Longford win increases Cavan misery

"No one said it was going to be easy" were the parting words of Cavan team manager, Val Andrews, after the surprise defeat in Division 2B at Breffni Park yesterday.

An under-strength Longford snatched victory, scoring 1-2 in injury time, with the vital goal coming from Niall Sheridan.

Longford's victory was all the more noteworthy as they had to line out without five of the Fr Manning Gaels team following the tragic death in an accident on Saturday night of one of their team mates, 24year-old Jimmy Tully.

Cavan began cautiously but gradually took control coming up to halftime, at which stage they led 0-7 to 0-4. The accuracy of mid-fielder, Enda Barden, kept Longford in contention and within 10 minutes of the second half, Cavan were in deep trouble.

Left corner forward, Paul Barden, scored a fine goal in the fifth minute to give Longford the lead. They enjoyed this advantage until the 15th minute when Mickey Graham replied with a cheeky goal after sidefooting the ball to the net.

With two minutes of normal time remaining, Cavan led by 1-10 to 1-8. But as referee Colm Broderick was playing injury time Longford seized the initiative. As the game moved into five minutes of additional time, Robbie Forbes shot a point and a minute later Niall Sheridan got the decisive goal.

With nearly 10 minutes of additional time being played, Cavan substitution, Fintan Cahill, shot a point, but it failed to have any decisive effect on the outcome, as Longford finished strongly with a point from one of their heroes, Enda Barden.

Longford: G Tonra; C Conefrey, D Ledwith, B Burke; E Ledwith, M Lennon, R Forbes 0-2; E Barden 0-5, A Keogh; T Drake 0-1, C Keogh, G Johnston; W Skelly, N Sheridan 1-0, P Barden 1- 2. Subs: S Carroll for W Skelly, M O'Connor for G Johnston.

Cavan: D McCarthy; T Farrelly, C Brady, G Sheridan; A Forde 0-1, B Morris, P Shiels; D McCabe 0-4, P McKenna; R Rogers, R Carolan 0- 2, J Coffey; L Reilly 0-2, M Leddy, M Graham 1-1. Subs: F Cahill 0-1 for J Coffey, J Reilly for M Leddy, F O'Reilly for P McKenna.

Referee: C Broderick, Down.