Monday, February 18, 2008

Comfortable for Longford

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Division Three/Longford 2-10 Leitrim 0-6: A cracking goal from Paul Barden with 26 minutes gone in the first half put Longford on the road to a comfortable victory over their neighbours in this disappointing clash at Pearse Park.

Prior to the Barden goal, Leitrim led by 0-3 to 0-2, with points from Michael Foley, James Glancy and Ciarán Duignan. Both Longford scores came from frees converted by Francis McGee and Brian Kavanagh.

Further points from wing back Noel Farrell (free) and McGee - the latter landing a fine strike from play - left Longford 1-4 to 0-3 in front at the break.

When Leitrim half-back Stephen Feeney surged forward to fire over a good point midway through the second half, just a goal separated the sides.

But Longford dominated the final quarter, eventually converting their superiority into vital scores.

Luke Dempsey's slick side added another 1-5 to their tally with Kavanagh and McGee notching two points apiece.

The second Longford goal in the 64th minute was the end result of a well-worked move with substitute Liam Keenan playing the ball into McGee who planted his shot into the corner of the net.

LONGFORD: D Sheridan; D Brady (0-1), D Masterson, D Reilly; S Mulligan, A O'Connor, N Farrell; P Dowd, E Farrell; D Farrell (0-2, 2f), K Mulligan, D Barden; B Kavanagh (0-3, 1f), P Barden (1-0), F McGee (1-4, 3f). Subs: C Conefrey for Masterson (inj, 40 mins); L Keenan for E Farrell (44 mins); P Berry for D Farrell (50 mins); J Martin for Kavanagh (67 mins); E Williams for S Mulligan (67 mins).

LEITRIM: N Gill; D Reynolds, C Regan, M McGuinness; S Feeney (0-1), B McWeeney, S Foley; G McCloskey, M Duignan; D Duignan, E Mulligan (0-1), M Foley (0-2); J Glancy (0-1), C Duignan (0-1), D Maxwell. Subs: D Brennan for Glancy (inj, 24 mins); G Reynolds for D Duignan (h-t); P McGuinness for C Regan (61 mins); D O'Connor for C Duignan (63 mins); C Kennedy for D Reynolds (67 mins).

Referee: S Doyle (Wexford).

This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times