Longford lose again as promotion hopes suffer severe setback

Tipperary . . . 0-16   Longford . . . 0-14

The primary target for Longford manager Paddy Christie this season was clearly an immediate return to Division 3 but a second consecutive loss in the current National Football League campaign is a severe setback in leaving the situation at a very low ebb indeed. 

Make no mistake about it, the also relegated Tipperary were worthy winners in bouncing back from the surprise defeat at home to Carlow the previous week and led for most of the crucial Division 4 clash at windswept Glennon Brothers Pearse Park on Sunday last.
The visitors created three definite goal chances in the first half, the last of which was a point-blank shot from Stephen Grogan which was well saved by Longford’s other keeper, Killoe’s Micheal Hughes, in the 31st minute.
Having said that, Longford were looking in a good position when they established a 0-4 to 0-1 lead with 15 minutes gone on the clock with the scores coming from Darren Gallagher (two frees), Michael Quinn and Keelin McGann, the latter landing a glorious strike from a very tight angle against the stiff, swirling wind.
In fact, the midlanders could have been further ahead in the first quarter of the contest as Mark Hughes was denied a goal when his close range effort was blocked down by opposing defender Jimmy Feehan in the 13th minute.The physically stronger Tipperary team then took over completely to shoot six points in a row, the highlight of which was a brilliant right foot strike from Steven O’Brien in the 26th minute.
Soon after the vastly experienced midfielder O’Brien was forced to retire injured in a significant blow for Tipperary and when Longford’s best player Darren Gallagher converted another free in first half stoppage time his side were a slender 0-7 to 0-5 adrift going into the second half.
The wind advantage should probably have swung the issue in favour of Christie’s charges but it failed to materialise as the resilient Munster men were consistently dangerous on the counter attack with some penetrating runs from the influential Paddy Creedon posing a lot of problems.
Creedon started at full-forward but was moved out to the midfield sector when Steven O’Brien was withdrawn while particularly outstanding was the lethal corner-forward Sean O'Connor who registered the impressive total of seven points (4 frees) on the changeover.
Just a solitary point (0-15 to 0-14) separated the sides when Keelin McGann shot over the bar in the 69th minute but Tipperary made the victory secure when O’Connor was on target again in the third minute of stoppage time.
Minus the long term injured defenders Andrew Farrell and Iarla O'Sullivan, the pressure is piling on Longford who realistically must win all of their remaining five fixtures to stay alive in the battle for promotion, starting with a visit to Dungarvan to take on Waterford at Fraher Field on Saturday February 17 with a 6pm throw-in.

With home advantage, Longford were fancied to get back on track after losing to Laois in the opening round but it did not happen with their failure to score during a barren spell lasting 22 minutes in the first half leading to their downfall.
Once Tipperary got going they were hard stopped in their slick attacks with timely tackles by Oisin O’Toole and Darren Gallagher stopping goal goal attempts from Sean O’Connor and Conor Cadell.
The seven Tipp points in the first half came from six different players with corner-forward Jack Kennedy opening their account in the 12th minute.
The other Jack Kennedy (Clonmel) fired over a brace of scores (‘45 and free) with O’Connor (free), Creedon, Steven O’Brien and Cathal Deely also on target.
Longford’s only wide in the first half came from a mark approaching the break with the kicker Mark Hughes believing that the ball had gone over the bar but there was no white flag from the umpire.

Tipperary managed to remain ahead with seven of their nine points in the second half coming from the talented Sean O’Connor with Cathal Deely and Peter Creedon on target again.
Longford, to their credit, also landed the fine total of nine points on the changeover which included a couple of cracking scores from Jayson Matthews and Mark Hughes.
Darren Gallagher added another three points (1 free) to his impressive tally while Dylan Farrell converted three frees.
It might have been a different story had a goal attempt from Keelin McGann ended up in the back of the net in the 55th minute with his shot flashing narrowly wide at a stage when Tipperary were leading by two points, 0-12 to 0-10.
It was not to be for Longford who have fallen to a couple of costly defeats in the league after putting a lot of energy into winning the low key O’Byrne Cup for the second year in succession.

LONGFORD: Micheal Hughes; Patrick Fox, Oisin O’Toole, Bryan Masterson; Keelin McGann (0-2), Ryan Moffett, Michael Quinn (0-1); Darren Gallagher (0-6, 4 frees), Daire Duggan; Daniel Reynolds, Dylan Farrell (0-3, 3 frees), Joseph Hagan; Mark Hughes (0-1), Jayson Matthews (0-1), Cathal McCabe.

Subs:- Daniel Mimnagh for Daniel Reynolds (half-time); Dessie Reynolds for B Masterson (60 mins); Liam Hughes for D Duggan (67 mins); Bryn Peters for C McCabe (68 mins).

TIPPERARY: Jack Rodgers; Shane O’Connell, Jimmy Feehan, Emmet Maloney; James Morris, Kieran Costello, Paudie Feehan; Steven O’Brien (0-1), Jack Bracken (Clonmel, 0-2, ‘45 and free); Conor Cadell, Stephen Grogan, Cathal Deely (0-2); Jack Kennedy (JK Brackens, 0-1), Paddy Creedon (0-2), Sean O’Connor (0-8, 5 frees). 

Subs:- Teddy Doyle for S O’Brien (injured, 28 mins); Mark Stokes for C Cadell (53 mins); Martin Kehoe for J Kennedy (JK Brackens, 53 mins); Rory O’Dowd for E Maloney (60 mins); Darragh O’Leary for P Creedon (stoppage time).  

Referee: Christopher Ryan (Galway).