No joy as Longford fall at the first hurdle in Leinster Championship exit

Offaly . . . 1-12    Longford . . . 1-11 

Relegated to Division 4 of the National League, Longford were looking to the championship for some inspiration but a significant win this season unfortunately failed to materialise as the attention now turns to the start of the Tailteann Cup on May 13/14.

While it is a very poor run of results for the new manager Paddy Christie, the players deserve credit for recovering from a bad start that left them trailing by 1-1 to 0-0 with the commanding Offaly centre-half-back Peter Cunningham scoring a cracking goal in the 8th minute as his side utilised their greater pace in surging forward.   

The sides ended up on level terms at the break, 0-7 to 1-4, with the impressive Longford midfielder Darren Gallagher firing over four points (two frees) while Joseph Hagan (2) and Dylan Farrell were also on target for the home county.

Longford appeared to be facing an uphill battle against the wind in the second half as Offaly regained the lead with a point apiece from Jamie Evans and Nigel Dunne (free) before Dessie Reynolds shot over the bar in the 42nd minute. 

Moments later Reynolds provided the perfect pass into the path of the unmarked Gallagher who flicked the ball into the net from close range but Longford, who were now 1-8 to 1-6 ahead, failed to build on the boost of that crucial goal.

Offaly came storming back to clock up another six points, their last score coming from substitute Bernard Allen in the 69th minute, but there was still a glimmer of hope for Longford who closed the gap to the minimum of margins when attacking wing back Iarla O’Sullivan landed a point in the third minute of stoppage time.

Just before that final score a shot from Darragh Doherty dropped short with Andrew Farrell, now operating as the target man at full-forward, flicking the ball wide in his attempt to snatch a dramatic late, late goal but he was tightly marked by a couple of Offaly defenders.

Longford continued to surge forward in the frantic search for the equaliser but a succession of shots were blocked down and the final whistle was eventually blown in the seventh minute of stoppage time when Michael Quinn was in possession in another attack but did not get the chance to shoot. 

It has all gone wrong for Longford since the O’Byrne Cup triumph back in January but at least they are guaranteed three more championship games in the group stage of the Tailteann Cup.  

What will happen on that journey remains to be seen and in the build to the second tier championship no expense is being spared as the Longford management and players are heading off to Portugal for a few days this week (leaving on Thursday) for some warm weather training. 

The Longford supporters were outnumbered by the Offaly fans in the disappointing attendance in the region of 1,000 and the game itself lacked any real sense of high intensity that would normally be associated with the knockout Leinster championship.  

The visitors opened the scoring with a point from Jamie Evans in the 3rd minute and soon after Ruairi McNamee put Peter Cunninghamn clean through for a very well-taken goal.

Longford opened their account in the 13th minute from a free converted by Darren Gallagher following a foul on full-forward Daire O’Brien, one of three senior championship debutants along with Jack Macken and Bryan Masterson. 

While Offaly replied with a point from Cian Farrell, Longford then enjoyed their best spell in the match that yielded six points in a row. 

Darren Gallagher fired over a couple of great long range points from play and the Granard man then converted another free before a brace of fine scores from Joseph Hagan left Longford leading by 0-6 to 1-2 with 27 minutes gone in the first half. 

Dylan Farrell then got his name on the scoresheet but Offaly hit back with a point apiece from Nigel Dunne and Ruairi McNamee and it was all square going into the second half. 

Two more points for the wind assisted faithful county put the pressure on Longford but they responded in the best possible manner with a point and a goal in quick succession.

But the ball was given away several times during the remainder of the match and Offaly hit back to level matters with points from Dylan Hyland (free) and Cian Farrell (mark).

While Longford suffered a setback when Daniel Mimnagh (who was involved in the move that led to the Darren Gallagher goal) was forced to retire injured in the 52nd minute, they got back in front (1-9 to 1-8) when Michael Quinn landed a great point in the 61st minute.

There was an immediate reply from Offaly with Cian Farrell shooting his third point, quickly followed by another score from Lee Pearson who blasted the ball over the bar when a goal was there for the taking.  

The ding-dong battle continued with another score from Joseph Hagan to leave the sides level again (1-10 to 1-10) but Offaly were more clinical in attack and points from Peter Cunningham and Bernard Allen got them over the line as they earned a home Leinster quarter-final against Meath in a couple of weeks time.

LONGFORD: Paddy Collum (Fr Manning Gaels); Patrick Fox (Mullinalaghta), Andrew Farrell (Cashel), Bryan Masterson (Abbeylara); Ryan Moffet (Killoe), Michael Quinn (Killoe, 0-1), Iarla O’Sullivan (Rathcline, 0-1); Jack Macken (Colmcille), Darren Gallagher (Granard, 1-4, 2 frees); Daniel Mimnagh (Killoe), Joseph Hagan (Dromard, 0-3), Keelin McGann (Kenagh); Dessie Reynolds (Sean Connolly’s, 0-1), Daire O’Brien (Longford Slashers), Dylan Farrell (Killashee, 0-1).

Subs:- Oran Kenny (Rathcline) for K McGann (half-time); Aaron Farrell (Dromard) for D O’Brien (half-time); Tadhg McNevin (Longford Slashers) for J Macken (47 mins); Liam Connerton (St Jude’s, Dublin) for D Mimnagh (injured, 52 mins); Darragh Doherty (Mostrim)  for O Kenny (65 mins). 

OFFALY: Ian Duffy; Ciaran Donnelly, Declan Hogan, David Dempsey; Rory Egan, Peter Cunningham (1-1), Lee Pearson (0-1); Jack McEvoy, Conor McNamee; Cian Farrell (0-3, 1 mark), Ruairi McNamee (0-1), Anton Sullivan; Dylan Hyland (0-1, free), Nigel Dunne (0-2, 1 free), Jamie Evans (0-2).

Subs:- Bernard Allen (0-1) for J Evans (47 mins); Joe Maher for N Dunne (59 mins); Bill Carroll for D Hyland (60 mins); Cian Donohoe for C Donnelly (second minute of stoppage time); Jack Bryant for R McNamee (injured, fourth minute of stoppage time).

Referee: Sean Hurson (Tyrone).