Longford v Wexford Round II AIQs Sat July 13 at 2 pm

[panc56]

Looks like Chin will be Longford after all . I'll have to find good wifi near Bordeuax to get my qualifier fix in! Up the blue and gold:)

[Shamrock Shore]

Bordeaux is it. Good man.

I am sure the Bordeaux branch of the Longford GAA Supporters club will have an event somewhere with John Duffy beamed over the loud spakers from Shannonside.

If stuck drop me a pm with your mobile and I'll text you the odd update.

[Qwerty28]

Sure its not Wimbledon I'm going to, won't need the strawberries, but might get some new spuds from the trailer beside the roundabout alright. If we win Il celebrate with a visit to Luigi's!!

[This Years Model]

Wexford team announced. Shane Roche is the fall guy for the forward line's collective collapse in the second half of the Meath game. Andy Doyle was quoted this week saying that the extra week should make all the difference compared to our recent limp Qualifier exits after a 6-day turnaround. We'll see ... he and his forward colleagues especially need to make amends from the last day and put in a full shift of Championship-grade quality, or another early exit it most certainly will be ...

1   Anthony Masterson   
2   Michael Furlong
3   Graeme Molloy   
4   Robert Tierney
5   Brian Malone
6   David Murphy
7   Adrian Flynn
8   Daithi Waters
9   Rory Quinlivan
10   James Holmes
11   Ben Brosnan
12   Aindreas Doyle
13   Ciaran Lyng
14   Redmond Barry
15   PJ Banville
16   Tom Hughes
17   Lee Chin
18   Paddy Byrne
19   Conor Carty
20   Brendan Mulligan
21   Shane Roche
22   Kevin Gore
23   Sean Culleton
24   Killian Kehoe
25   Kevin O'Grady
26   Paidi Kelly   

[Qwerty28]

In the words of Kevin Keegan, either side could win it or it could be a draw!!  Should be close game but attitude and hunger will prob be a huge factor....as Shamrock quoted in an earlier post, Longford lads seemed determined to make amends for disappointment in Aughrim so should be up for it. Interesting quote from Aindreas Doyle as well re rest and attitude to game.

We shall see, another gorgeous day, looking forward to the spin down and hopefully a win for the home side!!

[Shamrock Shore]

Longford name same starting XV for this clash with Wexford that started against Limerick.

Really looking forward to this with the weather and all. I know we are up against it slightly but here's to a good game and safe travelling for all.

Damien Sheridan

Dermot Brady
Barry Gilleran
Declan Reilly
Barry O'Farrell
Padraig McCormack
Shane Mulligan

John Keegan
Michael Brady

Bernard McElvaney
Paul Barden
Peter Foy
Francis McGee
Sean McCormack
JJ Matthews

[Shamrock Shore]

Half time. Us 0-08 Wex 0-04. We're much the better side. Shud be 3-4 further up

[omagh_gael]

Full time and level. Extra time to be played. Schmozle #2 breaks out as well. Must be the heat.

[Shamrock Shore]

Oh my God. Why do we keep doing it? Losing games we shud win. Ah I'm tired. I'm heading back to Dublin so more anon.

[The Insider]

Longford should have won in normal time , hugely disappointed with the decision of the ref not to give Paul Barden a free 35 yards out in the dying seconds of game , he was either giving him advantage or maybe its allowed in Kerry to have a marker hanging out of him for upto 10 m . Either way his decision not to give the free was a major factor in the brawl after the full time whistle which i expect players ,subs ,backroom crew and mentors from both sides to be called to give account of their actions. To be fair to the officials on this one it would have been impossible to take any action ans single out anyone because of the numbers involved . Expect the CCCC to be viewing the video on Monday. Wexford were by far the better team in extra time and could have won by more. You couldn't say  any of the changes we made worked . So back to the drawing board, while he didn't announce he was stepping down the feeling is Longford will be seeking a new management team over the coming weeks .

