Longford manager Paddy Christie looking ahead to the Tailteann Cup

The Longford manager stated that the scores came easier to Offaly than they did to Longford, despite the minimum margin separating the sides at the final whistle.

“Offaly blocked a lot of our shots, they turned us over and broke on us very, very quickly and scored very easily at the other end. 

“They were able to run through the middle and pop over a lot of scores. It seemed to be a lot harder for us to keep the scoreboard ticking over and a lot easier for them. 

“We put in a good second half display and we never stopped trying and we had the stomach for it, and we were in it right until the final whistle. 

“It was always going to be a one or two-point margin between ourselves and Offaly, and it’s disappointing that it was not ourselves who came out on top.”

Regarding the last attack of the match when Longford were pressing hard for the equaliser, some Longford players seemed to be afraid to take a shot, and eventually the final whistle was blown without getting a proper shot off, however, the Longford manager had a different view.

“It was similar to a couple of times in the league with the referee blowing up while we were on the attack.

“You have to appreciate that we did try to get shots off but several of them were blocked down and that made us wary of shooting without creating proper space for a pointed effort. 

“You have to give Offaly credit for the way they defended as they had everyone behind the ball and they had a lot of bodies back and it proved effective.

“The referee can only give us so long and he is entitled to blow the whistle without waiting for us to get a proper shot off.”

Paddy agreed that the sluggish opening fifteen minutes of the match where the visitors were given too much space, allowing Offaly to register 1-2 against a stiff breeze, was where the match was really lost.

“Definitely, that is what cost us the game. We were 1-2 to a point down at that stage despite Offaly playing against a significant breeze. 

“We fought back brilliantly after that to be level at half-time, and we scored six unanswered points, but I just felt that poor start really did cost us. 

“We tend to do that in games and step off a lot, and we play too much ball across our own back-line which is not putting the opposition under pressure. 

“When we win the ball in the half-forward and full-forward line we put the opposition on the back foot and we need to do more of that.

“Having said that, Andrew Farrell, Patrick Fox, and Bryan Masterson, who was making his senior championship debut, were very good defensively, getting a hand in, getting a fist in, winning dirty ball against some very good Offaly players. 

“Patrick Fox was also going forward with effect and Darren Gallagher in midfield was superb, it was those guys who were driving it.”

There is a  few weeks break now to the Tailteann Cup action and the team are going away on a training camp in Portugal this weekend to help the team in their preparations for the second tier All-Ireland senior championship. 

“The Longford boss is very enthusiastic about the Tailteann Cup and thinks it’s a brilliant competition for the weaker counties.

“We hope to have everyone in the squad available for our Tailteann Cup campaign, including David McGivney who is recovering from injury. Our aim is to get out of the group stages and ultimately get to Croke Park.

 “You saw how it galvanised Westmeath last year. It’s a different format this year. Last year it was a straight knockout, but there are groups this year and everyone will get at least three matches. It’s a major carrot for us. 

“In the past, if you lost today, you could end up facing the likes of Kerry in the qualifiers and suffer a heavy defeat.

 “In the Tailteann Cup, you are in with other Division 3 and Division 4 teams in the main, so the games should be competitive.

 “I think the GAA deserve great credit for introducing this competition and I also think that it is a better format this year,” concluded the optimistic Christie.