Longford senior hurlers lose to Leitrim and now need a win against Cavan

Longford’s quest to qualify for the Lory Meagher Cup final suffered a setback when they lost out to neighbouring rivals Leitrim in the recent top of the table clash at Heartland Credit Union Pairc Sean Mac Diarmada.  

Leitrim . . . 1-16   Longford . . . 1-13

Diarmuid Cahill’s charges came to Carrick in a fairly confident frame of mind and were looking good for a third consecutive win in the current championship campaign after surging into a seven point lead approaching half-time. 

Up against a Longford team that beat them by three points to deny them a place in the Allianz NHL Division 4 Final this season, it looked as if Leitrim were heading for disappointment as a more clinical Longford were apparently in control.

But somehow the home side flicked a switch and a team that was struggling badly to gain a foothold in the middle of the park suddenly took over, astute switches from manager Mike Wall making a big difference as they landed six unanswered points to trail by just one at the break, 1-11 to 0-13. 

A Leitrim goal was always going to be big and when Gavin O’Hagan hit an expertly taken three-pointer a mere ten to 15 seconds into the second half, Leitrim were on a roll, surging five points clear by the midway point of the second half and despite stubborn Longford resistance that never refused to yield, Mike Wall’s side held on for a statement victory.

The pressure is now on Longford who will need to get back on track with a win over Cavan at Breffni Park this Saturday (throw-in 2pm) in order to keep alive their hopes of reaching the Tier 5 title decider at Croke Park. 

Sunday’s victory leaves Leitrim in pole position to reach the Lory Meagher Cup final but have tough games to come against Warwickshire and Cavan with both in Heartland Credit Union Pairc Sean Mac Diarmada.

The early exchanges were blisteringly quick with James McNabola incredibly firing over after just five seconds, Longford answering a minute late through a lovely David Buckley score. Martin Farrell had a wide for Longford before Johnny Maher in the Longford goal made a good save to scoop away a low Daniel Miller shot.

Philip Burgess weighed in with a superb point from the corner but Leitrim then started to hit wides that didn’t match their energy nor excellent teamwork out the field although there was an element of misfortune when Paul Mulligan twice saw shots come rebounding off the posts.

Daniel Miller also hit a wide and sure enough, after the early Leitrim optimism, Longford hit back with a great goal, Joe Rabbit’s pass finding Michael Mulcahy for an expertly batted goal to the Leitrim net after just six minutes.

It was a blow to Leitrim’s solar plexus and after a Burgess wide, a loose ball broke in the middle of the field with Johnny Casey firing over from all of 60 metres. Paul Mulligan pulled back a point but another long range Casey point on eight minutes was the visitors quick response.

Daniel Miller landed a free for the hosts but when Longford worked the ball into the corner, a pass back found Adam Quinn completely unmarked about 50 yards out on the wing and the centre-back made no mistake with an excellent finish.

Leitrim’s rhythm was undoubtedly affected by two separate blood injury substitutions with Gavin O’Hagan and Joe Murray having to exit the game, Kevin Clerkin and Sean O’Riordan stepping into the breach but it was Longford who were finding their scores much easier than the Green & Gold.

Maitiu O’Donohue brought off a superb catch to score a fine point on 12 minutes, Reuben Murray landed from distance, Joe Murray, back on the field, made a superb catch and produced a great pass to Miller who fed Martin Feeney for a brilliant team point on 17 minutes.

Leitrim almost had a goal of their own as Colm Canning bore down on goal but his powerful shot hammered off the post and rebounded clear, Gavin O’Hagan grabbing the sliothar to cut the gap back to a goal.

But again Longford surged, with Murray (free), O’Donohue, Mulcahy and Murray again landing points in a seven minute spell as the visitors ominously moved seven points clear.

But this Leitrim team are made of stern stuff as they incredibly rattled off six unanswered points in a blistering five minute spell. Colm Canning incredibly converted a free from his own 65 metre line to get the ball rolling before Paul Mulligan hit a lovely score from the wing.

