Poor Longford hammered by rampant Kildare and now face Leitrim

Kildare . . . 3-25   Longford . . . 1-11

Stuck in Division 4 of the National Football League and who made a tame exit at the first hurdle in the Leinster Championship clash against Meath, things are not getting any better for the Longford senior football squad under the guidance of Paddy Christie.

The bewildered manager watched his side produce a very poor performance in the Tailteann Cup Round 1 clash against a rampant Kildare side at Manguard Park in Newbridge on Saturday evening last which ended in a demoralising 20-point defeat.

There was a thought that Glenn Ryan’s underachievers might be in a vulnerable state in the aftermath of their relegation from Division 2 with no wins in the National League this season and their subsequent loss against Louth in the Leinster SFC semi-final but that unfortunately was not the case in this very one-sided encounter.

It was all over as a contest at half-time with Kildare in a runaway 1-16 to 0-5 lead after playing with a high intensity that left Longford dead and buried.

It was more of the same torture in the second half with the Lilywhites adding another 2-9 to their most emphatic tally with the goals coming from Paddy Woodgate (his second green flag) and Paddy McDermott.

Darren Gallagher scored a consolation goal for Longford on the changeover and six more points were also registered by the outclassed losers in a game they will want to forget in a hurry.

Longford now face neighbouring rivals Leitrim in Round 2 of the Tailteann Cup at Glennon Brothers Pearse Park on Sunday (throw-in 2.30pm) and are badly in need of a victory in the quest to qualify for the knockout stage of the Tier 2 Championship.

Leitrim had to work hard for a tight enough 0-17 to 0-12 win over Waterford in the Tailteann Cup Round 1 clash in Ballinamore on Saturday evening but will be really fired up to gain revenge for the disappointing defeat against Longford in Division 4 of the National League this season.

Back to Newbridge on Saturday and after 90 seconds of tame Longford possession, Kildare turned them over and headed up the field. Darragh Kirwan opened the scoring with a high and looping effort that dropped over the bar.

Kevin Feely did what he does best and rose high to claim a mark from 40m out just a minute later. He took the chance he created in fine style too as he stroked his effort between the posts.

A man making a name for himself for long-range scores of late is Aaron Masterson and he added to his reputation with another fine point to make it 0-3 to 0-0 after five minutes.

Longford offered little threat with over half of their 11 points coming from frees and Kildare’s relative sternness facing a clear lack of cutting edge made it a simple exercise for the home side.

Those frees would get Longford back to within two however on 17 minutes at 0-5 to 0-3. While Kildare, namely Kirwan and Feely, were enjoying kicking pretty points at one end, they were still giving away silly frees at the other.
Darren Gallagher and Dylan Farrell were the men for Longford that would take those chances when they came.

Kildare took over from this point on with Kirwan continuing to turn on the style in the first half. There were some lovely points registered in this game, but it would be misleading not to mention the lack of pressure they were kicked. Longford looked miles off their opponents, in both quality and athleticism.

Kirwan’s points were accompanied with scores from Ryan Houlihan, Paddy McDermott and Shane Farrell as the home supporters in Hawkfield thrilled in seeing the white flag being raised for their team so frequently.

The less than capacity crowd in Manguard Park would get the rare joy of a goal in the 25th minute of this game. A slick Kildare passage of play was shifted from Daniel Flynn to Houlihan and ended with Paddy Woodgate, who had a simple finish to round off the move to make it 1-10 to 0-3.

Longford remained remarkably open throughout this game and it was a perfect exercise in confidence boosting for Kildare as they took aim at the posts under a lot less pressure than they had been used to in recent weeks.Their entire front six would get on the scoresheet in the first half as they kicked further ahead. Two points from the energetic Jack Sargent sent The Lilies in with a commanding 1-16 to 0-5 lead at the break.

The second half procession saw Kildare add points through Tony Archbold (twice), Flynn and Kirwan again before Paddy Woodgate got Kildare’s second goal.

The next major incident would be Longford hitting the net themselves as Kildare fumbled the ball at the back before Darren Gallagher finished low into the net.

It was a concerning flash of ill-concentration but Paddy McDermott would put that to the back of everyone’s mind again with a brilliant goal to close out the game. He weaved his way through the Longford defence before coolly side footing past keeper Paddy Collum to wrap up the landslide win.

Scorers - Kildare - Paddy Woodgate 2-1, Darragh Kirwan 0-6, Paddy McDermott 1-2, Kevin Feely 0-4 (0-2 mark), Jack Sargent 0-2, Daniel Flynn 0-2, Tony Archbold 0-2, Aaron Masterson 0-1, Ryan Houlihan 0-1, Shane Farrell 0-1, Darragh Swords 0-1, Rian Teahan 0-1, Kevin Flynn 0-1.

Scorers - Longford - Darren Gallagher 1-4 (0-4 frees), Dylan Farrell 0-3 (0-2 frees), Joseph Hagan 0-2, Aaron Farrell 0-2.

KILDARE: Mark Donnellan; Ryan Houlihan, Mick O'Grady, Ryan Burke; Tony Archbold, Brian Byrne, Jack Sargent; Aaron Masterson, Brendan Gibbons; Shane Farrell, Darragh Kirwan, Paddy McDermott; Paddy Woodgate, Daniel Flynn, Kevin Feely.

 Subs:- Kevin Flynn for B Gibbons (44 mind), Killian Galligan for T Archbold (52 minutes), Darragh Swords for Daniel Flynn (54 minutes), Eoin Doyle for Ryan Burke (58 minutes), Rian Teahan for Darragh Kirwan (62 minutes).

LONGFORD: Paddy Collum; Patrick Fox, Oisin O'Toole, Bryan Masterson; Aaron Farrell, Ryan Moffett, Dessie Reynolds; Darren Gallagher, Dylan Farrell; Mark Hughes, Michael Quinn, Joseph Hagan; Daniel Reynolds, Daniel Mimnagh, Keelin McGann. 

Subs:- Paddy Kiernan for Daniel Reynolds (half-time); Enda Macken for K McGann (42 mins), Cathal McCabe for M Quinn (50 mins), Jack Macken for D Mimnagh (57 mins), Ruairi Harkin for J Hagan (62 mins).

Referee: Brendan Griffin (Kerry).