Longford hurlers secure hat-trick of league victories in considerable style

Patrick Kavanagh wrote of the stony grey soil of Monaghan, symbolising a harsh and restrictive place that stifles creativity. Longford’s hurlers didn’t buy into that narrative as they gained the upper hand early in their Division 4 contest with Monaghan in Cloghan and ran out comfortable winners, 0-13 to 1-23, demonstrating a flair and creativity that has seen them make a perfect start to the 2026 campaign.

Straight off the back of impressive wins in the first two rounds of the League over Leitrim and Cavan, Diarmuid Cahill’s side were quick out of the blocks on a typically damp and miserable February afternoon with Reuben Murray (two frees) and Martin Farrell sending Longford into a 0-3 to nil lead after 8 minutes.

Monaghan looked aimless as a sharp Longford side were winning tussles all over the park with midfielders Murray and Dan Crossan having the upper hand and Johnny Casey and Kealan Cox hoovering up loose ball with consummate ease across the half back line. 

The Farney men finally got off the mark after 10 minutes through a fine Jack Guinan strike from 50 yards out. 

Determined Longford weren’t in the mood for ceding their advantage though and points from play by Joe Rabbitt and Farrell left the Blue and Gold leading 0-5 to 0-1 after 15 minutes.

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Reuben Murray and Niall Arthur traded points before Martin Farrell caught a puck out on the ‘65, slipped three Monaghan defenders headed for the square and then tapped over for a point with his right hand while the Monaghan defender held his left, 0-7 to 0-2!

Farrell added two more points from frees either side of a pointed free for Monaghan through Arthur before Shane Nolan was called into action in the Longford goals. Brendan McQuaid caught a high ball in and slipped through the Longford defence but Nolan was alert and advanced swiftly to make the target smaller and he produced a great point blank save to keep his side ahead 0-9 to 0-3 as the clock hit the half hour mark.

Reuben Murray struck a 60 yard beauty from play before a seminal moment in the game. Darragh Caslin was making good progress up the right wing when he was caught on the face guard by an errand hurl from James Brady, an action for which referee Derek Argue showed him a straight red card in the 34th minute. Murray tagged on two more points from place balls to leave the score 0-12 to 0-3 at the break.

Man of the Match against Cavan, Cathal Mullane entered the fray for the second half in place of Caslin and Longford started the second half as they finished the first. 

A sharp and accurate forward line had been one of Longford’s chief strengths in the opening rounds of the League and when captain for the day, David Buckley caught a long ball in from the throw in and slipped it to Joe Rabbitt, the small band of Longford travelling supporters knew there would be no mistake as the Castlepollard man buried the sliotar past Dylan McAree in the Monaghan goals and left Longford cruising, 1-12 to 0-3.

Credit to the Farney men, they weren’t for giving up and they reeled off three unanswered points before Mullane and Arthur traded points from play. 

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But when the white flag was raised three times from play in 90 seconds by Buckley, Farrell and Mullane, 1-16 to 0-7,  it was evident that any dreams Monaghan had of making a comeback were destined to turn into nightmares.

Martin Farrell and Eithan Flynn exchanged a brace of points each and Reuben Murray extended Longford’s lead to 10 points with ten minutes to go.

Both sides made use of the bench over the closing period and Niall Arthur tagged on two more points from frees for Monaghan before throwing his hurley in the air a failed attempt to encourage a wayward sliotar over the bar in search of another point! 

Longford were closing the game in the same manner as they began it, about 75 minutes beforehand. Farrell and Flynn traded a point from play each before Longford tagged on three more points in added time through a brace for Mullane and a free for Murray, leaving the visitors as emphatic thirteen point winners. 

This was an assured display from Longford and in spite of making eight changes to the starting 15 from the previous week's win over Cavan, Diarmuid Cahill’s side looked sharp, focused and fit to take on all comers. 

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Stiff challenges await, but a three-week break will prove ample time to recover and prepare for the hurdles that lie ahead. 

Their next assignment is on Saturday, February 28 against Lancashire at the GAA National Games Development Centre in Abbottstown. On Saturday, March 7, Longford make the trip to Birmingham to take on Warwickshire and a fortnight later they are at home to Sligo in Glennon Brothers Pearse Park. 

LONGFORD: Shane Nolan; Kealan Cox, Seán Lancaster, Ciarán McNally; Evan Tully, Johnny Casey, Daire Regan; Reuben Murray (0-8, 6 frees, 1 ’65), Dan Crossan; Darragh Caslin, Martin Farrell (0-9, 4 frees), Matthew Hawes; Joe Rabbitt (1-2), David Buckley (Capt. 0-1), Micheál Mulcahy.

Subs: Cathal Mullane (0-3) for Caslin (half time), Harry Mulvihill for Crossan (50 mins), Seán Tiernan for Hawes (55 mins), Adam Quinn for Regan (67 mins), John Murray for Farrell (70 mins).

MONAGHAN: Dylan McAree; Daithi McMeel, Emmet Walsh, Tomás Clarke; Jack Guinan (0-1), Paudie Heavin, Cillian Hanratty; Aaron Kenny, Cormac McNally; James Brady, Niall Arthur (0-7, 6 frees), Eithan Flynn (joint capt, 0-3, 1 free); Enda Brady, Niall Garland (joint capt, 0-2), Brendan McQuaid

Subs: Ethan Lawless for McNally (42 mins), Aaron McGee for McMeel (51 mins), Ian Walsh for Kenny (57 mins), Gareth Mohan for E. Brady (62 mins), David Brennan for McQuaid (67 mins)

REREREE: Derek Argue, Cavan