On Sunday at 2pm, Longford are back in Avant Money Páirc Sean Mac Diarmada in Carrick-on-Shannon for their Lory Meagher Cup Championship first round clash against Leitrim.
The team will hope to bounce back from last week’s 4-point League Final defeat to Fermanagh at the same venue last Saturday.
The dismissal of Paddy Lynam in last week’s match means that the mercurial midfielder is suspended for Sunday’s contest.
Longford and Leitrim have already met twice in the league campaign, with the Midlanders winning both encounters.
Longford won the first match by a single point, 1-15 to 1-14, with Paddy Lynam scoring the winning point with a late free.
Longford were resounding 10-point victors when the sides clashed again in the League semi-final, as they won by 1-26 to 2-13.
It will be much harder for Adrian Moran’s charges to complete a hat-trick of victories over Leitrim on Sunday.
Firstly, Olcan Conway’s troops have home advantage this time around and they received a further boost, with the news that their talismanic forward Joe Murray will be available after his red card in the League semi-final was overturned. Also, Lynam’s absence for Longford is a huge blow for the visitors.
Playing a championship match the week after losing a League final is always a difficult prospect, but there is plenty of talent in this Longford team to grind out a narrow victory in what should be a very close contest.
Longford have won the Lory Meagher Cup twice in 2010 and 2014 with final victories over Donegal and Fermanagh, while Leitrim have one title with a one point extra-time triumph over Lancashire in 2019.
Looking ahead to Sunday’s encounter and reflecting back on the League Final, the Longford manager Adrian Moran spoke with Tony Ghee.
Tony: ‘ Adrian, it was a good league campaign for Longford getting to the League Final, but despite falling at the final hurdle, you must be proud of the team.’
Adrian: ‘Yes, I am very proud of the lads, they put in a huge shift that just fell short at the end, but that’s sport. Sport can be very cruel I suppose, but we will pick ourselves up, dust ourselves down and move on to the championship game next weekend.’
Tony: ‘Longford got off to that great start with Cian Kavanagh supplying Joe O’Brien who turned his marker and rifled the sliotar to the Fermanagh net, indeed, Longford played superb hurling to lead by six points after twenty-one minutes, and could have been further ahead.’
Adrian: ‘Yes, that is where we are at in the development of Longford hurling. We are trying to play faster hurling and that will take a while. We probably were guilty of not getting enough scores during that purple patch that we had in the opening twenty-three minutes or so.’
Tony: ‘Fermanagh came storming back,but Longford rallied with two of the last three points to trail by just one at the interval, and that seemed to settle the team.”
Adrian: ‘Yes, we were happy enough at half-time. Just like ourselves, Fermanagh were guilty of some bad misses. They had their own purple patch, but we knew we would get another dominant period in the second-half, and we did. It was nip and tuck, score for score, and I thought that the winner would be the team that made the least mistakes.’
Tony: ‘That dominant period for Longford enabled the team to lead 1-17 to 1-14 midway through the second-half, and although the Ernesiders reduced the deficit to just a point, it was still looking good for Longford until Paddy Lynam’s sending-off.’
Adrian: ‘We pushed up on them as much as we could, but the dismissal had a big impact on the game, especially as we were up against a very good Fermanagh team. Their players and management have been together for a long time, while we are in year one together. We are putting a lot of structures in place and that is coming together. Now, it is time to look forward to getting back on the pitch for next Sunday’s championship game.’
Tony: ‘Looking ahead to the Leitrim clash, you are back in Carrick-on-Shannon again, taking on Leitrim who you have already beaten twice in the league, but it has to be difficult for a team to lose a league final and then be in championship action a week later.’
Adrian: ‘It is for sure. I suppose at the top level they are talking about a two or three week gap between league and championship not being enough recovery time, and yet, we are only getting a week. It’s the same for Fermanagh, but it is easier after winning a league title. However, it’s the nature of the beast, but these lads will put on the Longford jersey again next Sunday, and they will represent their county with great ability and great character.’
Tony: ‘ Paddy Lynam will be missing the Leitrim match and he will be a big loss as he has been outstanding during the league.’
Adrian: ‘Yes, Paddy has played very well for us, but lots of the lads have hurled very well and been outstanding for us during the league. We have a panel and that will be utilised next Sunday. It will be a different starting fifteen with maybe one or two other changes as well.’