Can Tipperary native Diarmuid Cahill guide the Longford hurlers to the promised land!
Lory Meagher Cup Final v Leitrim at Croke Park on Sunday, throw-in 12.30pm
The Longford Senior Hurlers are bidding for their third Lory Meagher Cup title when they take on Leitrim in Croke Park on Sunday at 12-30pm.
Longford were crowned champions in 2010 and 2014 but also tasted final defeat at GAA HQ in 2013, 2022 and 2024.
However, having already won promotion this year to Division Three of the Allianz National Hurling League, Diarmuid Cahill’s charges will be hoping to lift the Lory Meagher on Sunday to also earn promotion to next year’s Nicky Rackard Cup.
Speaking ahead of Sunday's big match at an open training session at Michael Fay Park, the Longford manager complimented the commitment and dedication of the players that has proved crucial to their league and championship campaigns.
‘There is a great buzz within the panel, everyone has been tuned in all season, and the entire panel of thirty-three have put in a great effort and commitment, and they have demonstrated excellent work rate, and I believe that we are in a really good position ahead of Sunday’s final.’
Longford have been in excellent scoring form all year especially in the second-half of their matches. In the championship, they finished with a scoring difference of plus fifty-nine and rattled the opposition net seventeen times. Cahill stated that score creation and conversion rate is something that they really concentrated on this year.
‘That’s what we focussed on this year, moving the ball correctly, improving our ability to quickly work out which player is in the best position to receive the ball, and having the courage to take the score when the score is on, and of course when the goal opportunity is on, we go for it. That’s what we have been working on in training and hopefully we can continue doing all of that in Croke Park on Sunday.’
It may be a case of winner takes all on Sunday, but it won’t be any extra pressure on this talented Longford panel, as effectively, this will be their third successive winner takes all match, as defeat to Cavan would have ended Longford’s championship ambitions in their penultimate group stage match, and the same fate would have been the outcome if they had lost their last group match to Monaghan. Cahill believes that those two victories have proven the team’s ability to deal with high stakes pressure and will stand to the team on Sunday.’
‘Those games were effectively knockout matches as we needed to win both of them to reach Croke Park, but the players managed that pressure really well in both games. Even when we were down to thirteen players against Cavan’s fifteen, the resilience we showed that day, the work rate off the ball, the work rate on the ball was top class. An example of this was when Michéal Mulcahy turned over three defenders and got a score from it. That’s the type of work rate we have brought to the team and that is what has been getting us over the line, and hopefully, it will help to get us over the line against Leitrim on Sunday. We had our blip against Leitrim who are a fine team, and they did top the table, so it will be tough and we now need to up our game if we are going to beat them.’
The Tipperary native then expressed his frustration that the normal structure of the three lower tier hurling finals being played on the same day at Croke Park have been dispensed with, as the Rackard and Ring Finals are on the Saturday, with the Meagher Final the curtain raiser to the Sam Maguire match between Dublin and Louth.
‘It is disappointing. I got to soak up the scene of the big day a few years ago when I hurled for Kildare, and there was something special about the six teams being there on the same day and it’s a hurling day, so to split up the three finals this year is very disappointing in my opinion. It will not be a distraction for us as the lads are just focussed on playing in the final and they don’t care what day it’s on. I do accept that it makes logistical sense as Tyrone and Kerry, who are in the Ring and Rackard finals respectively are also playing each other in the All-Ireland Under 20 Football Final, but in my opinion, the Under 20 game could have been played elsewhere with the teams and supporters allowed into Croke Park afterwards for the hurling finals.’
Finally, Cahill does not believe that the defeats in the 2022 and 2024 finals will affect the players on Sunday.
‘I would not even dwell on those games. This is a new panel of thirty-three fantastic players who are just focussed on winning Sunday’s final and hopefully we will be bringing the Lory Meagher Cup back to Longford and if we do, it will be a special celebration for Longford GAA. Obviously, Leitrim have the same ambitions, and Mike Wall and his backroom staff have done a fantastic job with Leitrim, and I am expecting a really close game that can go either way.’