Longford minor hurlers land another Celtic Challenge All-Ireland title

The Longford Minor hurlers retained the Michael Feery Cup at a rain drenched Abbotstown in Dublin on Saturday last as a hat-trick from Ruairi Kelly, and other goals from Ciaran Browne (2) and Evan Lyons guided John O’Brien’s charges to a comfortable fourteen-point victory over Fermanagh in the Celtic Challenge U-17 final.

Longford . . . 6-13 Fermanagh . . . 2-11

This was the second successive year that Longford defeated Fermanagh in the final with last year’s decider at Kingspan Breffini Park being a much closer contest.

Longford were 1-02 to 0-01 up after ten minutes with Ciarán Browne slotting over two scores including a free and the Fermanagh captain Seán McEvoy splitting the posts. The Longford goal came about on nine minutes when Senan Neilon ran in from the right and passed to Oisín McHugh and his low ball in was blasted to the net by Ruairi Kelly.

Fermanagh were back on level terms by the seventeenth minute with two McEvoy points including a free, and a point from Conal McGrath, and they also goaled through Daithí McLoughlin after good set-up play from Ben Palmer. The only Longford score in this period was a point from McHugh as both sides had scored 1-03 each.

In the remaining eleven minutes of the half, Longford outscored their Ulster opponents by 3-02 to 0-02 to build up a nine-point cushion at the interval.

The midlanders’ second goal came when Kelly ran in on goal from the right and although his shot was saved by Fermanagh keeper John Fitzpatrick, Evan Lyons pounced to direct the rebound to the net from close range.

Within a minute, Longford rattled the Fermanagh net again with a brilliantly worked goal. Browne went on a surging run before delivering a perfect hand-pass to Kelly and his rasping diagonal shot flew into the opposite corner of the Fermanagh net.

Fermanagh responded with points from McEvoy (free) and Dara Donnelly, while McHugh and Seanan Neilan split the uprights for Longford.

Longford grabbed their fourth goal just before half-time when a Ciaran Browne free was deflected off the Ernesiders centre-half back Ronan Fitzpatrick into the net which gave Longford a 4-05 to 1-05 lead at the break.

McGrath and Donnelly scored the first two points of the second-half to reduce the deficit to seven points, but Longford’s killer fifth goal came on thirty-five minutes.

Browne found Lyons and he stormed past two defenders before hand-passing to Kelly and he completed his hat-trick by firing a low shot to the bottom corner of the Fermanagh net.

By the fifty-third minute, Longford were ahead by 5-10 to 2-11. Fermanagh’s four points came from Palmer (two points), Donnelly, and Fionan Reilly, while Longford reeled off five points with three coming from Browne (two from frees), a long-range score from Evan Farrell and another point from McHugh.

The second Fermanagh goal was scored by their captain McEvoy on fifty-three minutes and that was their last score of the match. The Ulster men finished the game with fourteen players as Palmer received his second booking in the fifty-seventh minute.

Ciarán Browne concluded the scoring by registering 1-03 in the dying embers of the game as this impressive team, under the tutelage of John O’Brien, John Newman, Bart Hanley and Noel Dunne, were crowned national champions for the second year in-a-row to keep the Michael Feery Cup in Longford for another year.

LONGFORD: Conor Tiernan, Sam Elliot, Ryan Murphy, Odhrán Foley, Darragh O’Reily, Thomas Reilly, Adam Finn, Evan Farrell (0-1), Oliver Brychcy, Oisin McHugh (0-03), Ciaran Browne (2-08, 0-05 frees), Senan Neilan (0-01), Evan Lyons (1-00), Ruairi Kelly (3-00), Patrick Connell.

Roll on/roll off substitutes: Sean Óg Browne, Sean Prunty, Aidan Quinn, Darragh Cooney, Michael Hegarty, William Nolan, Odhrán Crossan, Culann Fitzgerald, Timothy Sheridan, Daire Kilmurray, Cormac McAuley, Caolán Crossan, Fionn Fitzgerald, Evan Maher, David Rowan, Morgan Fitzgerald, Eoin Beattie.

FERMANAGH: John Fitzpatrick, Shea Hanna, Alex Corrigan, Cian Martin, Ronan Fitzpatrick, Ben Palmer (0-02), Niall Smyth, Fionan Reilly (0-01), Dara Donnelly (0-03), Euan Smith, Cathal McCann, Seán McEvoy (1-04, 2 frees), Daithí McLoughlin (1-00), Odhrán Hamilton, Conal McGrath (0-01).

Referee: Kevin McDonnell.