Ballymahon v Clonguish
5. Cashel v Fr Manning Gaels
6. Abbeylara v Killoe
7. Dromard v Colmcille
8. Ballymore v Mostrim

Not sure how the draw proceeds from there, but there will be a second chance for the losers of both the first round and the second round. One team will be relegated (presumably as long as that team's name doesn't begin with a C and end with an L).

Intermediate Championship

Two groups to be run as leagues - top two teams in each group go through to the semi-finals.

Group 1: Kenagh, Dromard, Grattan Óg, Killashee, Granard.
Group 2: Clonguish, Legan, Longford Slashers, Carrickedmond, Mullinalaghta.

Junior Championship

Four groups run as leagues - top two teams in each group go through to quarter-finals.

Group 1: Abbeylara, Rathcline, Mostrim, Clonguish, Fr Manning Gaels.
Group 2: Forgney, Longford Slashers, Ardagh, Dromard, Kenagh.
Group 3: Mullinalaghta, Shroid, Seán Connollys, Colmcille, Killoe.
Group 4: Moydow, Ballymahon, Carrickedmond, Cashel.

Allen Cups et al begin the first weekend in March.

How did Hannify do, coming on for Ledwith?

Good enough, but it was such a one-sided affair that it would be hard to draw any conclusions about anything from it.

Sligoman2, just looking at the spreads there - and good job in getting them up so quickly - but is the Cork-Donegal match not wrong? Surely the winner should be Donegal?

Postscript: The new jersey was on view today.



Bit of a surprise, mainly because it now looks very like a Cavan jersey - blue with white number on the back, and three stripes on the shoulders. The only gold remaining on it is a thin stripe at the border between the sleeve and the main part of the jersey. Some people thought the blue was a deeper blue than on the old edition, but it may just be the contrast in colours on the new jersey compared with the old one.

[National Football League, Division 2ALongford 5-19 London 0-8]

Shannonside report on match (apologies to Billy in advance for inflicting Flakespeak on him):

National Football League, Division 2A

Longford 5-19 London 0-8

Longford opened their Division 2A National Football League campaign with a comprehensive 5-19 to 0-8 win over London in Pearse Park. When Brian Kavanagh opened the scoring with a point on the 4th minute, Longford were always on top, although Niall Clinton did level matters a minute later for London. The Exiles had to wait until the 29th minute for their second score, a pointed free for Clinton. In between, Longford points by Bernard McElvaney, David Barden, Kevin Mulligan, Trevor Smullen, Pádraig Berry, Shane Mulligan, and three from Brian Kavanagh, along with a goal from Paul Barden on 27 minutes, had Longford 1-10 to 0-1 ahead. As if stung by London's second point, Longford came straight down the field for Pádraig Berry to score a great goal, having received a pass from McElvaney. Further points by Paul Barden and McElvaney left the hosts with a comfortable 2-12 to 0-2 half-time lead.

London did compete better in the second half, scoring 0-6, with 3 from Andy Gallagher and one each from Paul O'Donoghue, Éamon Brennan and Éamon O'Connor. But three second-half goals from Trevor Smullen on 47 minutes, a Paul Barden rocket on 65 minutes, and David Barden getting Longford's last goal and score a minute before full-time, added to his earlier two points, Smullen's two, Seán McCormack's two and one from Kavanagh, left Longford with their expected victory. Luke Dempsey, Declan Rowley and Eugene McCormack will be glad to have this one out of the way, as they now concentrate on the tough prospect of an away match to Monaghan next week.

LONGFORD: Damian Sheridan (Dromard); Dermot Brady (Longford Slashers), Diarmuid Masterson (Dromard), Cathal Conefrey (Dromard); Declan (Cornadrung) Reilly (Colmcille), Enda Ledwith (Abbeylara), Shane Mulligan (Mullinalaghta, 0-1); Bernard McElvaney (Ballymore, 0-2), Liam Keenan (Ardagh); Trevor Smullen (Ballymahon, 1-3), Paul Barden (Clonguish, 2-1), Pádraig Berry (Abbeylara, 1-1); David Barden (Clonguish, 1-3), Kevin Mulligan (Mullinalaghta, 0-1), Brian Kavanagh (Ardagh, 0-5).

Substitutes: Seán McCormack (Killoe, 0-2) for Kevin Mulligan, Kevin Smyth (Abbeylara) for Berry, Paul O'Hara (Killoe) for Keenan, David Hannify (Fr Manning Gaels) for Ledwith, David Mitchell (Rochfortbridge) for Smullen.

Don't think we're likely to be scoring 5-19 in a match again - at least not until the first round of the Leinster Championship

Seriously, while it was an enjoyable game and the point difference will be very welcome at the end of the League season, London were desperately poor - a Longford Junior club team would be better - and it's hard to draw conclusions from today. Next Saturday in Clones will be a different proposition.

