Longford Football (& Hurling) Thread

[LaurelEye]

'.. but the Banner men just didn't have enough up front to topple the Blue and Gold, hense create their downfall and leave Tommy Murphy their All Ireland for the year.'

That's actually Crayonman's little friend's handiwork.

I think he's in Transition Year, so there's an excuse.

[Billys Boots]

You're too soft Laureleye, far too soft.

[LaurelEye]

You're too soft Laureleye, far too soft.

I know, Billy, but when I've seen the output of the UCD English (2.1 Honours) degree and various teacher training colleges, I'm inclined to give incoherent 16-year-olds a pardon.

[Billys Boots]

When you put it that way .... 

[LaurelEye]

Longford overcome Clare to clinch a crucial top four spot

By Pádraig O'Brien

Longford 2-10 Clare 0-10

On a day of high drama in Division 2A of the National Football League, the pressure was on Longford to overcome Clare and while the home supporters among the 2,500 attendance had to endure quite a few anxious moments during the course of this make or break game, the required result was achieved in the end.

With Roscommon getting the better of Offaly in Tullamore to finish second in the table, there was no play-off fixtures chaos for the GAA chiefs who handled the scores difference factor very poorly indeed and thus the win at Pearse Park on Sunday last clinched a crucial top four spot for Longford and a guaranteed place in the All-Ireland Championship qualifiers this year.

Luke Dempsey's side will now join Leitrim in Division 3 of the restructured National League next season but of much greater importance is the eagerly awaited Leinster Championship first round clash against Westmeath at Pearse Park on Sunday May 13th and winning the match that really matters is going to be a very tough task indeed.

Westmeath, of course, were operating in a higher division of the league this season and their manager Tomas O'Flatharta watched Longford score a six-point win over Clare with Paul Barden and Liam Keenan getting the decisive goals in the first half to leave the home side in a comfortable 2-6 to 0-5 lead at the break.

In what appeared to be a harsh decision by Tipperary referee Paddy Russell, Clare defender Gordon Kelly conceded a penalty in a goalmouth clash with Paul Barden and the latter made no mistake from the spot kick to get Longford off to a flying start with just three minutes gone on the clock.

That was a big blow for the visitors, who ended up trailing by 1-4 to 0-3 at the end of the first quarter. Three of the Longford points came from frees converted by Brian Kavanagh while Kevin Mulligan was also on target following a well-worked move engineered by wing back Paddy Dowd who was making a welcome return from injury for his first appearance this season.

While the Clonguish clubman made a very good impact in the first half, Dowd eventually ran out of steam and was replaced in the defence by Noel Farrell with twelve minutes gone in the second half.

Arthur O'Connor was another change to the team that appeared in the programme, lining-out at centrefield in the absence of the injured Bernard McElvaney, and while the physically stronger Clare side won a lot of possession in the first half they squandered no less than three clear-cut goal chances.

A couple of points were fired over by their most dangerous forward Rory Donnelly, the first a fine effort from play in the 7th minute, and another score from Martin Ogie Murphy kept the visitors in contention.

As he has done so often in the recent past, Longford keeper Damien Sheridan came to the rescue when producing a brilliant save to keep out a close range strike from Stephen Monaghan in the 19th minute and the same player shot wide soon after with the goals at his mercy.

In between, Brian Kavanagh was on target from a tight angle to extend the advantage to five points but there was another close call for Longford when Martin Ogie Murphy failed to hit the target from close range when a Clare goal was there for the taking.

The home side were living very dangerously indeed but a quick counter-attack against the run of play yielded a cracking goal in the 26th minute from Liam Keenan, who burst his way through after receiving the ball from his Ardagh colleague Brian Kavanagh with Paul Barden also involved in this slick move.

Just over a minute later, Paul put Kavanagh through with only the Clare keeper Joe Hayes to beat but he made a terrific point-blank save to give his side a good lift. A point apiece followed from Rory Donnelly (free) and powerful midfielder Frank O'Dea but it was Longford who had the last say in the first half.

A fifth score from Brian Kavanagh in the 35th minute left Clare with a real uphill battle in the second half but they narrowed the gap with points from Donnelly (free) and wing back Niall Considine, the latter landing a mighty effort from out on the right wing.

