Longford SFC: Gutsy Carrickedmond triumph in thriller to reach the last eight

The despair of missing out on a place in the quarter-finals last year in such highly controversial circumstances turned to joy for gutsy Carrickedmond who showed a lot of character in coming from four points down at the break (0-13 to 0-9) to defeat already qualified Dromard in a thriller at Allen Park on Friday night.

Carrickedmond . . . 0-19   Dromard . . . 0-18

This was a tremendous result for the Carrick manager Eugene McCormack whose prominent son Eoghan clocked up a total of 0-8, which included a couple of crucial two-pointers from frees in the exciting second half, and this sweet victory was well deserved in gaining the reward of a spot in the last eight of the Senior Football Championship.

Brian Mulvey was also very much to the fore with 0-7 to his credit (three two-pointer frees) and particularly impressive in the half-back line was the tigerish Diarmuid Kelly as Carrickedmond held out for the win they needed to make it through.

Inspired by the deadly accurate Francis McGee who excelled in firing over a total of 10 points (four two-pointers) in the first half, Dromard were looking good but Carrick came storming back on the changeover to emerge victorious after surviving in a very tense and tight finish.

The gap was cut to the minimum of margins when Diarmuid Masterson shot over the bar in stoppage time and a last gasp equaliser almost materialised for Dromard when Ronan Corcoran raced through on a penetrating run but his strike for a point clipped the upright, much to the sheer relief of Carrickedmond.

With the pressure off in the pleasing satisfaction of making amends for the so unlucky exit at this same stage last season, Carrick could prove to be a tough nut to crack in bonus territory.

The resilient South Longford outfit showed true grit to survive and got off to a great start with a two-pointer free converted by Brian Mulvey with three minutes gone on the clock.

Aaron Farrell then landed a cracking two-pointer (play) and the remainder of the first half was all about the evergreen Francis McGee who accounted for 0-10 with the turbo charged midfielder Ronan Corcoran also getting his name on the scoresheet for Dromard.

Eoghan McCormack (two frees) and Pauric Dempsey were the others on target for Carrick in the first half and things got better on the changeover with two-pointer frees converted by Brian Mulvey and McCormack (twice) changing the course of the game.

Liam Glennon was also among the Carrick scorers in this pulsating battle and the width of the post with time almost up came to the rescue for Eugene McCormack’s revitalised side who outscored Dromard 0-10 to 0-5 in the second half.

CARRICKEDMOND: Garret Higgins; Dermot Brady, Rioch Farrell, Conor Mulvey; Diarmuid Kelly, Barry O’Farrell, Sean Egan; Liam Glennon (0-1), Enda Farrell; Pauric Dempsey (0-2), Eoghan McCormack (0-8, 2 two-pointer frees, 3 frees, 1 play), Brian Mulvey (0-7, 3 two-pointer frees, 1 play); Cormac Mulvey, Sean Kelly (0-1), Aidan McGuire.

Sub:- Kyle Kenny for S Egan (half-time). 

DROMARD: Ollie Duffy; Conor McGauran, Ronan Bleakley, Chris Grimes; Peter Reynolds, Oisin O’Toole, Fionn Hourican; Ruairi O’Toole, Ronan Corcoran (0-2); Daniel Conboy, Diarmuid Masterson (0-2), William McEntire; Aaron Farrell (0-2, two-pointer), Francis McGee (0-11, 4 two-pointer frees, 3 frees), Dylan Vance.

Subs:- Bernard Sheridan (0-1, free) for D Vance (half-time); Eoghan Palin for W McEntire (45 mins); James Mimnagh for P Reynolds (56 mins). 

Referee: Tony Gaffney (Mostrim).