Matthew Carey the shooting star for Longford with 15 points in the win over Carlow

Longford . . . 1-20    Carlow . . . 1-15

With the pressure off to a certain extent in the knowledge that their interest in this year’s Tailteann Cup was already ended in the aftermath of the dismal defeat at home to Fermanagh in the previous round, some lost pride was restored in the win over Carlow.

With nothing at stake, Longford made good use of the stiff wind advantage in the first half at Glenisk O'Connor Park in Tullamore on Sunday last to build up a commanding 1-16 to 0-6 lead at the break.

The midlanders managed to withstand a determined comeback from previously unbeaten Carlow who were in a position to top the group following a fantastic victory against Fermanagh at Brewster Park and a last gasp draw at home to Wexford.  

Oran Kenny embarked on a penetrating run on his way to scoring a cracking goal in the 12th minute  but the star of the show was the deadly accurate Matthew Carey who fired over the impressive total of 5 two-pointers (3 frees). 

The impressive Clonguish attacker accumulated 15 points to torment the Carlow defence while the opening Longford score came from a two-pointer (play) converted by Kenny. 

James Moran also landed a two-pointer (play) with Aaron Farrell also on target for Mike Solan’s highly charged side who at least ended the season in a positive frame of mind.

The Carlow cause was hampered when they were reduced to 14 players for a ten-minute spell after Conor Crowley was branded with a black card in first half stoppage time.

Longford were in no mood to let a morale boosting result slip from their grasp after having to endure a very poor campaign this year with only wins over Waterford and London in Division 4 of the National League to shout about prior to the Tier 2 Championship. 

There were some anxious moments in the final quarter of the entertaining contest against Carlow with a goal from Ross Dunphy giving his team a glimmer of hope. 

Paddy Collum came to the rescue when he twice denied goal scoring attempts from Niall Hickey but time ran out for Carlow who had closed the gap to 5 points in the finish.

After losing all three games in the group stage last year including the Waterford disaster, this was a boost for the current Longford squad who are going through a rebuilding process but major improvement is still required in the quest to make some progress in a difficult period.

Carlow were already qualified regardless of the result against Longford but are now facing a tough task away to Sligo in the preliminary quarter-final of the Tailteann Cup.   

 LONGFORD: Paddy Collum; Patrick Fox, Oisin O’Toole, Bryan Masterson; Darragh Finlass, Cian Brady, Dessie Reynolds; Daire Duggan, Ryan Moffett; Caolan Lynch, Matthew Carey (0-15, 2 frees,  3 two-pointer frees, 2 two-pointers play), James Moran (0-2, 1 two-pointer); Aaron Farrell (0-1), Dylan Farrell, Oran Kenny (1-2, 1 two-pointer play).

Subs:- Jayson Matthews for C Lynch (44 mins), Iarla O’Sullivan for J Moran (63 mins), Paddy Moran for O Kenny (68 mins). 

CARLOW: Johnny Furey; Paddy McDonnell, Mark Furey, Lee Moore; John Phiri, Niall Hickey, John Murphy; Kyle Nolan (0-2, 1 two-pointer play), Conor Doyle (0-4, 1 two-pointer play); Ross Dunphy (1-1), Darragh Foley (0-3 frees), Mikey Bambrick; Conor Crowley (0-2, 1 free), Kevin Murphy (0-1, free), Sean Murphy (0-2).

Subs:- Shane Clarke for D Foley (45 mins), Aaron Amond for K Murphy (51 mins), Jamie Clarke for M Furey (55 mins), Paddy Regan for J Murphy (63 mins), Adam Burgess for K Nolan (68 mins). 

Referee: Liam Devenney (Mayo).