Substitutions: Seán McCormack for Kevin Mulligan (first half, I think due to an injury), Kevin Smyth for Pádraig Berry (half-time), Paul O'Hara for Liam Keenan, David Hannify for Enda Ledwith, David Mitchell for Trevor Smullen (all second half). Lost count of how many scores various players got - hell, even the scoreboard lost count for a while

Team vs. London:

Damien Sheridan (Dromard); Dermot Brady (Longford Slashers), Diarmuid Masterson (Dromard), Cathal Conefrey (Dromard); Shane Mulligan (Mullinalaghta), Enda Ledwith (Abbeylara), Declan (Cornadrung) Reilly (Colmcille); Bernard McElvaney (Ballymore), Liam Keenan (Ardagh); Trevor Smullen (Ballymahon), Paul Barden (Clonguish), Pádraig Berry (Abbeylara); David Barden (Clonguish), Kevin Mulligan (Mullinalaghta), Brian Kavanagh (Ardagh).

Paul Barden bursting the back of the net

Is that better than the onion-bag sh*te - well no.  How did he burst the back of the net as opposed to the front of the net?

Thanks for the pics Laureleye - nice to see that the team captain can't be bothered to wear the team jersey, maybe he thinks he's playing for someone else already.

Not everything is in black and white...

I think that was a false alarm.

[Longford capture second O'Byrne Shield title]

From the Flakesite (onion-bagless from what I can see):

Longford capture second O'Byrne Shield title

Longford 2-10 Athlone I.T. 1-7

Longford came up trumps against college outfit Athlone I.T. on Tuesday night at Micheal Fay Park, with a bumper crowd watching the 'blue and gold' capture Shield glory for the second year running. Diarmuid Masterson produced a matured performance at full back while Liam Keenan dominated midfield proceedings and Paul Barden did his fair share over the seventy minutes.

Offaly man James Coughlan, Athlone's biggest threat over the duration of the game, registered the games first score after just forty five seconds, pointing a close range free but that lead was short lived as Brian Kavanagh levelled after four minutes with a close range free and the All Star replacement then fired the 'blues' into the lead one minute later when pointing from play.

Cavan man Ray Gilligan levelled things up when finding range with a well struck effort from play after eight minutes, but Longford struck a vital score after ten minutes, Kevin Mulligan smashing the back of the net with a neat finish after great vision by Pauric Davis to pick the Mullinalaghta man out. Athlone put up the next score on the board, James Coughlan pointing a terrific long range free after fifteen minutes.

The game was still going tit for tat, Pauric Davis helping himself to a score of his own but Athlone rallied back and registered two points on the trot, James Kavanagh pointing neatly under pressure from long range and James Coughlan landing an excellent effort to pull the sides back to within a point of each other. But, Athlone were dealt a massive blow in the twenty sixth minute, Ray Gilligan receiving a second yellow for disputing the Dublin officials decision to award a free.

From the resulting free, Bernard McElvaney pointed from a tight angle and the Ballymore man did the same six minutes later with an identical effort. James Coughlan got the students their final score of the half with a thirteen metres free two minutes later while David Barden ended the half with a super point on the half turn to send Longford into the half time break 1-6 to 0-6 to the good.

Longford opened the second half in flying fashion, Paul Barden bursting the back of the net after receiving a pass from sub Kevin Smith after two minutes of action. Many would have thought this would be the end of Athlone but they kept plugging away and repiled with their first goal of the contest after forty minutes, Sean Higgins fisting the goal home after Damien Sheridan parried a fierce Diarmuid Blake effort.

And the college pulled it back to a two point contest once more, James Coughlan firing over a free to keep an upset alive. Trevor Smullen then got in on the scoring act with fifty minutes gone, the Ballymahon man pointing from close range after a surging run from Paul Barden. And four minutes later Smullen got his second point of the contest, when he somehow missed the goal and shot over the bar from six yards after a flowing team move.

Paul Barden pointed after fifty five minutes, slotting over after a neat one two with brother David. Bernard McElvaney ending the games scoring with ten minutes left, the U-21 man pointing a close range free to leave the final ten minutes a wait of expectation for the Longford men to retain the O'Byrne Shield.

LONGFORD: Damien Sheridan (Dromard); Dermot Brady (Longford Slashers), Diarmuid Masterson (Dromard), Cathal Conefrey (Dromard); Shane Mulligan (St. Columba's), Enda Ledwith (Abbeylara), Noel Farrell (Colmcille); Bernard McElvaney (Ballymore, 0-3, all frees), Liam Keenan (Ardagh); Trevor Smullen (Ballymahon, 0-2), Paul Barden (Clonguish, 1-1), Kevin Mulligan (St. Columba's, 1-0); David Barden (Clonguish, 0-1), Brian Kavanagh (Ardagh, 0-2, one free), Pauric Davis (Drumlish, 0-1).

