Gutsy Longford delighted to advance to O’Byrne Cup Final as late equaliser not enough for Meath

A gutsy and tremendously spirited Longford performance which saw them earn a draw with Meath in absolutely terrible weather conditions at Donaghmore Ashbourne GAA grounds on Wednesday evening was sufficient to secure their passage to a first O’Byrne Cup Final appearance since 2020.

O’Byrne Cup Group B Round 3: Meath 1-7 Longford 0-10

Longford fell 1-1 to nil behind but battled back to lead at half-time by 1-2 to 0-6. 

Meath managed to level matters for the third occasion early in the second half, however, Longford dug extremely deep and they reeled off four unanswered points to go 1-3 to 0-10 clear and victory looked to be within their grasp. They failed to score again though as Meath flung the kitchen sink at them and deep in injury time two points from sub Aaron Lynch saw the home side draw level.

The draw wasn’t enough for Meath to progress and it was mightily relieved Longford who celebrated the draw like it was a victory!

Longford previously won the O’Byrne Cup title on three occasions in 1965, 2000 and 2020 and they’ll be hoping to capture the silverware once again on Friday week, January 20.  

Their opponents in the final will be Offaly or Louth. Offaly defeated Dublin this evening by 0-11 to 0-8 and they travel to face Louth on Sunday afternoon in the semi-final. Interestingly, if Offaly prevail it would result in a repeat of the 2020 final that Longford won at Bord na Móna O’Connor Park. 

Colm O’Rourke’s Meath defeated Carlow and drew with Laois prior to this evening’s encounter with Longford so they ended their O’Byrne Cup campaign unbeaten. 

On a desperate evening that was no place for the fainthearted, Joe Hagan, David McGivney, Darren Gallagher, Iarla O’Sullivan and James McGivney were among Longford’s star performers. 

Following their impressive 4-18 to 0-13 and 0-15 to 0-4 opening round victories over Laois and Carlow, respectively, Longford manager Paddy Christie and his selectors Michael Kenny, Dessie Sloyan and James Glancy opted to give Ruairi Harkin (Colmcille) and Tadhg McNevin (Longford Slashers) their first full senior starts.

Christie will be absolutely delighted with how his charges have performed to-date and they’ll be delighted to have another competitive assignment ahead of the start of their Allianz league campaign

In the atrocious wet weather conditions, Meath got off to a flying start and they surged into a 1-1 to nil lead inside three minutes. Corner forward Donal Lenihan plundered for the goal capitalising on confusion in the Longford defence and the point was executed by Cillian O’Sullivan (free).

Longford, with the wind and driving rain at their backs, slowly settled into their stride and by the 15th minute, they were on level terms 1-1 to 0-4 as Darren Gallagher, Joe Hagan, Daniel Mimnagh and David McGivney (free) found the target and registered points.

The Royal County regained the lead in the 25th minute as midfielder Shane Crosby grabbed a point, his team’s first score in over 22 minutes. 

Longford equalised for the second time in the 31st minute as Mullinalaghta dead ball specialist David McGivney converted a free that was hard earned by Mickey Quinn. Two minutes later, they went ahead for the first time in the match. Tadhg McNevin was fouled and in the testing conditions McGivney confidently landed his third free, a monster strike from well outside the ‘45m line. Half-time: Meath 1-2 Longford 0-6. 

Meath resumed with the elements at their backs and they tied matters for the third occasion with a point from Cillian O’Sullivan. 

Longford rallied and by the 47th minute Paddy Christie’s hard working and industrious charges were two points to the good, 1-3 to 0-8, after Joe Hagan (a brilliant strike from play) and David McGivney, from yet another free, was on target. 

Longford soon doubled their advantage to four points. Experienced sub James McGivney drilled in a high ball and Fergal Sheridan fisted over a point and Daniel Mimnagh followed up with another fine point, 1-3 to 0-10 with 54 minutes elapsed. 

Donal Lenihan quickly replied with a Meath point, keeping Colm O’Rourke’s team well in the hunt. Sub Daithi McGowan scored Meath’s fifth point of the match, reducing the deficit two points, 1-5 to 0-10 with 60 minutes gone on the clock. And just before McGowan’s point, Longford’s Joe Hagan was very unlucky to see his goalward bound strike saved by Meath custodian Billy Hogan. 

There was a lengthy spell without a score when Meath sub Aaron Lynch dispatched an injury time point and in the 6th minute of injury time Lynch again supplied the late leveller to ensure the teams shared the spoils but it wasn’t enough to prevent Longford from marching on to the final where they will face Louth or Offaly on January 20.

SCORERS – Meath: Donal Lenihan 1-2 ( one free), Aaron Lynch 0-2, Cillian O’Sullivan (0-1, mark), Shane Crosby (0-1), Daithi McGowan (0-1).  

SCORERS - Longford: David McGivney 0-4 (all frees), Joseph Hagan (0-2), Daniel Mimnagh (0-2) Darren Gallagher (0-1), Fergal Sheridan (0-1). 

 MEATH: Billy Hogan; Ross Ryan, Michael Flood, James O’Hare; Eoin Harkin, Donal Keogan, Daniel O’Neill; Ronan Jones, Shane Crosby; Jack O’Connor, Thomas O’Reilly, Jason Scully; Cillian O’Sullivan, Keith Curtis, Donal Lenihan. 

 Subs:- Brian Conlon for R Jones (half-time); Daithi McGowan for K Curtis (half-time); Jordan Morris for T O’Reilly (45 mins); Conor Moriarty for J Scully (60 mins); Aaron Lynch for D Lenihan (65 mins); Conor Quigley for E Harkin (68 mins).

 LONGFORD: Paddy Collum (Fr Manning Gaels); Patrick Fox (Mullinaalaghta), Andrew Farrell (Cashel), Barry O’Farrell (Carrickedmond); Ryan Moffett (Killoe), Gary Rogers (Mullinalaghta), Ruairi Harkin (Colmcille); Fergal Sheridan (Colmcille), Darren Gallagher (Granard); Joseph Hagan (Dromard), Tadhg McNevin (Longford Slashers), Michael Quinn (Killoe); Dessie  Reynolds (Sean Connolly’s), Daniel Mimnagh (Killoe), David McGivney (Mullinalaghta). 

 Subs:- Iarla O’Sullivan (Rathcline) for P Fox (injured, 20 mins); Peter Lynn (Longford Slashers) for R Harkin (half-time); James McGivney (Mullinalaghta) for T McNevin (45 mins); Aaron Farrell (Dromard) for D Mimnagh (58 mins); Robbie Smyth (Abbeylara) for M Quinn (70 mins), Jayson Matthews (Mullinalaghta for J Hagan (stoppage time).

 Referee: Ultan McElroy (Louth).