Longford SFC champions: Abbeylara ace Robbie Smyth enjoying the incredible winning feeling

Robbie Smyth landed the equalising point in the drawn encounter and then scored 1-4 in the replay victory to earn the prestigious man-of-the-match award.

 Robbie, who is the joint captain of the Abbeylara team, played in all four of the successive final defeats between 2015 and 2018, and he  admitted that to be part of the team that finally brought the Connolly Cup back to Abbeylara is an amazing feeling that will not be disappearing anytime soon.

“It is an unbelievable feeling to be crowned Longford Senior champions, it is hard to put it into words but the feeling of joy is being shown by the amount of people hugging us and pulling out of us. This is the stuff you dream of. It is incredible really. 

“Everyone is going on about the four successive finals we lost, but to me they were irrelevant coming into this game. 

“This is a new group, I have been saying it all year, yes, there are some players who played in those finals, but it really is a new group and a resilient group. 

“The management team have brought a winning mentality and resolve to our panel and it showed throughout the campaign as we are never beaten in our eyes. There have been games there all year where we have been written off, we have been down and we have played badly but we always seemed to pull through. 

“We said it at half-time that we have been in this losing position before but we are good enough to dig ourselves out of the hole and that is what we did. 

“The belief in the group is unbelievable and now we have got there, we have won the Connolly Cup and it is just incredible. 

“The last time our club were crowned Senior champions, I was up in the stand supporting with my foghorn, but now I am part of the team that has won the title and I, the rest of the panel and the whole parish, we are going to enjoy the celebrations.”

Robbie, despite the accolade of winning the prestigious Fr McGee trophy for the man-of-the-match award, was quick to play down his individual performance and pay tribute to the entire team.

“It is a great honour to win the Fr McGee award, but that pales into insignificance when you consider the effort, the commitment, and the teamwork that the entire panel has given throughout the year.

 “It is a team sport and it is all about the team as a unit and to see everyone in the panel up there getting their hands on the Connolly Cup is what it is all about. 

“We are now prepared for our trip to Ardee to face the Louth Champions St Mary’s on Sunday. Frankie and his management team are winners and they will be looking for us to build on the  momentum and they see that game against Ardee as a winnable one and they will have us ready for the Leinster Championship match,” stated Smyth.