Longford senior hurlers come storming back to beat Warwickshire

The Longford senior hurlers made it two wins from two in the Lory Meagher Cup as they followed up their home victory against Lancashire with a fifteen-point win over Warwickshire at Pairc na hEireann in Birmingham on Sunday. 

Longford . . . 4-24   Warwickshire . . . 3-12 

Two goals from Joe Rabbitt, and a goal each from Johnny Casey and Ronan Courtney guided  Diarmuid Cahill’s charges to a comprehensive triumph and the stage is now set for the crunch clash against Leitrim in Carrick on Sunday next and the winners will surely have one foot in the Croke Park Final.

 Despite the winning margin, this game was much tougher than the scoreline suggests, and after twelve minutes of the contest, Longford actually trailed by nine points as Warwickshire courtesy of two Jack Grealish goals led by 2-3 to 0-0. 

Liam Fahy and John Collins registered points while Jack Grealish added a free to his two goals. His first goal came in the eleventh minute when he directed a low shot from thirty metres out on the left to the bottom right corner of the Longford net, and within a minute he raised a green flag for a second time with the generous helping of ill discipline from Longford as dissent resulted in the free being brought forward thirty metres, and Grealish seized the opportunity as his free rattled the Longford net.

Reuben Murray commenced the Longford comeback by splitting the uprights with a free and a six-minute spell resulted in the visitors being back to within a point by the nineteenth minute.

Two minutes after Murray’s free, a brilliant move produced Longford’s first goal. A long puck from Martin Farrell picked out Sean Tiernan who cleverly pulled back from his marker before releasing the sliotar to the advancing Rabbitt and he blasted the sliotar to the net.

This was quickly followed by another Reuben Murray free, a sublime point from way out on the right from Ronan Courtney and two successive points from Rabbitt.

Warwickshire responded with three successive Grealish points (2 frees) to move four ahead but on twenty-five minutes, the Midlanders scored their second goal to reduce the deficit back to the minimum margin.

It was a brilliant three man move as Niall Hawes latched onto a great pass down the right from Adam Quinn and he hit a pin-point diagonal pass on the run to Johnny Casey and Longford’s most capped hurler hit a shot that took one bounce before finding the net. 

Reuben Murray added a free to level the contest but Warwickshire regained the lead when they  registered a point courtesy of Donal Griffin. Once again, Longford drew level through Cathal Mullane on twenty-eight minutes before Maitiu O’Donohoe gave Longford the lead for the first time on thirty-one minutes.

Warwickshire levelled matters but Longford went in at the break a point up as another Reuben Murray free giving them a half-time lead of 2-9 to 2-8.

Shortly after the resumption, Mullane hit over his second point of the match before Griffin equalised with his second point of the game for the home side.

Courtney with his trademark run cutting in along the end-line then set-up Rabbitt but somehow his close-range effort was brilliantly saved by home keeper Connor Cummins.

Points from Donohoe and Reuben Murray (free) gave Longford some breathing space as they led by three after forty-five minutes and this advantage increased to six points with their third goal on forty-six minutes when a shot from Adam Quinn was saved by Warwickshire keeper Cummins but Courtney pounced to shoot home the rebound.

Paddy Lynam then pointed to put the visitors seven points clear but a similar type of goal from the home side reduced the arrears to just four points in the forty-eighth minute when a shot from Darragh McGuinness was saved by keeper Johnny Maher only for Luke Hands to poke home the rebound from close range.

Casey and Grealish then swapped points, but in the last fifteen minutes the visitors pulled away. Casey added another point, Reuben Murray with a free, a brilliant score from almost seventy metres out from Martin Farrell, and a point each from substitutes David Buckley and Stephen Murray had Longford nine clear and well in control.

Collins added another point for the home side but Mullane, Rabbitt, Lynam, Stephen Murray, and Rabbitt again put Longford 13 points ahead in stoppage time while Cahill replied for the English side.

 Rabbitt then added a very late fourth goal for the visitors to eventually conclude the scoring as Longford ran out fifteen points winners. 

Next Sunday, Longford face a top-of-the-table clash away to Leitrim in Carrick-on-Shannon and the winners will surely have one foot in the Croke Park Lory Meagher Cup Final.

 Warwickshire: Noel Cummins, Noel Lenihan, Sean Murphy, Shane Hegarty, Diarmuid Cahill (0-2), John Collins (0-2), Fionn Fahy, Calum Maguire, Liam Fahy (0-1), Darragh McGuinness, Jack Grealish (2-5, 1-4 frees), Daniel Doherty, Gareth Long, Luke Hands (1-0), Donal Griffin (0-2).

Substitutes: Eamon Brannigan for Maguire (45 minutes), Oisin Slattery for Griffin (57 minutes), Kevin Murphy for Long (63 minutes), Robbie Duggan for Hands (68 minutes), Colm Kavanagh for Doherty (70 plus three minutes).

Longford: Johnny Maher, Kealan Cox, Sean Lancaster, James Connell, Ciaran McNally, Martin Farrell (0-1), Adam Quinn, Reuben Murray (0-6, all frees), Johnny Casey (1-2), Paddy Lynam (0-2), Ronan Courtney (1-1), Maitiu O’Donohoe (0-2), Sean Tiernan, Joe Rabbitt (2-4), Niall Hawes.

Substitutes: Cathal Mullane (0-3) for Tiernan (18 minutes), David Buckley (0-1) for Hawes (49 minutes), Evan Tully for McNally (51 minutes), Stephen Murray (0-2) for O’Donohoe (60 minutes) Harry Mulvihill for Quinn (67 minutes). 

Referee: S. Walsh (Waterford).