Longford Come Good Late On To See Of Louth In Leinster SFC Quarter-Final
LONGFORD 1-9
LOUTH 1-7
By Daire Walsh
Longford will face Laois in the Leinster Senior Football Championship quarter-final after coming through an almighty battle with Louth at Cusack Park, Mullingar on Sunday afternoon.
The wet and windy conditions in the Westmeath venue made it extremely difficult for both sets of players and thus led to a relatively low-scoring encounter. The sides were level on seven occasions throughout the course of a gruelling affair and with the game tied at 1-7 apiece two minutes from the end, the prospect of extra-time was looming large.
However, Padraic Davis’ charges shifted up the gears in the closing minutes to eventually seal the deal. The excellent Darren Gallagher and substitute Robbie Smyth kicked unanswered points to move Longford into the last-eight of the provincial series.
As a result, they will now welcome the O’Moore County to Glennon Brothers Pearse Park next Sunday. While Mike Quirke’s Division Two outfit will most likely represent a step up in quality, the midlanders will nevertheless be battle-hardened thanks to the stubborn challenge posed by Louth.
Sam Mulroy was a star performer throughout for the Wee County and he broke the deadlock with a second-minute pointed free. There was no reason for Longford to panic, though, and the O’Byrne Cup champions knuckled down to edge three points clear just four minutes later.
Supplementing a Liam Connerton single, Gallagher rattled the net to give his side some breathing space on the scoreboard. Rian Brady later split the uprights with an excellent curled effort and this was enough to hand Longford a 1-2 to 0-1 lead in advance of the first half water break.
Having come through a tough preliminary round fixture with Wexford in last year’s championship, Louth were prepared to dig deep and got themselves back in the frame once the action recommenced.
Mulroy’s second placed-ball contribution of the tie put them on the right track and the dependable full-forward unleashed a powerful strike beyond the reach of Longford custodian Paddy Collum to level matters on 27 minutes.
Louth were starting to build momentum and they subsequently regained the lead when Mulroy added yet another free. After going all of 23 minutes without a score, Longford finally responded with a Gallagher point on the half-hour mark.
If Mulroy was the focal point for Louth, then the same was largely true of Gallagher at the opposite end. He brought his haul up to 1-2 as the opening period drew to a close and while Mulroy cancelled out this effort in stoppage-time, Daniel Mimnagh popped up with a fine score to propel Longford towards a 1-5 to 1-4 buffer at the interval.
Brady’s second of the game created additional daylight on the restart but with scoring opportunities at a premium, Louth remained in contention. Mulroy nailed a difficult ’45’ on the stroke of 40 minutes and his first point from open play left this opening round clash delicately poised at the midway stage in the second half at 1-6 apiece.
Surprisingly, the offensive mark hadn’t been a major factor in the opening three-quarters of the action. That changed on the hour, however, as substitute Smyth claimed a precise pass, raised his hand in the air and kick his team back into the lead.
Longford were blissfully aware that they couldn’t rest on their laurels and another Mulroy point set-up a gripping finale. Remarkably, Mulroy was the only Louth player to get his name on the scoresheet.
This worked against them in the end as Longford had a better spread of shooters in their line-up. Nonetheless, Gallagher was terrific for the O’Farrell men and put them back in the driving seat on 69 minutes.
Louth did their utmost to conjure an equaliser, but it was left for Smyth to confirm a Longford victory by rounding off a sweeping attacking move in stoppage-time.
Scorers – Longford: Darren Gallagher 1-3 (0-1f), Rian Brady, Robbie Smyth 0-2 each, Daniel Mimnagh, Liam Connerton 0-1 each. Louth: Sam Mulroy 1-7 (0-4f, 0-1 ’45’).
LONGFORD: Paddy Collum; Patrick Fox, Andrew Farrell; Gary Rogers; Donal McElligott, Barry O’Farrell, Colm P Smyth; Darren Gallagher, Kevin Diffley; Dessie Reynolds, Joseph Hagan, Daniel Mimnagh; Rian Brady, Liam Connerton, Iarla O’Sullivan. Subs: Darragh Doherty for Hagan (35), Robbie Smyth (0-02) for Reynolds (50), Peter Lynn for O’Sullivan (60), Aidan McGuire for Connerton (72).
LOUTH: Craig Lynch; Dan Corcoran, Dermot Campbell, Kevin Carr; Patrick Reilly; John Clutterbuck, Eoghan Callaghan, Anthony Williams; Tommy Durnin, Bevan Duffy; Liam Jackson, Ciaran Keenan, Conall McKeever; Sam Mulroy (1-07, 0-04f, 0-01 45), Conor Whelan. Subs: Paul Matthews for Whelan (half-time), Emmet Carolan for Duffy, Conor Grimes for Keenan (both 50), Gerry Garland for McKeever (63), Gerard McSorley for Reilly (67).
Referee: David Coldrick (Meath).