First league meeting of Longford v Limerick since 2016

Barry O'Farrell on the ball for Longford in facing the challenge of Dublin opponent Brian Howard in the recent O'Byrne Cup game Photo: Syl Healy

placeholder image — Barry O'Farrell on the ball for Longford in facing the challenge of Dublin opponent Brian Howard in the recent O'Byrne Cup game Photo: Syl Healy

TUS Gaelic Grounds in Limerick the venue for the NFL game this Saturday evening

It will be the first league meeting of the counties since 2016 when Longford were 0-13 to 1-8 winners in Pearse Park in a season in which Limerick were relegated - Donal O'Sullivan, Sean O'Dea, Iain Corbett, Darragh Tracey, Cian Sheehan and Peter Nash were all in that starting team.

The last time Longford came to Limerick for a league tie was 2014, the Munster side were 2-11 to 0-11 winners in the Gaelic Grounds in a season in which Longford were relegated.

The last championship clash between the teams was in 2013 - an All-Ireland SFC Qualifier defeat which brought an end to Maurice Horan's tenure as Limerick manager.

Horan is now back as Shannonside coach - replacing Brian Begley in manager Billy Lee's backroom team for 2022.

Back in 2013, Iain Corbett and Donal O'Sullivan were part of Horan's panel and remain in the inter-county set-up and are joint-captains.

Limerick are also facing into the 2022 season without eight of last year's panel for varying reasons - Brian Fanning, Tommie Childs, Danny Neville, Seamus O'Carroll, David Connolly, Padraig Scanlon, Gerard Stack and Cormac Roche.