WATCH | Clonguish tipped to end 17 year wait for Longford glory
Regning champions Killoe have won the Longford SFC title seven times since 2012 and you write them off at your peril.
The Underlap podcast presented by Michael Conlan and with contributions from Longford Leader Sports Editor Padraic O’Brien and commentator Jimmy Connell look ahead to the Peter Hanley Motors Longford Senior Football Championship
While it would not be wise to read into the league form with a lot of players missing for different reasons, the titles were won by the usual suspects in the build up to the 2026 county senior football championship.
Always a tremendous topic of discussion in the summer months and beyond the general opinion among the enthusiastic Longford GAA supporters is that Clonguish, Colmcille and Killoe are the main contenders in the battle to capture the Connolly Cup.
Although they were without county players Matthew Carey, Ronan Sweeney and Matthew Flynn in the recent Leader Cup final against Emmet Og, the Newtown boys were still good enough to win the prestigious old trophy that has been in existence for 90 years.
With injuries ruling out Michael Flynn, Jonathan Burke and James Hagan in that game, Clonguish will be a formidable force when they return to full strength.
With a high profile manager in the former Fermanagh and Sligo senior boss Dom Corrigan, it remains to be seen if he can guide the Longford club to a long overdue success in the senior football championship.
Powered by Roscommon attacker Jack Duggan, few can argue with the fact that Clonguish clearly have the potential to make the big breakthrough in their quest to win the county title for the first time 2009.
After losing to Killoe by a solitary point in the 2023 final, Clonguish crashed to bitterly disappointing defeats against Colmcille in the knock-out stage for the past couple of years and the 2022 champions will be a tough nut to crack yet again.
Runners-up in 2024 (replay v Abbeylara) and 2025 (v Killoe), the Colmcille manager Ger Carberry and his trusty assistant Ryan Casey (the former Granard boss) are working with a vastly experienced squad who are laced with the injection of some promising young players.
Luke Donnelly, a leading light on the Longford U-20 team who reached the Leinster semi-final this season, has the ability to make a big impact for his club in the county championship.
The powerful presence of the towering Fergal Sheridan is another positive for Colmcille after injury ruled him out of the unlucky one-point defeat in last year’s decider against Emmet Og.
Winning the Division 1 league title this season is clearly a boost for the current championship campaign which begins this Friday night with a tricky task against St Mary’s Granard at Maguire Park in Ballinalee (throw-in 8pm) with the evergreen Declan Reilly (40 plus) providing the usual inspiration.
And what about the chances of the reigning champions Killoe! The Young Emmets club have enjoyed a glorious successful period in the recent past after collecting the coveted Connolly Cup no less than seven times since emerging from the wilderness back in 2012.
The exceptional Mickey Quinn is one of an elite group of players who will be bidding to win an eighth SFC medal in 2026 but he is presently on the injured list and did not feature in the recent Leader Cup final despite being togged out.
The mighty Quinn is a key figure in the Killoe drive for another county title under the guidance of their new manager, former player Paul O’Hara.
Paul availed of the opportunity to experiment with a few younger players in the league and it remains to be seen what team will take the field for the intriguing championship opener against fierce rivals Mullinalaghta St Columba’s at Glennon Brothers Park this Thursday night, throw-in 8pm.
A definite absentee will be speedy forward Paddy Moran, who has departed to the United States for the summer, but with other county players in Ryan Moffett, James Moran and the Farrelly brothers Niall and Gavin there is no question that Killoe will be in the hunt again for the major honour.
The other 8 teams competing in the Connolly Cup will have a different opinion on what is generally considered a 3-horse race for the title and particularly fired up will be the 2024 winners Abbeylara who are struggling with injury problems.
The absence of long term casualty PJ Masterson is a big blow and while Frankie Dolan’s side should succeed in making it through to the quarter-finals they will need to be very wary of their first fixture against Rathcline at Glennon Brothers Pearse Park this Friday night (throw-in 8pm).
With former Longford manager Denis Connerton acting in an advisory role alongside the manager Gareth Johnston this season, Rathcline will be hoping to repeat their tremendous run to the semi-final last year in getting through this tough group.
A recurring injury to their chief marksman Oran Kenny is certainly a cause for concern and the Lanesboro outfit might well end up in the relegation play-offs if things do not go according to plan.
Conor Clarke is in his second season as the Longford Slashers supremo and after surviving in a relegation scrap last year he will be hoping to avoid that same pressure situation.
With his team gradually returning to full strength, Clarke and his panel of players will have the belief that a place in the last 8 can be achieved but a lot will depend on the crunch clash against Carrickedmond at the Dunbeggan grounds (Grattans club) in the opening round on Saturday evening (throw-in 7pm).
Eugene McCormack is back in charge of Carrick who will be hoping to build on their appearance in the knockout stage last year and were rather unfortunate not to reach the semi-final after losing out to Rathcline.
There should be little separating the south Longford side and the town club Slashers and Carrick might just have the edge in making a big move away from the dreaded drop zone.
It could all come down to the sky-blues showdown against Granard who have also appointed a high profile manager in Pat Flanagan, the former Offaly, Sligo and Westmeath senior boss.
With Darren Gallagher expected to make his presence felt at midfield, the youthful St Mary’s side could achieve an extended run but might still be looking over their shoulder in the bid to make further progress.
While the threat of relegation could also hang over Mullinalaghta, they have the experience to survive in the heat of the championship battle.
The 2018 Leinster champions may be far from the force of old but they are still difficult to beat and have a very shrewd coach in Mickey Harkin.
Mickey guided Abbeylara to championship glory in 2006 and the former Granard and Longford defender repeated the feat with Colmcille in 2022.
Last but not least are Dromard and Ardagh Moydow who meet in the opening round at the Monaduff grounds in Drumlish on Saturday (throw-in 7pm) and the losers here will be in big trouble.
One of their own, Niall Vance, is the new Dromard manager after enjoying success with Young Grattans who were crowned Junior ‘A’ champions in 2024.
While Niall must plan without the long term injured Diarmuid Masterson (Achilles tendon) in a major blow, Dromard are backboned by county players Joseph Hagan, Oisin O’Toole, Aaron Farrell and Ronan Bleakley and should be too strong for last year’s Intermediate champions.
With Liam Keenan still at the helm, Ardagh Moydow will be doing their best to be competitive but operating in the senior grade is a significant step up in quality and they are set to struggle in the probable drop into the relegation pot.
Needless to say, there is the usual buzz in the build up to the senior football championship and the burning question is whether Clonguish are good enough to emerge victorious in their fierce desire to capture the Connolly Cup for the first time in 17 years.
The general consensus is YES despite a number of doubters and the time has surely come for the boys in green to finish first in the race for the county crown!
PREDICTION: CLONGUISH