Longford SFC: Killoe or Mullinalaghta for Connolly Cup glory?

The title holders Colmcille will be hoping to bounce back from a very poor league campaign which ended in relegation to Division 2 next season and while a different story is expected in the competition that really matters, they will be hard pressed to get a positive result against Emmet Og at Allen Park in Newtownforbes this Friday night, throw-in 8pm.  

Hard hit by a spate of injuries, clever Colmcille manager Mickey Harkin should be in a position to field his strongest possible side while Dromard are a ‘darkhorse’ under the guidance of their shrewd coach Sean Hagan.

While all the focus was on Colmcille last year following their fantastic achievement in winning the senior championship title for the first time since 2008, let us not forget that Dromard defeated Killoe in the quarter-final and then ran Mullinalaghta close at the penultimate stage.

A serious ankle Injury sustained in the closing stages of the win over Emmet Og ruled Matt Duffy out of the semi-final clash against St Columba’s and the promising young county player was sorely missed.

Longford Slashers continue to blow ‘hot and cold’ and while they did succeed in reaching the semi-final last year a very disappointing defeat was suffered against the eventual champions Colmcille. 

Liam Keenan is back in charge for a second season but the odds would appear to be stacked against Slashers in their quest to be crowned county senior champions for the first time since 2013.  

Niall Sheridan has joined the Abbeylara management team led by Ryan Plunkett and the north Longford club are always a difficult nut to crack with a number of experienced players on their team, most notably Robbie Smyth who will lead the charge in attack. 

With a lot of quality young players coming through, most notably Matthew Carey, there is little doubt that Clonguish are a team for the future and on the evidence of their fine form in the league this season in reaching the Leader Cup semi-final they are capable of an extended run in the current championship campaign. 

Liam Belton remains in the role of the Clonguish manager while Mullahoran native Paul Lynch is the new Granard coach. 

St Mary’s will be depending on the usual powerful performances from Darren Gallagher but he will be away for the first round game against the 2022 Intermediate champions Ballymahon at Keenan Park in Ardagh on Saturday evening (7pm).

The surprise 2021 finalists Mostrim have suffered a number of injury setbacks and the Edgeworthstown men are facing a tough task against Dromard at the Monaduff grounds in Drumlish this Friday night (8pm).

With the Dublin v Kerry All-Ireland football final on Sunday, no less than four county senior championship first round games are scheduled in a packed programme on Saturday evening and the meeting of Mullinalaghta and Rathcline at McGee Park in Aughnacliffe (7pm) is an interesting encounter.  

The Lanesboro outfit are always capable of springing a surprise and while they deserved a lot of credit for reaching the quarter-final last year, they are pitted in an extremely difficult group this season and thus are unlikely to make it through to the last eight.  

Michael Tumelty from Tang is the new manager of another outsider Carrickedmond who open their championship campaign against Abbeylara at C&D Devine Park in Edgeworthstown on Saturday evening (7pm) and this is a crunch fixture even at this early stage of the championship.

The remaining first round game is the meeting of Clonguish and Slashers at Emmet Park in Killoe on Saturday evening (7pm) and the sky-blues will be without the suspended Daire O’Brien who is serving a two-match ban after getting sent-off close to the end of the demoralising semi-final setback against Colmcille last year.

While this is a very intriguing contest, the most attractive match in the opening round is unquestionably the Colmcille v Killoe showdown at Allen Park on Friday.   

Emmet Og will be without a number of players who are in the United States for the summer months, a trend that has affected most of the clubs in the county this year, but Luke Dempsey’s charges should still be good enough to come out on top.

On the evidence of what materialised in the senior football league this season, dominated by Killoe and Mullinalaghta who reached both the Division 1 (Skelly Cup) and Leader Cup finals, it is hard to look behind these two strong sides in predicting who will go on to lift the Connolly Cup in mid-October. 

St Columba’s, with a new manager in Cavan native Ollie Fay, are missing the long term injured John Keegan with Rian Brady gone to Australia but a couple of promising young players have emerged in Connor Leonard and Emmet Brady (brother of Rian).

Emmet Og, in particular, are producing a constant supply of youthful talent, notably Paddy Moran and Gavin Farrelly, and on the basis of their better-balance and overall strength in the squad then maybe they will make amends for letting the two league titles slip from their grasp in their bid to regain the Longford senior football championship crown they last claimed in 2020.

Killoe (5) and Mullinalaghta (4) have shared a total of nine senior championship titles since 2012 and it remains to be seen whether that sequence will continue this year.

Quarter-Finals Qualification Prediction

Group 1

Dromard

Longford Slashers 

Clonguish 

 Granard

 Group 2

Killoe

Mullinalaghta

Colmcille 

Abbeylara

Ballymahon back in the senior championship

After their dramatic last gasp victory over Fr Manning Gaels in last year’s Intermediate Football Championship final, Ballymahon are back in the senior grade after a lengthy absence.  

The south Longford club, winners of a solitary senior championship title in 2022, make their return to the top flight with a Round 1 fixture against St Mary’s Granard at Keenan Park in Ardagh on Saturday evening, throw-in 7pm.

The 12 clubs in the 2023 senior football championship are divided into two groups of six with the top four in each section qualifying for the quarter-finals: 1 v 4 & 2 v 3. 

The bottom two teams in each group will battle it out in the relegation play-offs with one team demoted to the 2024 Intermediate Championship.

Group 1

St Mary’s Granard

Longford Slashers

Mostrim

Dromard

Clonguish

Ballymahon

Group 2

Mullinalaghta St Columba’s

Rathcline 

Killoe Emmet Og

Colmcille 

Carrickedmond 

Abbeylara  

Round 1 Fixtures

Group 1

Dromard v Mostrim

Prediction: Dromard

Clonguish v Longford Slashers

Prediction: Slashers

Ballymahon v St Mary’s Granard

Prediction: Granard

Group 2

Rathcline v Mullinalaghta St Columba’s

Prediction: Mullinalaghta

Abbeylara v Carrickedmond

Prediction: Abbeylara

Colmcille v Killoe Emmet Og

Prediction: Killoe