However, Longford replied with a good point under pressure from Kevin Mulligan in the 42nd minute and he made a valuable contribution to the eventual victory. But the home side failed to register another score until the 61st minute when Paul Barden kicked over a '45' after substitute Kevin Smyth was denied a goal by the excellent Clare keeper who somehow managed to keep his net intact on the changeover.

After stopping a point-blank shot from David Barden in the 47th minute, and who also succeeded in blocking the rebound that fell to Paul Barden, the Clare No. 1 Hayes had to be at his brilliant best to keep out a Padraig Berry strike soon after as he deflected the ball against the post.

The game should have been all over at this stage and while Clare were hanging on with Rory Donnelly converting another couple of frees, they were desperately unlucky not to score a badly needed goal when a fisted attempt from Frank O'Dea hit the post with Damien Sheridan beaten.

That let-off for Longford in the 55th minute came at a stage when the gap was reduced to four points and while Clare got closer when O'Dea blasted the ball over the bar in the 58th minute, that was as good as it got for the brave banner county.

The Longford team had let everybody down with that shock defeat away to Carlow in the previous round but they refused to panic on this occasion and produced a strong finish to score three more points through Paul Barden, Brian Kavanagh (free) and substitute Padraic Davis who fired over a glorious effort in the 68th minute.

Prior to that last point, there was another scare when the under pressure Damien Sheridan did well to clear the danger in a goalmouth scramble and he was much to the fore for Longford who have almost certainly knocked Clare straight into the Tommy Murphy Cup – unless they reach the Munster Final.

Another Dromard man Diarmuid Masterson figured most prominently at full-back, with Declan C Reilly enjoying one of his better games this season, while Liam Keenan put in a lot of hard work at midfield apart from scoring the second goal.

In the attack, Longford continue to depend so much on Paul Barden and Brian Kavanagh to make things happen and their impact against Clare was vital – clearly reflected in the 1-7 they scored between them while the quick Padraig Berry also posed problems for the opposing defence.

With just under four weeks to the big championship clash against Westmeath, team manager Luke Dempsey is probably glad to get a break from the hectic competitive action so far this season and the chance to clear up the injury situation but it remains to be seen whether Longford can regain the same sort of sparkling form they produced last summer.

LONGFORD: Damien Sheridan (Dromard); Dermot Brady (Longford Slashers), Diarmuid Masterson (Dromard), Declan C Reilly (Colmcille); Shane Mulligan (Mullinalaghta), David Hannify (Fr. Manning Gaels), Paddy Dowd (Clonguish); Liam Keenan (Ardagh, 1-0), Arthur O'Connor (Abbeylara); Padraig Berry (Abbeylara), Paul Barden (Clonguish, 1-1, goal from penalty, point from '45'), Trevor Smullen (Ballymahon); David Barden (Clonguish), Kevin Mulligan (Mullinalaghta, 0-2), Brian Kavanagh (Ardagh, 0-6, four frees).
Subs:- Kevin Smyth (Abbeylara) for T Smullen (40 mins); Noel Farrell (Colmcille) for P Dowd (47 mins); Padraic Davis (Fr. Manning Gaels, 0-1) for D Barden (52 mins); Declan Farrell (Colmcille) for K Mulligan (72 mins).

CLARE: Joe Hayes; Laurence Healy, Conor Whelan, Gordon Kelly; John Hayes, David Russell, Niall Considine (0-1); Frank O'Dea (0-2), Ger Quinlan; Martin Ogie Murphy (0-1), Stephen Hickey, Alan Clohessy; Stephen Monaghan, Gary Brennan, Rory Donnelly (0-6, five frees).
Subs:- Evan Talty for A Clohessy (39 mins); Enda Coughlan for S Monaghan (45 mins); Greg Lyons for G Quinlan (63 mins).
Referee: Paddy Russell (Tipperary).

http://www.longfordtoday.ie/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=2628&ArticleID=2712708

[LaurelEye]

All County Leagues

Division 1

Killoe 0-8 Dromard 0-11
Granard 1-11 Ballymahon 1-12
Colmcille 2-10 Longford Slashers 0-9
Clonguish 0-12 Fr Manning Gaels 1-8
Rathcline 0-8 Ardagh 2-10

Division 2

Mostrim 1-8 Killashee 0-10
Carrickedmond 0-5 Mullinalaghta 1-9
Ballymore 0-8 Cashel 1-9
Sean Connollys 0-14 Kenagh 0-9
Abbeylara 3-20 Legan 0-7

Our result is a bit more impressive looking than the game would warrant - were 3-1 behind after 12 mins, moved back to be 6-3 ahead at half-time, getting nervous at 6-5 after 22 minutes before a couple of points and a late goal steadied matters.

