The Longford Senior Hurlers first competitive match of 2022 ended in defeat at Glennon Brothers Pearse Park on Sunday, as they lost to Wicklow in the first round of the Kehoe Shield on a final score of 1-20 to 1-10.
Only four points separated the sides with less than five minutes to go, but a burst of 1-03 without reply from the visitors gave them a ten point victory at the final whistle.
Wicklow are operating two divisions higher than Longford, so the Garden County were always going to be favourites to come out on top.
Marc Lennon opened the scoring for Wicklow in the first minute but points from Joe O’Brien and Reuben Murray put Longford ahead after five minutes.
The visitors then fired over five unanswered points to lead by six points to two by the eighteenth minute, with Seanie Germaine slotting over four points and John Doyle scoring the other point.
Back came Longford with the next two scores, both from the hurley of Joe O’Brien, as the sharpshooter converted a sixty-five followed by a free.
Shaun Cronley put three points between the sides with a twenty-fourth minute score and just a minute later, the lead increased to four points when a Rory Lambe shot sailed over the bar.
A free converted by Joe O’Brien in the twenty-sixth minute reduced the deficit back to just three points as Longford trailed by eight points to five.
However, Wicklow upped the tempo in the last ten minutes of the first-half and reeled off the next four points. Ciaran Conroy, David Maloney (with a monster score from all of eighty yards), Marc Lennon and James Byrne all registering for the visitors.
Joe O’Brien ended the first-half scoring with a free for the home side, as the Clonguish man sent over his fifth point of the contest, reducing the arrears to six points at the interval. The half-time score was Longford 0-06 Wicklow 0-12.
Wicklow added the first two points of the second-half as Eoin Byrne and Seanie Germaine’s fifth point of the game gave then a comfortable eight point lead just five minutes into the new half.
Longford then hit a purple patch to score 1-02 without reply. Joe O’Brien fired over two points including a fine score from open play, while Reuben Murray’s long-range fifty yard effort from the right, sailed over everyone and ended up in the back of the Wicklow net.
Suddenly, with fifty-eight minutes on the clock, Longford were just three points behind Wicklow and were really buzzing.
However, Wicklow’s substitutes eased the pressure on their team by scoring 1-06 in the last ten minutes, while Longford only managed two more Joe O’Brien points in the closing stages.
Andy O’Brien with three points, George O’Brien with 1-01, and a point each from Tom O’Brien and Torna Mulconry helped Wicklow to a ten point victory on a final score-line of Longford 1-10 Wicklow 1-20.
Longford: Conor Gallagher, Keelan Cox, Enda Naughton, Aiden Sheridan, Pearse McNally, Johnny Casey, Adam Quinn, Paul Barden, Evan Tully, Iain Campbell, Joe O’Brien (0-09), Ronan Sheehan, Micheal Mulcahy, Reuben Murray (1-01), Liam Browne.
Substitutions: Paul Leonard for Paul Barden (half-time), Matthew Hawes for Iain Campbell (half-time), Zac Tunstead for Ronan Sheehan (55 minutes), Gerard Moore for Adam Quinn (65 minutes).