Longford suffer defeat against stronger Wicklow in first competitive game

Wicklow . . . 3-16    Longford . . . 1-11

Longford’s first competitive game in 2026 ended in defeat against a stronger Wicklow side in the O’Byrne Shield semi-final clash at the Bray Emmets GAA grounds on Saturday.

There was little between the sides in the first half up until Eoin Darcy converted a penalty in the 21st minute and Wicklow grabbed a second goal in the 26th minute when Sean Murphy found the back of the net.

That left Longford facing a real uphill battle in trailing by 7 points at the break but they showed a fair amount of character in storming back to close the gap to the minimum of margins (2-9 to 1-11) midway through the second half with Cathal McCabe scoring a badly needed goal in a spirited revival. 

But Wicklow completely dominated the final quarter of the game thanks to a couple of two-pointers (free and play) from their influential goalkeeper Mark Jackson to win by the wide margin of 11 points in  the end with Darragh Fee scoring their third goal in stoppage time.

As was the case one week previously, Wicklow manager Oisín McConville utilised the O’Byrne competition’s more-relaxed substitution rules and knocked full value from his bench over the 60 minutes.

Wicklow now advance to meet Carlow in the O’Byrne Shield Final next weekend while the focus for Longford manager Mike Solan and his players is the National League Division 4 Round 1 fixture away to Waterford in Dungarvan on Saturday January 24th.  

There was some good news for Solan with the return of Joseph Hagan (Dromard) to the squad after missing the entire 2025 season during his departure to the United States. 

Hagan was brought on in the second half while Jayson Matthews started in the attack in the absence of the ill Oran Kenny (Rathcline) with injured duo Dylan Farrell (Killashee) and Daire O’Brien (Slashers) also ruled out. 

WICKLOW: Mark Jackson (0-5, 1tp, 1tpf, 1 ‘45’); Conall Ó Gallcobhair, Jacques McCall, Gavin Fogarty; Eoin Murtagh, Tom Moran (0-1), James Fleming; Dean Healy, Jack Hardy; Liam O’Neill (0-2), JP Nolan (0-1), Chris O’Brien (0-2, 1tp); Pádraig O’Toole, Seán Murphy (1-1), Eoin Darcy (1-3, 1-0p, 1tpf). 

Subs used:- First Half: Joe Prendergast. Second Half: Craig Maguire, Cian Deering, Conor Fee (1-0), Oisín McGraynor (0-1), Cathal Fitzgerald, Cathal Baker, Brian Bohan, Páidí Kavanagh, Aaron O’Brien. 

Longford scorers:- Dessie Reynolds (0-5, 1 two-pointer), Matthew Carey (0-4, 1 free), Cathal McCabe (1-0), Jayson Matthews (0-1), Paddy Mollaghan (0-1). 

LONGFORD: Eoin McGuinness (Slashers); Patrick Fox (Mullinalaghta), Ronan Bleakley (Dromard), Bryan Masterson (Abbeylara); Peter Lynn (Slashers), Dessie Reynolds (Sean Connolly’s), Ryan Moffett (Killoe); Liam Glennon (Carrickedmond), Oisin O’Toole (Dromard); Matthew Flynn (Clonguish), Matthew Carey (Clonguish), James Moran (Killoe); Paddy Moran (Killoe), Cathal McCabe (Colmcille), Jayson Matthews (Mullinalaghta). 

Subs used:- First Half: Paddy Mollaghan (St Brigid’s Killashee). Second Half: Cian Brady (Abbeylara), Joseph Hagan (Dromard), Harry Kiernan (St Mary’s Granard), Oisin Kenny (Rathcline), Caolan Lynch (Abbeylara), Jamie Brady Hynes (Granard).