Longford Football (& Hurling) Thread

[LaurelEye]

Sigh...

I remember being deeply pessimistic after the Donegal match back in 2006 (how badly did Donegal hammer them that night?) and feeling downright depressed with the stories in the background the week before the Dublin match.

Yet it was our best Championship run in my living memory.

Maybe Luke will wave his magic wand and things will turn round of their own accord in the next few matches.

Maybe.

But, Jases, it'll be a miracle worthy of canonisation if it happens.

[Billys Boots]

Well, I have to say I'd always wondered what was going on with Lukie - any first-hand reports I'd had of him as a manager were, ahem, a shambles.  I'd heard on Friday last that the morale of the panel was very, very low - apparently there was a father and mother of a row after the O'Byrne Cup final, and it was never sorted out.  I've also heard that the re-appointment of Lukie's former assistant would not improve matters in the slightest.   

[LaurelEye]

Well, I have to say I'd always wondered what was going on with Lukie - any first-hand reports I'd had of him as a manager were, ahem, a shambles.  I'd heard on Friday last that the morale of the panel was very, very low - apparently there was a father and mother of a row after the O'Byrne Cup final, and it was never sorted out.  I've also heard that the re-appointment of Lukie's former assistant would not improve matters in the slightest.   

OK then, Hagan it is

[Billys Boots]

To be honest Laureleye, it's probably time they tried to put a Longfordman in charge and (this is the critical bit) supported him while he was there.  I could live with Hagan if he was let get on with the job - unless of course he dispensed with players from any club but his own.  Can you take the swamp out of a critter?

[Owenmoresider]

Dempsey should definitely be given the pearl-handled revolver (or its Carrickedmond equivalent) and told to do the decent thing ASAP. I do not want to hear him on the radio again moaning about how tough Division 3 is or the injustice of the Cooper Cup (a topic some of us warned about at the time). I don't want to hear anything further about him in connection with Longford, full stop. Let him build his media career elsewhere and at someone else's expense. Let somebody else - from within the county - try and turn this thing round enough in the next couple of weeks to save us from utter damnation.

Is this Dempsey or Maughan that you are talking about? Could really be either. Hopefully yer poor form dips below ours for Sunday week, ye can win all ye like after that.

[Billys Boots]

OMS, we're almost certainly (after shipping a 13-point defeat) going down - Sligo are the least of our worries.  The championship game in May, that's another story. 

[Billys Boots]

Has the axe fallen yet?

[North Longford]

Billy based on our new chairmans quotes in the Leader this week, an axe doesn't even exist.
I heard a story that due to the absence of the trainer at a session the week before the Louth game, the gaffer took training himself and after a bit of a warm up went hell for leather into a sprinting session and in the process injuring 4 of the panel including 3 of the starting team??!

[Billys Boots]

Billy based on our new chairmans quotes in the Leader this week, an axe doesn't even exist.

He might be telling The Layder such things - but I believe his tune's very different 'off the air'.

[LaurelEye]

Good win for the minors today against Laois - 2-13 to 2-11.

Might as well lighten the gloom a little before the storm...

[Shamrock Shore]

Good win indeed to be sure.

What nationalities are the players Laureleye - are there a few more 'South Longfords' that have been the norm of late?

[LaurelEye]

Good win indeed to be sure.

What nationalities are the players Laureleye - are there a few more 'South Longfords' that have been the norm of late?

Off the top of my head (I had a programme but don't have it to hand, so am refreshing the memory with the listed panel from the Layder):

Aiden Gray (Drumlish); Paul Devine (Longford Slashers), Fergal Battrim (Abbeylara), Aaron Quinn (Drumlish); Ruairi Barrins (Longford Slashers), Shane Mahon (Abbeylara), Colm E Smyth (Abbeylara); Kevin Diffley (Ballymahon), Pádraig Gill (Drumlish); Ronan McGoldrick (Killoe), Patrick Mullooly (Rathcline), Leon Doherty (Longford Slashers); J.J. Matthews (Mullinalaghta), Michael Quinn (Killoe), Colm P Smyth (Abbeylara)

Substitutes used: Conan Brady (Mullinalaghta) for Devine, Fergal Reilly (Drumlish) for CP Smyth.

Michael Quinn was top scorer with 1-7.

Other subs were: Ross Flaherty (Longford Slashers), Darren Rabbitte (Abbeylara), James Carroll, Fiachra Beirne, James Casey, Tony Mulligan (all Rathcline), Brian McLoughlin, James Farrell (both Mostrim), Kevin Reynolds (Clonguish), Kevin Farrell (Cashel/Killashee), Matt Clarke (Killoe), Conor Keegan (Ballymahon), Shane Powell (Ardagh), Conor Quaine (Carrickedmond), John Kavanagh (Ballymore)

You can figure out the answer to the South Longford Question from that, I think.

[LaurelEye]

Listening to the radio, there was a good performance in the second half after a sluggish start. Missing a few extra regulars but still able to rally things.

A draw against Sligo should be enough to ensure we stay up. The axe will remain sheathed at least until after the Championship.

[Shamrock Shore]

Good to see a few Rathclines in there.

My physche is still tormented by Shannon Gaels. U14 final. 1979. Marking Robbie Chalmers.........

[Billys Boots]

Is the Mullinalaghta corner-forward any good?