Longford hurlers cruise to comprehensive win over Lancashire in the championship

Longford . . . 4-21  Lancashire . . . 0-16 

The road to a possible Croke Park final appearance began in earnest for the Longford senior hurlers as they cruised to a comprehensive win over Lancashire in the Lory Meagher Cup Round 1 clash at Abbottstown on Saturday last.
The most emphatic margin of 17 points separated the sides in the end at the Centre of Excellence in Dublin and it was all over as a contest the break with Longford in a commanding 2-15 to 0-9 lead.
The crucial goals came from Evan Tully and Micheal Mulcahy and two more followed from Limerick native Martin Farrell in the second half, the first from a free in the 58th minute.
Impressive attacker Farrell clocked up a total of 2-8 with Reuben Murray (0-7) also much to the fore up front for the midlanders in this easy victory.
Managed by Tipperary’s Diarmuid Cahill, Longford were reduced to 14 players after Tully was sent-off for what appeared to be a harsh red card in the 60th minute.
Next up is a home game against the other Exiles outfit Warwickshire at Glennon Brothers Pearse Park this Saturday (2pm) with the eventual top team in the group stage making it straight through to the final at Croke Park while the runners-up will face what is sure to be a strong New York side.
Newcomer Martin Farrell, who is eligible to play for Longford on the parentage rule with his father coming from Ballinalee, is a big plus and he delivered the perfect pass into Evan Tully for the opening goal in the 15th minute.
Tully’s fine strike left Longford in a comfortable 1-5 to 0-2 lead and they were well on the way to their expected victory when the captain Reuben Murray created the opportunity for Micheal Mulcahy to raise a second green flag in the 22nd minute.
Between Farrell and Murray the scores continued to flow with the notable exception of a quiet third quarter as Lancashire fired over five points in a row through Conor Levingstone (two frees), Eoghan Clifford, Jason Patton and Peter Boylan to close the gap.
Longford eventually registered their first score in the second half when Martin Farrell shot over the bar in the 47th minute and they added another 2-5 to the tally during the remainder of the match with the dangerman Farrell getting both goals to wrap up the resounding win.
Midfielder Johnny Casey scored three excellent points during the course of this rather one-sided encounter with substitute Niall Hawes also on target for Longford who could afford the luxury of shooting a total of 16 wides as compared to 12 for Lancashire.

LONGFORD: Johnny Maher (Kilmacud Crokes); Sean Lancaster (Castlepollard), Oisin Gately (Clonguish Gaels), Kealan Cox (Longford Slashers); Adam Quinn (Wolfe Tones Mostrim), Karl Murray (Longford Slashers), Declan Hayes (Ballingarry, Tipperary); Johnny Casey (Longford Slashers, 0-3), Diarmaid Caslin (Longford Slashers); Eamon Allen (Kilmacud Crokes), Martin Farrell (Blackrock, Limerick, 2-8, 2 frees, 1 ‘65), Evan Tully (Wolfe Tones, 1-1); Reuben Murray (Longford Slashers, 0-8, 4 frees), David Buckley (Longford Slashers), Micheal Mulcahy (Longford Slashers, 1-0).

Subs:- Dan Crossan (Clonguish Gaels) for D Caslin (40 mins); Niall Hawes (Longford Slashers, 0-1) for D Buckley (48 mins); Joe Rabbitte (Castlepollard) for M Mulcahy, Matthew Hawes (Longford Slashers) for A Quinn and Dylan Hutchinson (Wolfe Tones) for D Hayes (all in the 69th minute). 

LANCASHIRE: Padraic Burke; Christy Dickson, Darren Collins, Darren McNamara; James Coughlan, Shane Nugent, Andrew Morgan; Eoghan Kelly, Colin McNamara; Finn Henry, Darren Grealish, Peter Boylan (0-6), Jason Patton (0-2, 1 free), Eoghan Clifford (0-4, 1 free), Conor Levingstone (0-4, 3 frees). 

Subs:- Conor McCormick for C Dickson (19 mins); Tiernan McKavanagh for C McNamara (43 mins); Jamie McFadyen for J Patton (56 mins); Christopher Convery for D Grealish (56 mins); Patrick Dwane for A Morgan (66 mins). 

Referee: Conor Daly (Kildare).