Longford’s All-Ireland minor dream is shattered as superior Armagh score emphatic win

Armagh . . . 1-16    Longford . . . 1-3 

On a high in the aftermath of their major achievement in defeating Dublin to win the Leinster Minor Championship title, the Longford U-17 footballers dream of progressing a stage further in the All-Ireland Series was shattered in the quarter-final clash at Kingspan Breffni Park on Saturday last. 

Armagh were superior in most positions on the pitch and struck a real killer blow just before the break when corner-forward Shea Loughran planted the ball into the corner of the net with impressive attacking defender Conall Wilson creating the opening for this decisive goal that left the rattled midlanders trailing by 1-7 to 1-2 at half-time.

Roving wing back Diarmaid O’Rourke was also involved in this slick move and he was particularly outstanding for the Ulster runners-up who quickly recovered from the shock of Luke Donnelly grabbing a goal for the Leinster champions midway through the first half.

O’Rourke (no 7) and Wilson (no 4) clocked up a total of 9 points (3 frees) between them as the well organised Armagh outfit stuck to their tight and patient gameplan on their way to a most emphatic win.

Some poor shot selection and a number of missed chances cost Longford dearly and while they did not do themselves justice on the evidence of this disappointing display, nobody can argue with the fact that Armagh were the much stronger side.

Spurred on by their large contingent of supporters at the Cavan venue, Enda McGahern’s charges battled it out to the bitter end in adding just a solitary point to their tally in the second half and that came from a free converted by James Hagan in the 50th minute.

The slick Armagh outfit, on the other hand, clocked up another 9 points on the changeover and could afford the luxury of shooting quite a few wides in cruising through to the All-Ireland semi-final against Mayo with Kerry and Derry clashing in the other last four showdown.

So the amazing journey is over for the gallant Longford minors but it was a magnificent effort by the so committed players to land the Leinster title against all the odds.

Given little chance of a crack at winning the U-17 provincial championship, the success story that followed was truly remarkable with the might of Dublin beaten twice in the process of the feelgood factor that put Longford GAA in the spotlight for all the right reasons.

Boosted by the bulk of the attendance of the double bill at Breffni Park with the highly rated Derry minors hard pressed to register a narrow victory over Dublin in the first of the All-Ireland Minor quarter-finals, the opening Longford score materialised in the 5th minute through corner-forward James Hagan whose shot clipped the upright on its way over the bar.

But Armagh were enjoying the much greater share of the possession to lead by 0-4 to 0-1 and they went very close to scoring a goal in the 7th minute when a shot from Ross Marsden was cleared off the line by Alan Mimnagh.

Longford hit back with a point from Luke Donnelly and moments later the same player blasted the ball to the back of the net from close range with 16 minutes gone on the clock.

Donnelly latched on to the rebound after a shot from Josh Marsh was blocked down and all of a sudden it was Longford who were ahead on a 1-2 to 0-4 scoreline.

The opportunity of causing yet another upset appeared to be a possibility entering the second quarter of the contest but Longford then faded right out of the picture in failing to register another score for 35 minutes - the James Hagan free.

 In between the Armagh machine stepped up another couple of gears and man of the match Diarmaid O’Rourke was a real driving force as the Orchard County produced some very sweet passages of fruitful play to establish a commanding 9 points advantage.

It was all over as a contest with the Hagan point in the 50th minute a mere consolation score and there was just no stopping awesome Armagh who recorded another five points through Shea Loughran (2), Conall Wilson, Diarmaid O’Rourke and substitute Aaron Garvey to run out easy winners.

LONGFORD: James Ross (Ballymore); Alan Mimnagh (Clonguish), Conor McHugh (Grattans), Darragh Mulligan (Carrickedmond); Conor Doherty (Killoe), Mark Cooney (Clonguish, captain), Ben Blessington (Granard); Sean Fagan (Abbeylara), Peter Farrell (Grattans); Oisin Kane (Fr Manning Gaels), Cian O’Donnell (Granard), James Shannon (Longford Slashers); Luke Donnelly (Colmcille, 1-1), Joshua Marsh (Clonguish), James Hagan (Clonguish, 0-2, 1 free).

Subs:- Cormac Flynn (Clonguish) for B Blessington (28 mins); Karl O’Hara (Abbeylara) for J Marsh (38 mins); Michael Glennon (Clonguish) for P Farrell (38 mins); Keelan Hudson (Colmcille) for O Kane (43 mins); Liam Greene (Mostrim) for J Shannon (50 mins).

ARMAGH: Michael Finnegan; Tomas Fox, Gavin O’Rourke, Conall Wilson (0-3); Fergus Toale, Sean Woods, Diarmaid O’Rourke (0-6, 3 frees); Jack Loughran, Daithi O’Callaghan; Ross Marsden (0-1), James McCooe, Keelan McEntee (0-1); Fionn Toole (0-2), Eoin Duffy, Shea Loughran (1-2, 1 free). 

Subs:- Aaron Garvey (0-1) for R Marsden (37 mins); Oisin Gribben for E Duffy (50 mins); Danny McGee for T Fox (51 mins); Aodhan McGrane for F Toale (56 mins); Lewis Bellew for J McCooe (58 mins).

Referee: Pat Clarke (Cavan).