Dessie Barry scored nine points for Longford in their draw with Wexford in New Ross on Sunday yet still was not satisfied with his performance and has promised an improvement in the replay in Pearse Park on Sunday. Barry's entire tally came from frees as Longford put in a late burst to score 1-6 without reply in the last 10 minutes.
A second bite of the cherry came as a welcome reprieve and Barry, now in his 16th year with Longford football, feels that he can contribute more to the all-round effort. "Scoring points is one thing but I should be able to do more around the field. Most of the frees came from fouls on our full forward Niall Sheridan," he says.
"He is only 22 and a very promising player. Wexford found it difficult to cope with him and I benefited from the frees. I believe that we will have to improve if we are to go on to meet Westmeath, also at home, in the next round of the championship.
"Wexford have a very strong side and an excellent centre field. They had a bad run in the National League but they were in what was by far the toughest division and they lost only narrowly on several occasions. We will be delighted if we can beat them on Sunday."
Barry is now 35 but enjoying his football as much as ever. "I am fairly fit and I enjoy the training and would love a good run in the championship." He recalls Longford's run in the championship in 1988 when they reached the semi-final only to be beaten by Dublin.
"That was the year we beat Westmeath and Wicklow and were beaten in the semi-final in Mullingar," he remembers. He has no intention of retiring just yet. "I will be here as long as the selectors want me" he says.
It would be a brave selector who would suggest dropping him after his nine-point performance in the drawn match. He may not get things as easily on Sunday, now that Wexford are aware of his deadly accuracy, however, and he will be happy with a win, particularly, if his own performance shows the improvement he wants. In the meantime, Longford have postponed team selection until tomorrow night. Their own worry concerns goalkeeper, Gordon Hourican, who has a thigh strain. Dave Roughan from the Drumlish club is standing by.
Although under the care of an eye specialist after picking up an injury recently, DJ Carey has been picked on the Kilkenny team to play Limerick in a senior hurling challenge on Saturday.
Carey trained with the squad at Nowlan Park last night and he reported himself fit.
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