Longford SFC Final: Robbie Smyth the Abbeylara saviour as Colmcille let victory slip in a dramatic draw

Abbeylara . . . 0-12    Colmcille . . . 1-9 

A terrific long range strike from the roving goalkeeper Noel Farrell in the 57th minute put Colmcille ahead and when the industrious Cathal Reilly was then on target from a tight angle, the Connolly Cup looked destined to be on the way back to Aughnacliffe.

Right throughout this so unpredictable championship campaign, Abbeylara have shown a fierce desire to end a long barren spell under the driving force of the former Roscommon star Frankie Dolan and they somehow managed to survive in snatching a dramatic draw from the jaws of defeat. 

A free for a foul on Russell Brady was converted by joint captain Smyth in the first minute of stoppage time and while Colmcille won the kick-out, the ball was lost and this mistake was punished by the cool and composed Robbie who smacked the ball over the bar for a last gasp equaliser.
Colmcille will be furious not to have emerged victorious when it appeared to be all over and thanks to a goal from their captain Barry McKeon with 11 minutes gone in the game, Ger Carberry’s side ended up leading by 1-4 to 0-5 at the break.
The ding-dong battle continued in the second half and Abbeylara deserve a lot of credit for refusing to accept defeat as was their downfall in the 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018 SFC finals.
And so the sides have to do it all again on Sunday (throw-in 4pm) with the Intermediate Championship decider between Fr Manning Gaels and Sean Connolly’s (1.45pm) also part of the attractive double bill.

Abbeylara registered the opening score in the drawn encounter when a shot from Caolan Lynch was parried over the bar with seven minutes gone on the clock before Padraig Berry went close to scoring a goal.

Colmcille hit back soon after with a gift goal from Barry McKeon after a high ball in caused confusion for the under pressure opposing keeper Gavin Kelly and a brace of points quickly followed from McKeon and his brother Paul.

Trailing by 1-2 to 0-1, that was really putting it up to Abbey but they battled back with Cathal Gilligan finishing the ball to the net following a penetrating from Colm P Smyth.
But referee Tony Gaffney had already blown for a foul on Colm P and up stepped the always influential midfielder Ciaran Sanlon to fire over a close range free.
While Jack Macken (free) replied for Colmcille, it was then the turn of Abbeylara to enjoy a dominant spell which yielded three points in a row from Scanlon (free), Caolan Lynch (a brilliant stike from near the sideline) and Robbie Smyth (free).
That closed the gap to the minimum of margins (1-3 to 0-5) and after Declan Reilly set up Jack Macken for a cracking long range score, Conor Berry almost grabbed a goal for Abbey when his close range shot was blocked on the ground by Enda Macken and the danger was cleared in the 28th minute.

Unlucky to be behind at half-time, Abbeylara were back on level terms with a point apiece from Robbie Smyth (free) and the impressive Caolan Lynch (what a gem of a score) and then hit the front with another free from Robbie in the 42nd minute.

Colmcille finally awoke from their slumber to register their first score in almost 20 minutes when Cathal McCabe shot over the bar and this was quickly followed by another free from the most prominent Barry McKeon who passed a late fitness test to take his place in the full-forward-line.
Further frees were then exchanged between the chief marksmen Robbie and Barry and it was all square when Smyth slotted over another free in the 53rd minute.

Colmcille hit back with late points from Noel Farrell and Cathal Reilly (the latter covering a lot of ground with his usual high workload) and that looked good enough to get over the line but Abbeylara snatched a second chance courtesy of another brace of points from Robbie Smyth who ended up with the grand total of 0-7 (6 frees) to his credit.

Who will win the replay?

Prediction: Colmcille

ABBEYLARA: Gavin Kelly; Michael McHugh, PJ Masterson, Russell Brady; Cian Brady, Bryan Masterson, Colm P Smyth; Fergal Battrim, Ciaran Scanlon (0-2, frees); Caolan Lynch (0-3), Robbie Smyth (0-7, 6 frees), Reece Reilly; Cathal Gilligan, Conor Berry, Padraig Berry.

Subs:- Nigel Rabbitt for P Berry (40 mins); Jason Kelly for R Reilly (51 mins); Colin Gilna for C Berry (59 mins). 

COLMCILLE: Noel Farrell (0-1); Gerard Mulligan, Enda Macken, Conor Grant; Ruairi Harkin, Declan Reilly, Dylan McCabe; Vinny Hourican, Fergal Sheridan; Martin Mulligan, Jack Macken (0-2, 1 free), Cathal McCabe (0-1); Cathal Reilly (0-1), Paul McKeon (0-1), Barry (1-3, 2 frees).

Subs:-  Eoin Hawkins for M Mulligan (47 mins); Shaun McKeon for D McCabe (58 mins); Shea Farley for B McKeon (stoppage time). 

Referee: Tony Gaffney (Mostrim).