Longford could be hard pressed to overcome Carlow
While Longford are considered one of the main contenders for the two promotion places in Division 4 of the National Football League this season, a winning start is crucial but Glenn Ryan's side could be hard pressed to overcome the challenge of Carlow at Dr. Cullen Park on Sunday next.
Apart from the Luke Dempsey factor as the current Carlow supremo plots the downfall of his former charges, the return of Aussie Rules player Brendan Murphy is a big boost for the home county who registered a notable win over Wicklow in the O'Byrne Shield Tournament and are through to the final against Wexford.
Ex-Sydney Swans star Murphy was the dominant figure at centrefield as Carlow scored a well deserved six-point success (2-13 to 1-10) and while Mick O'Dwyer fielded a strong side reports suggest that Wicklow were unable to match the enthusiasm of the committed opposition.
Make no mistake about it, Luke Dempsey will have his players really fired up for the opening league fixture and with home advantage Carlow will be quietly confident of emerging victorious. Dempsey was in charge of Longford when they suffered a shock 1-15 to 1-11 defeat on their last visit to Dr. Cullen Park back in April 2007.
After losing their previous five games in Division 2A of the National League, Carlow football was in a crisis situation with no manager following the resignation of Andy Shortall and a number of key players were missing. However, they somehow succeeded in getting the better of Longford and a repeat of that result might well materialise on Sunday.
The highly rated Brendan Murphy, who played a major role in the Carlow minors march to the Leinster Final three years ago when they lost out narrowly to neighbours Laois, is set to partner Sean Gannon at centrefield for the seniors and this strong pairing will make it difficult for Longford.
Gannon plays with the Eire Og club, as do some other key men on the Carlow team - wing back Alan Curran and accurate forwards Simon Rea and Eric McCormack. Rea (who scored 3-3 in the win over D.I.T. in the O'Byrne Shield semi-final on Sunday last) was rated good enough to play with Leinster in the inter-provincial series in recent years while McCormack got most of the scores when Eire Og beat Colmcille at the second attempt in the 2008 Leinster Club Championship and it was he who fired over the winning point in the quarter-final replay at Pearse Park.
While Carlow will certainly not be lacking in fitness, Longford are also working hard at the training sessions as the new season begins in earnest at Dr. Cullen Park after a couple of competitive fixtures in the O'Byrne Cup against Meath and the unlucky defeat away to Wexford in the O'Byrne Shield.
Glenn Ryan fielded a fairly experimental team in both those games in the absence of a number of college-tied players while the Barden brothers Paul and David are currently recovering from injuries and will be sorely missed in the clash against Carlow.
Longford have already suffered a double blow with the departure of Padraig Berry to Australia and the decision by Paddy Dowd to retire from inter-county football due to injury problems but Bernard McElvaney and Jamsie Martin have returned to the squad and are in contention to start against Carlow.
Manager Ryan and his sole selector Liam Keenan will welcome the return of regulars Diarmuid Masterson, Francis McGee, Kevin Smyth, Ger Dennigan, Barry Gilleran and Cian Mimnagh who were all college-tied for the O'Byrne Cup and the strongest possible side will need to start against Carlow in a game that Longford cannot afford to lose.
While Brendan Murphy is a big threat, there are enough experienced players on the Longford team to ensure that a dreaded defeat in the opening league fixture will be avoided at a difficult venue and if the mission is accomplished then the county footballers can look forward to a crack at the Division 4 title favourites Limerick at Pearse Park in their next game on Saturday February 20th.
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Weather for Longford, Ireland
Tuesday 22 May 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 11 C to 19 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: South
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: 9 C to 19 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: South
