Stark dose of reality as Longford footballers slump to heavy London reversal

Longford slumped to a historic and chastening defeat in Glennon Brothers Pearse Park on Sunday afternoon as London recorded their first ever National Football League victory over the Midlanders, leaving Mike Solan’s side facing uncomfortable questions at the very outset of the Allianz League Division 4 campaign.

The final score of London 0-19 Longford 2-8 scarcely tells the full story. A late consolation goal flattered the home side, who were second best for long spells and fortunate not to lose by a far wider margin. 

With no two-point scores on the day, London almost doubled Longford’s shooting return, registering 19 points from nine different scorers in a controlled, assured display that underlined the growing gap between the sides.

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A new season is meant to bring renewed hope, and some national commentators even tipped Longford as potential promotion contenders. This result, however, delivered a stark dose of reality and served as a clear marker of where Longford currently sit in the football rankings. 

The looming trip to Waterford next weekend already carries the unwanted subtext of deciding who occupies the unenviable position of the country’s weakest inter-county football team — a debate London have emphatically removed themselves from.

The opening exchanges suggested a competitive contest. London opened the scoring through Liam Gallagher before Matthew Carey replied with a pointed free. Jim Davis and Shay Rafter edged the visitors ahead again, only for Longford to briefly find their rhythm with scores from Paddy Moran and Peter Lynn. However, that momentum quickly evaporated as London reeled off three unanswered points via Matt Moynihan, Daniel Clarke and Ciarán McKeon, 0-3 to 0-6.

Carey and Oran Kenny responded for Longford, but London continued to look the more cohesive unit, with Rafter and Clarke again punishing defensive lapses. At half-time, London led narrowly by 0-8 to 0-7, a scoreline that masked their growing authority.

Any hopes of a home response were extinguished immediately on the restart. London surged clear with six unanswered points from Rafter, McKeon, Davis, Ciarán Diver and Michael O’Reilly, exploiting Longford’s passive defending and complete lack of defensive structure. 

Almost all of London’s scores came from central positions inside 25 metres — a damning indictment of Longford’s tackling intensity and organisation.

Under the new rules, successful teams are clearly prioritising quick ball movement, early kicking and the creation of one-on-one attacking scenarios. Kerry sides are clearly ahead in this regard and proving it in every competition, but Longford appear not to have received the memo. 

Time and again, players took multiple touches, slowed attacks, and allowed London to reset. Even more baffling was Longford’s defensive approach: a loose man-to-man system that allowed London runners to glide through unchallenged. There was neither aggression nor a willingness to foul — a fatal flaw for a Division 4 side desperate for results, especially at home.

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Despite an experienced bench, changes came far too late. While Galway introduced three substitutes before half-time against Armagh on Saturday, Longford waited until the 50th minute to inject Joe Hagan, Dylan Farrell and James Moran, with Jayson Matthews and Ronan Sweeney following later. By then, the damage was done.

A moment of quality briefly reignited hope when Dessie Reynolds netted after a clever square pass from his brother Daniel, reducing the deficit to four - 1-7 to 0-14 - with ten minutes remaining. But four failed attempts at two-point efforts drained any remaining momentum, and London calmly closed out the contest with further points from Diver, Kristian Healy and McKeon.

Longford’s only point of the second half arrived deep into stoppage time through Daniel Reynolds, before a late goal — the result of excellent interplay between Peter Lynn and Paddy Moran — offered cosmetic relief.

In truth, Longford were fortunate to lose by just five. London squandered goal chances and kicked several wides, while their sharper preparation was evident. The Exiles had already played competitive league last week, recording an encouraging draw against Tipperary as well as defeating Leitrim and drawing to Sligo plus a loss to Galway in 3 FBD League games. Longford’s own build-up was disrupted by the weather enforced forfeiture of their O’Byrne Cup title, before their futile journey to Waterford last week resulting in two missed games in recent weeks. 

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Longford perhaps understandably were flat but football in the county is at a low ebb, and it shows. Confidence is very fragile in the group and is evident whenever they fall behind as they just wither out of the game. 

This was a new low for Longford football but with three fresh faces in Eoin McGuinness, Oisin Kenny and Liam Glennon and a few more experienced lads to come back into it, as well as trialling new ideas with their new coach Joe Keane, there is still a long way to go in this campaign. 

LONGFORD: Eoin McGuinness; Patrick Fox, Ryan Moffett, Bryan Masterson; Peter Lynn (0-1), Dessie Reynolds (1-0), Cian Brady; Liam Glennon, Oisin O’Toole; Oisin Kenny, Matthew Carey (0-3 frees), Daniel Reynolds; Paddy Moran (1-2), Cathal McCabe, Oran Kenny (0-1).

Subs: Joseph Hagan for Oisin Kenny, James Moran for Brady and Dylan Farrell (0-1) for McCabe (51 mins), Ronan Sweeney for O’Toole and Jayson Matthews for Carey (69 mins).

LONDON: Andy Walsh; Daire Rooney, Matt Moynihan (0-1), Sean O’Donoghue; Conor Goggin, Conal Gallagher, Conor O’Donoghue; Liam Gallagher (0-1), Tighe Barry; Joe McGill, Daniel Clarke (0-2), Kristian Healy (0-4); Micheal O’Reilly (0-1), Shay Rafter (0-3,1f), Jim Davis (0-2).

Subs: Josh Obahor for Barry (33 mins), Ciaran Diver (0-3) for Davis (50 mins), Ciaran McKeon (0-2) for Healy (55 mins), Kristian Healy for McGill (63 mins)

REFEREE: Diarmuid Boylan (Monaghan)