[LaurelEye]

You couldn't say any of the changes we made worked.

Unless Declan Reilly was injured, that particular substitution was suicidal.

[This Years Model]

Insider, if I were a Longford fan, "hugely disappointed" wouldn't capture it, I'd be in an apoplectic rage over O'Sullivan's decision to award the advantage to Barden at the end (he gave the advantage signal so there's no ambiguity). It was shocking reffing. A player of Barden's vast experience might toss and turn in bed tonight wondering why he didn't just go to ground when Tierney (?) pulled him back by the arm. The way he kicked frees tonight, McCormack would have pointed it with his eyes closed. Wexford could have had no complaints, having suicidally turned the ball over (again) to give Longford the chance to win it.

The fact that we got off the hook seemed to inspire our lads to push on for the win, and we somehow discovered the rare art of intelligent fast forward inter-play and point-scoring. Roche showed admirable composure to point the frees, none of which was technically difficult, but Longford's backs seemed to tire and lunge into desperate tackles when they needed to stand up and hassle the way they had done so effectively early on. I should mention Daithi Waters' outstanding fielding in Extra-Time which gave us a good platform to build up the lead. Quinlivan was much more productive in normal time but Daithi stepped up when he was needed.

Delighted with the win, but under no illusions that we must improve vastly if we're to progress any further.

[Shamrock Shore]

I take all the points made by Insider, Laurel and TYM.

We gifted the two goals but this said Wexford had some shocking wides from play and frees. We only looked like scoring a goal once and as we all know goals win games.

The row was caused by the Wexford CHF grappling Paul Barden to the ground at the full time whistle - well, that's what I saw. The whole game there was a niggle with Barden and David Murphy. Murphy seemed to be tugging and pulling Barden the entire 70 minutes off the ball. Even though Barden has lost a yard of pace he still was dangerous when he had a ball.

The final call by the ref was a bad one. There was no point in giving an advantage in the last millisecond of normal time added time. Barden deserved a free and McCormack would most likely have scored it and we would have won.

But dems the breaks and we just have to move on.

2014 will see new management and new blood coming in. Some will retire but until official I will say no more.

The mill was the most all encompassing I have seen in a long time. It was a disgrace but one can understand when tempers boil over. Hopefully the CCCC will act but can they ban two entire panels for a match?

Hope you had a good time in Longford TYM and we'll see ye in Div 3 in Longford next year.

[The Insider]

Unfortunately, despite being asked by reporters after the game Glen Ryan didn't offer any hint that he was going to accept that his time is up .I cannot not see even if he was to get the backing of the executive which he wont get , the clubs will not support his nomination for a 6th year.   Sadly it's hard to see Paul Barden playing for us again , he was dejected looking as he left the park . At 34 and having overcome some serious injuries and the hits taken it seems unlikely he'll want to commit to another year. Maybe  a high profile appointment would persuade him to stay on.Paul would have graced any of the top teams over the last 30 years .Another question that must be asked is despite the huge investment in the renting , equipping and paying a physical trainer to look after the team , just like last year when it came to extra time there was nothing in the tank. The ability to take the hits is up with the better teams and all well ans good , but we seem to have lost pace and stamina which has now cost us 2 years running.

[Shamrock Shore]

Glen won't be back. As Insider has pointed out he won't get any backing now from either the executive nor the club delegates.

Nothing personal I am sure - just his time is up and new focus is needed. His time will be remembered for a good few highs but I do get the feeling that the team could have done better in a fair few games.

I cannot see Paul back and again to echo Insider Barden was the complete footballer. He had everything and oozed class. Best Longford player I had the pleasure to witness in my 40 odd years - better than Dessie Barry, Speedy McCormack, Kevin Hughes, Frank McNamee et al.

Of course there will be a queue forming now outside Aras Ui Bhriain to lodge in the CVs.......won't there??

Hardy - have you Banty's mobile number?