SUBS USED:- Gary Murphy (Kenagh); Kevin Smith (Abbeylara); Declan Reilly (Colmcille); David Hannify (Drumlish); Padraig Berry (Abbeylara).

ATHLONE I.T: David Bryan; Tomas Bannon, Declan McNerney, Adrian Murtagh; Kieran Flannery, David Flynn, James Boyle; Ray Galligan (0-1), James Kavanagh (0-1); Sean Higgins (1-0), Anton Arjonovic, Diarmuid Blake; James Coughlan (0-5, three frees), Adrian Kelly, Niall Murray.

SUBS USED:- Luke Carr; Declan Murphy; Peter Masterson; Gary Quinn.

REFEREE: Brian O'Shea (Dublin).

No word as to which Declan Reilly it was that came on.

A photograph of the winning team (with a bloody great Crayonscrawl on it just in case any of them planned to deprive Ray of revenue by publishing it on their Bebos  )



and a special photo, just for Billy 

rattled the onion-bag

FFS 

Hafta say that the poetry of the thing struck me as I was typing it out. But it's still a step above Crayonman.

Report from the Flake on Shannonside:

Longford retained the O'Byrne Shield when they had a 2-10 to 1-7 victory over Athlone IT at Michael Fay Park. A crowd of about 500 people braved the January chill to witness a lively first half with both sides playing fast, open football. Longford fielded a more-or-less full-strength team, and already there is evidence of places being hotly contested for the forthcoming League.

A James Coughlan free for the students opened the scoring on the first minute, but it was the only time that they held the lead, as Brian Kavanagh pointed twice in the 4th and 5th minutes for Longford. Cavan's Ray Galligan levelled matters on 8 minutes, but Kevin Mulligan finished a great Longford move by crashing in a goal on 10 minutes after receiving a sublime cross from Pádraic Davis. Athlone were not for giving in easily, and when James Coughlan, the Offaly county-man, kicked two points on the 13th and 15th minutes, it left just one between them after the first quarter. Davis extended that for Longford with a point on 18 minutes, but Kildare's James Kavanagh and Coughlan again brought the sides level after 21 minutes. Six minutes later the turning point came as the students' midfielder, Galligan, was unlucky to pick up a second yellow card and had to leave the field. Bernard McElvaney pointed a massive free from the sideline to push Longford ahead. He repeated the dose on 32 minutes from almost the same position, and on 34 minutes a point from David Barden completed the first half scoring to leave it 1-6 to 0-6 in favour of Longford.

Longford, with the extra man, now appeared to be in the driving seat, and when Paul Barden raced through to receive a Kevin Smyth pass and rattled the onion-bag to put Longford six clear, some might have thought it was over after one minute of the second half. But credit to the determined students, they got a goal back themselves on six minutes, when Roscommon man Seán Higgins was on hand to flick the ball to the net after Damian Sheridan had stopped a pile-driver from Galway county-man, Diarmuid Blake. James Coughlan pointed a free on the 9th minute to leave it 2-6 to 1-7, but that was as good as it got for the students. Trevor Smullen twice, and Paul Barden pointed for Longford between the 11th and the 16th minutes, and all three scores were set up by David Barden. With Cathal Conefrey now winning the duel with Athlone's best forward, Coughlan, Longford were simply not going to lose. A McElvaney free on 26 minutes finished the scoring, and the final ten minutes were played out with an air of inevitablilty about it. Full time score: Longford 2-10 Athlone IT 1-7.

[are]

Well I suppose the 3rd level teams are nearer to what they would consider to be their championship (Sigerson) so I'm not surprised about the fitness levels.  Could it be that Luke is doing the heavy training with them now, with a view to peaking later, and picking up in the second half of the League?

As far as I know, they are doing the heavy lifting at the moment, but as someone said to me at the Kildare match: "You wouldn't think it was their third game playing together".

The problem this year is that every match matters more than in previous years because of the top 4-bottom 4 situation. Point difference is likely to be crucial. I'd expect Monaghan and Offaly to be the strong favourites for the top two positions, with ourselves, Roscommon, Leitrim and Clare scrapping it out for 3rd and 4th and escape from the Cooper Cup. I have to say that I feel uneasy at the moment - although I felt uneasy last year all the way until after the Dublin match.

Bonfires on Farnagh Hill still blazing.

Happily there's rain forecast.   

Laureleye/NL, did either of ye brave the elements?

No. Thought about it but then found I had to go to a removal at 7.30 so I thought again. Seemed to be close enough before the Athlone IT guy (Galligan from Cavan) got the line for what was apparently a soft second yellow.

It's not really all that encouraging to hear that Athlone IT seemed to be the fitter and more eager team last night. Certainly against Kildare the previous week the skill level was poor enough. London on Sunday should be manageable, but then you have Monaghan away the following weekend, and points difference may be even more important this year than previously for all teams with the need to get into the top 4 and have a second chance in the Championship.