Longford remain rooted in the bottom league
Longford senior footballers have experienced little luck in Division 4 and will remain rooted in the bottom league for another season after suffering a narrow defeat against Wicklow at Pearse Park on Sunday last, all of which means that Glenn Ryan's struggling side will have nothing but pride to play for in their remaining games against Kilkenny, Clare, Leitrim and London.
That is a very disappointing situation indeed and while the return of David Barden for his first appearance in the county colours this year was a boost, Longford's current form is a serious cause for concern in the build up to a most difficult game against Louth in the opening round of the Leinster Championship at O'Moore Park, Portlaoise on May 23rd.
Just one point from four league games is a very poor return for a team who were considered one of the main contenders for promotion after getting relegated from Division 3 last season and while Longford have yet to win a game in 2010 that will change in a meaningless fixture away to lowly Kilkenny on Sunday next when shooting practise will be the order of the day.
Unfortunately, the attack failed to make the desired impact against Wicklow in a game that Longford had to win to keep their slim hopes of promotion alive and only Bernard McElvaney (tried out unsuccessfully as a target man at full-forward) from the starting forward division managed to register a score from play and that point materialised in the closing stages of the game.
Eight of Longford's eleven points came from seven frees along with a '45' all converted by Francis McGee while the goal was fired home by substitute David Barden in the 59th minute, a cracking strike that left his side leading by 1-9 to 1-8 just after Wicklow full-forward Seanie Furlong had fisted the ball to the net at the other end of the pitch.
This dramatic spell continued immediately when Leighton Glynn scored a crucial second goal for Wicklow and while he was very much the main man in the second half with a total of 1-3 to his credit, Furlong was also much to the fore in the revival with a goal and two points as the garden county maintained their strong challenge for promotion.
Longford's other two points came from prominent midfielder Kevin Smyth and with defenders Diarmuid Masterson, Shane Mulligan and Seamus Hannon also playing well in the first half, along with effective 'third midfielder' Declan Reilly, it was Wicklow who appeared to be in trouble as they trailed by 0-6 to 0-3 at the break and fell further behind when Smyth landed a glorious effort with a couple of minutes gone on the changeover.
Mick O'Dwyer must have been furious with the poor Wicklow performance up until then and some stern words were obviously issued to his players at half-time as they gradually stepped up another gear to get right back into contention after shooting five points in a row, the first from Leighton Glynn with three minutes gone in the second half.
Further scores followed from wing back Patrick McWalter, the so influential Glynn and a brace from Seanie Furlong (free and play) to leave Wicklow 0-8 to 0-7 ahead by the 52nd minute but David Barden was then brought on and proceeded to make a notable difference as Longford hit back with a couple of frees converted by Francis McGee in quick succession.
The small attendance in the region of 400 were then treated to three goals in a very exciting spell between the 58th and 60th minutes, two of which went to Wicklow while Declan Reilly sent David Barden racing through to plant an unstoppable shot in the back of the net.
A spectacular strike, to say the least, but the immediate Glynn goal put Wicklow ahead yet again (2-8 to 1-9) and they managed to hold out despite the determined efforts of a Longford team who replied with a point from McElvaney in the 64th minute.
Glynn then got another point for Wicklow which proved to be their last score of the game and their keeper Mervyn Travers came to the rescue when making a terrific point-blank save to deny Longford attacker Francis McGee a probable matchwinning goal in the 66th minute.
McGee slotted over the resulting '45' to leave just a solitary point separating the sides and after Glynn squandered a couple of good chances to ease the pressure on Wicklow there was one last chance for Longford to get a result but McGee's difficult free dropped short and while the ball appeared to be deflected out for a '45' a wide was waved by the umpire.
And thus Longford's interest in the National League this season is now over and team manager Glenn Ryan does not need to be told that things are going wrong. Whether he can lift the players for a decent championship challenge remains to be seen but at least the Barden brothers are back in action and the overall situation can only improve.
Longford were again guilty of some poor finishing on Sunday last, kicking a total of six wides in the first half as did Wicklow, and the sides were all square at 0-2 apiece after 14 minutes with McGee (frees) getting the scores for the midlanders while Tony Hannon (free) and Paul Cunningham replied for the visitors.
The next score did not materialised until the 25th minute when McGee converted another free and three more Longford points followed from McGee (two frees) and a well struck effort from Kevin Smyth to open up a gap (0-6 to 0-2) which suggested that a badly needed home win might be the eventual outcome.
But Paul Earls kicked over a crucial long range point for Wicklow in first half stoppage time and Mick O'Dwyer's men showed a lot more urgency in the second half to outscore Longford 2-6 to 1-5 on their way to a hard earned victory.
LONGFORD: Damien Sheridan (Dromard); Dermot Brady (Longford Slashers), Diarmuid Masterson (Dromard), Seamus Hannon (Mostrim); Shane Mulligan (Mullinalaghta), Enda Williams (Clonguish), Noel Farrell (Colmcille); Kevin Smyth (Abbeylara, 0-2), Arthur O'Connor (Abbeylara); Ger Dennigan (Cashel), Francis McGee (Dromard, 0-8, seven frees, one '45'), David Morgan (Mostrim); Declan Reilly (Colmcille), Bernard McElvaney (Ballymore, 0-1), Brian Kavanagh (Kilmacud Crokes).
Subs:- Paul Barden (Clonguish) for D Morgan (half-time); David Barden (Clonguish, 1-0) for G Dennigan (52 mins).
WICKLOW: Mervyn Travers; Ciaran Hyland, Stephen Kelly, Alan Byrne; Patrick McWalter (0-1), Brian McGrath, Steven Canavan; James Stafford, JP Dalton; Paul Cunningham (0-1), Tony Hannon (0-1, free), Leighton Glynn (1-3); John McGrath, Seanie Furlong (1-2, one point from free), Paul Earls (0-1).
Subs:- Darren Hayden for S Canavan (half-time); Paddy Dalton for J McGrath (half-time); Paul Cunningham (Bray Emmets) for P Cunningham (49 mins).
Referee: Paul Kneel (Louth).
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Weather for Longford, Ireland
Sunday 05 February 2012
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