Upwards and onwards for Ryan's Longford

Longford 1-12 Wexford 0-13:THEY'VE WAITED almost a year for a crack at redemption but the time is almost upon Longford's senior footballers. May 20th on home soil at Pearse Park is a date etched in the minds of manager Glenn Ryan and his players since the draw for the 2012 Leinster senior football championship was made.

Longford’s opponents are Laois, who beat them by just a point, 0-10 to 0-9, in Portlaoise last May on a day when the midlanders shot themselves in the foot by registering 16 wides. The winners, incidentally, will play a Wexford team conquered by Longford at Croke Park last Saturday night.

Laois, despite their struggles, will still be hard beaten but Longford haven’t forgotten the 2011 meeting between the sides. Ryan referred to the “hurt” that still lingers from that O’Moore Park loss but sport often provides chances for revenge.

Once again, they’ll bounce into the Laois fixture with spring silverware tucked away. Division Four champions in 2011, Division Three kingpins 12 months on. Under the guidance of former Kildare stalwart Ryan, Longford have become a real force to be reckoned with.

But they produced a Jekyll and Hyde performance against Wexford in Saturday evening’s entertaining Division Three decider at Croke Park – superb in the first half, overwhelmed in the second. And with 14 wides in total to boot.

At half-time, Longford were ten points clear, 1-10 to 0-3, as substitute Paul Kelly capped his team’s fine first-half display with a goal in the second minute of injury time, slotting home soccer-style from Brian Kavanagh’s astute pass.

Longford were inspired by Michael Quinn at centre back and the shooting of top scorer and free-taker Seán McCormack, aided and abetted by team captain Paul Barden.

But the second half was a different story as Wexford outscored Longford by 0-10 to 0-2, leaving Glenn Ryan to reflect: “You are not going to get a perfect 70 minutes out of any team and you have to expect the opposition to get a period of dominance as well.

“We played very well in the first half, played poorly in the second half. It was great the way we hung on, I thought we would have needed an extra score towards the end but we showed a great willingness to work hard and be disciplined.”

Top scorer McCormack registered his eighth point in the 54th minute but that was the last time Longford would score.

A run of six unanswered points from Wexford cut an eight-point gap down to just two but Model County supremo Jason Ryan had no problem with Ciarán Lyng’s decision to pop over a late free with time running out.

Ryan said: “He could have (lobbed the ball in towards the goalmouth) but (referee) Conor Lane might have played a minute and a half on top of the additional time that he played in the first half. Instead of that we got exactly the additional time at the end of the second half.

“But you know, sport is all about ifs, buts and maybes and I certainly wouldn’t have any qualms with Ciarán putting it over.

“You don’t know how much additional time you’re going to get and when the scores present themselves, take them and hopefully another will present itself shortly after.” An official attendance of 7,514 was registered at Croke Park on Saturday evening but many supporters of Division Four finalists Fermanagh and Wicklow left after the first match on the double bill.

That left Croke Park feeling eerily empty for the game but Longford lit up the venue with a devastating first half display, capped by Kelly’s goal.

But Wexford were a different team in the second half as substitutions made a big difference. Niall Murphy and Ben Brosnan, both struggling for fitness before throw-in, made way before Shane Roche came on to kick two points from play.

Ultimately though, Wexford’s resurgence fell short as Longford captured a piece of national silverware for a second successive season. Driving them forward was Quinn, simply magnificent all season having returned home last year following three seasons with Australian Rules club Essendon.

But his manager insisted: “We can’t start highlighting individuals. We are a small county and we have to get the best out of the lads we have, no matter whether they are number one or 31.

“I think that’s the difference in this team. Michael has added to things but so too have fellas that have come through from minors and under-21s.

“If Michael Quinn was here two years ago maybe he wouldn’t be the outstanding figure he is because the fellas around him wouldn’t be there.”

Next up is that date with Laois, and Ryan is hopeful. He said: “In order to bring teams along you have to experience hurt and we experienced that hurt down in Portlaoise last year. The fellas have turned that negative into a positive. On this performance there is still a huge amount of work for us to do but we are heading in the right direction.”

LONGFORD: D Sheridan; D Brady, B Gilleran, D Reilly; CP Smyth, M Quinn, S Mulligan; B McElvaney, J Keegan; P McCormack, P Barden (0-3), N Mulligan; D McElligott, B Kavanagh (0-1), S McCormack (0-8, 0-6 frees). Subs: P Kelly (1-0) for P McCormack (35+1), J McGivney for N Mulligan (60 mins), P Foy for Keegan (68 mins), F McGee for McElligott (70 mins).

WEXFORD: A Masterson; R Tierney, G Molloy, N Murphy; A Flynn (0-1), D Murphy, B Malone; A Shore, D Waters; E Bradley (0-1), PJ Banville (0-1), B Brosnan (0-1); R Barry (0-3, 0-1 free), C Lyng (0-4, 0-3 frees), C Morris. Subs: L Chin for N Murphy (20 mins), R Quinlivan for Shore (45 mins), P Byrne for Brosnan (45 mins), S Roche (0-2) for Morris (51 mins), C Carty for Bradley (70+1 mins).

Referee: C Lane (Cork).