Mighty Longford show great heart to beat Louth in reaching the Leinster Minor Final against Dublin

Longford . . . 0-11  Louth . . . 0-10 

Rated as complete outsiders before a ball was kicked in the U-17 competition, Longford are remarkably through to the Leinster Minor Football Championship Final against Dublin at O’Connor Park in Tullamore on Monday evening May 20, throw-in 7.30pm. 

This tremendous feat was last achieved by the midlanders back in 2015 (losing out to Kildare) and the current squad showed great heart in coming from behind to pip Louth by the minimum of margins in a dramatic finish.

The vociferous home supporters in the estimated 400 attendance at Glennon Brothers Pearse Park on Tuesday evening were dancing with delight when Cian O’Donnell kept his composure to convert a pressure free for the winning score in the third minute of stoppage time.

Trailing by five points midway through the first half, Longford were looking in big trouble but they battled back to close the gap with Louth having to be content with a slender 0-7 to 0-5 lead at the break.  

Enda McGahern’s charges were left to fight another uphill battle when the visitors got back on top to regain what appeared to be a comfortable 0-10 to 0-6 advantage after Luke Keenan landed a cracking point in the 42nd minute. 

But Louth failed to register another score during the remainder of the match in facing the full force of the resilient underdogs who produced a never-say-die spirit to fire over five points in a row to emerge victorious. 

The revival started after James Hagan converted a free in the 47th minute, moments after his chipped attempt for a goal drifted just wide, and wing back Conor Doherty then surged forward to get his name on the scoresheet. 

Soon after Longford created a brilliant move that almost yielded a goal from the always dangerous Hagan who flicked a pass from the courageous captain Mark Cooney over the bar from point-blank range in the 51st minute.

With substitute Luke Donnelly (recovering from a lengthy injury absence) making a big difference, revitalised Longford continued to pile on the pressure and some good chances were squandered in the process. 

The equalising score eventually materialised in the final minute of normal time when the deadly accurate Cian O’Donnell fired over a free and the Granard star repeated the feat to leave Louth stunned when the final whistle was blown.

A black card for midfielder Tom Maguire in the 59th minute was a big blow for the ‘Wee County’ who ran out of steam in the final quarter of this tight contest.  

In a repeat of the group stage clash which resulted in a shock 3-8 to 1-9 win for Longford, the opposition ironically in the Leinster Minor Final (live on TG4) will be Dublin who beat Kildare by a point in a thrilling finish to the other semi-final.

And no matter what happens in the eagerly awaited provincial title decider, the Longford U-17 footballers are guaranteed a place in the All-Ireland Minor 'A' Championship quarter-finals against Kerry or Cork.        

LONGFORD: James Ross (Ballymore); Alan Mimnagh (Clonguish), Conor McHugh (Grattans), Darragh Mulligan (Carrickedmond); Conor Doherty (Killoe, 0-1), Mark Cooney (Clonguish, captain), Ben Blessington (Granard); Sean Fagan (Abbeylara), Peter Farrell (Grattans); Cormac Flynn (Clonguish), Cian O’Donnell (Granard, 0-5, three frees), James Shannon (Longford Slashers); Karl O’Hara (Abbeylara), Josh Marsh (Clonguish), James Hagan (Clonguish, 0-5, three frees).

Subs:- Liam Greene (Mostrim) for K O’Hara (half-time); Luke Donnelly (Colmcille) for P Farrell (42 mins); Oisin Kane (Fr Manning Gaels) for J Shannon (42 mins); Keelan Hudson (Colmcille) for D Mulligan (53 mins). 

LOUTH: Senan Connolly; Ewan Hoban, Ciaran Devine, Donnacha Skinnader (0-1); Conor Clinton (0-1), Ben McKeown, Michael McGlew (0-1); Tom Maguire (0-1), Micheal O’Shaughnessy; Tadhg Devanny, Luke Keenan (0-1), Cillian McQuillan (0-3, one free); Fionn Coyle, Andrew O’Reilly (0-2), Brendan Cassidy.

Subs:- Joe Hanlon for A O’Reilly (37 mins); Ryan Nugent for L Keenan (49 mins); Flynn Markey for B Cassidy (stoppage time). 

Referee: Eamon O’Connor (Offaly).