Daniel Miller landed from the corner and from the puck-out, Canning, under pressure and right on the sideline, launched a missile between the Longford posts.

 Longford had one chance to halt the momentum but Clement Cunniffe did well to gather a dangerous sideline ball with Canning then bursting through the middle to fire over another point.

Niall Crowe then took off from his own defence with the move ending with Gavin O’Hagan scoring a wonderful point and suddenly, Leitrim were just a point in arrears. 

Longford halted Leitrim’s surge with a Reuben Murray free but a Miller free out near the sideline left the halftime score at 1-11 to 0-13 in Longford’s favour.

Longford had the wind in the second half but that didn’t seem to matter to Leitrim as they landed a goal just 12 seconds on the resumption, Gavin O’Hagan gathering a poorly cleared long delivery into the goalmouth to drive to the corner of the net and suddenly, from seven points down, Leitrim were two clear.

A yellow card for Longford’s Sean Lancaster after an off-the-ball tussle with Miller led to the Coolderry man converting a free before another good run from Niall Crowe and a pass back to Martin Feeney saw the Dromahair man stretch Leitrim’s lead to four points.

Longford’s Niall Hawes landed a point on 44 minutes to halt Leitrim’s surge but frees from Miller and Canning extended the home team’s lead to a game high five points.

It could have been more were it not for a brilliant diving save from Johnny Maher to deny a Miller snap shot from entering the net but Leitrim suffered a blow when Miller went down with a knee injury and had to be replaced by Dhani Keane.

Longford’s Cathal Mullane briefly threatened a goal with a strong run, the ball knocked out for a ‘65’ converted by Rueben Murray as the visitors began to find their feet once more. 

Joe Rabbitt landed a monster point from the wing with just over 12 minutes of normal time left to cut the gap to three but Canning landed a free from 65 metres in response.

The game developed into tit for tat with Reuben Murray converting a massive long range free from his own 65 metre line but Canning, now on freetaking duties, hit unerringly between the posts. Martin Farrell got the game’s last score, from well inside his own 65 metre line, on 65 minutes.

It wasn’t for want of trying as Murray saw a free hit the woodwork and Farrell shot wide while Leitrim sub Dhani Keane was denied a spectacular point on the run when Maher stuck his hurl up high to prevent the ball from crossing the crossbar, although many felt it had.

But in the end, it didn’t matter as Leitrim hung on for a hugely important win. 

Leitrim Scorers: Colm Canning 0-6, 4f; Daniel Miller 0-5, 4f; Gavin O’Hagan 1-2; Martin Feeney & Paul Mulligan 0-2 each; Philip Burgess & James McNabola 0-1 each. 

LEITRIM: Clement Cunniffe, Paul Lenehan, Pearse Kenny, Niall Crowe, Conor Hackett, Philip Burgess, Stephen Goldrick, Colm Canning, Martin Feeney, Daniel Miller, Joe Murray, Gavin O’Hagan, Paul Mulligan, Michael O’Brien, James McNabola. 

Subs: Kevin Clerkin for O’Hagan (blood 10); Sean O’Riordan for Murray (blood 13); Clerkin for Murray (blood 31); Dhani Keane for Miller (54); Kevin Clerkin for Murray (blood 67).

Longford Scorers: Reuben Murray 0-6, 1 65, 3f; Micheal Mulcahy 1-1; Johnny Casey & Maitiu O’Donohoe 0-2 each; Adam Quinn, Martin Farrell, David Buckley, Joe Rabbit & Niall Hawes 0-1 each.

LONGFORD: Johnny Maher, Kealan Cox, Sean Lancaster, James Connell, Adam Quinn, Martin Farrell, Evan Tully, Reuben Murray, John Casey, Paddy Lynam, Ronan Courtney, Maitiu O’Donohoe, Micheal Mulcahy, David Buckley, Joe Rabbitt.

Subs: Cathal Mullane for O’Donohoe (30); Niall Hawes for Courtney (HT); Oisin Gately for Connell (54); John Murray for Cox (63); Stephen Murray for Lynam (70).

Referee: James Clarke (Cavan).