Colmcille look to have a good start if NL or Billy want to comment. Ardagh look to have had a good result as well in Division 1, with everything else looking more or less as expected.

And have Killashee had a dramatic improvement on last year or were Mostrim shite? Enquiring minds would like to know.

[North Longford]

Our result is a bit more impressive looking than the game would warrant

Perfectly sums our game up. Indeed we were 2 down with less than 15 to go!

[LaurelEye]

I see a mention of a back injury to Paul Barden on the Hoganstand website. Has anyone heard anything more?

[North Longford]

Speaking to a chap playing for Drumlish yesterday who said PB went off before half-time but he thought it was an ankle problem!!!!

[Longfordian]

Kilashee are a very strong physical team ...I was very impressed with their fitness levels .....half backs and their two midfielders ran riot in the first half ...... we got a lucky goal and a couple of points to go in a point in front a half time .....Our midfield finally got the finger out in the 2nd and we gained the upper hands ....they made a mini-revival in the closing minutes ...but we held out. We were missing Michael Hussey , Martin Coyle , Matthew Kelly who are all injured ...... , and both Gallagers (county minors)

To answer your question Laurel a bit of both .......

Ye had a good win over Carrickedmond .......

[LaurelEye]

Kilashee are a very strong physical team ...I was very impressed with their fitness levels .....half backs and their two midfielders ran riot in the first half ......

I was impressed with Skelly at midfield against us in the Championship last year - would have done us serious damage but for a lack of support.

we got a lucky goal and a couple of points to go in a point in front a half time .....Our midfield finally got the finger out in the 2nd and we gained the upper hands ....they made a mini-revival in the closing minutes ...but we held out. We were missing Michael Hussey , Martin Coyle , Matthew Kelly who are all injured ...... , and both Gallagers (county minors)

Two of our minors were brought in in the second half.

Ye had a good win over Carrickedmond .......

When you play badly for a lot of the second half against a physical team the word I'd choose would be "useful" rather than "good".

Ballymore on Saturday evening in the Laurels. I suspect that may attract a few neutrals in the hope of seeing some action after last year's corresponding fixture.

[Billys Boots]

Ballymore on Saturday evening in the Laurels

Now that is tempting.  I'm trying to wean my son off the WWE nonsense, and this might help (or not).  Should we bring weapons?   

[LaurelEye]

Ballymore on Saturday evening in the Laurels

Now that is tempting.  I'm trying to wean my son off the WWE nonsense, and this might help (or not).  Should we bring weapons?   

Ho bloody ho.

The main culprit from last year's fiasco has served his 6-month ban and was actually playing for Ballymore at the Division 6 match - goals in the first half, full-forward in the second half. That match attracted a contingent of the non-aligned as well but a lot of them went home at half-time disappointed at the lack of "action". And if it's a dry day then our own answer to Mary Poppins is unlikely to have access to an umbrella, please God.

Hopefully this one will be as disappointing from that aspect. There may or may not be a first aid service present if the spectators fancy a DIY job.

[Longfordian]

Very poor performance from ourselves v Laygan away ....... won the match with the last kick of the game ......
playing very poorly ....we are lucky not to have zero points v the weakest teams in Div 2 ..... however ..... thankful for the two wins ...
Laurel ....another win for ye .....how did ye play ....... ?.....I see Abbey were beaten by Cashel ..........

[LaurelEye]

Laurel ....another win for ye .....how did ye play ....... ?.....I see Abbey were beaten by Cashel ..........

We pulled away in the last quarter - it was nip and tuck until then. We missed a penalty in the first half.

I get the impression that Abbey may not be altogether happy campers. Picking a "senior panel" of 25 and effectively telling the rest of your players to take a hike doesn't strike me as being the best of moves long-term, but then I haven't won a Senior Championship so what would I know. It's not a situation that's ever going to arise in Mullinalaghta anyway

Abbey thought that they were the better team but that they let in several easy goals. That may be some encouragement for yis.