Longwood 3-21 Curraha 3-9

Longwood got their Intermediate Football campaign off to a fine start with a comprehensive victory over Curraha in Dunganny on Sunday morning. 

Longwood won the toss and captain Niall Mulvey elected to play with the aid of a not insignificant breeze in the opening half.  Despite having the benefit of the elements, Longwood took some time to settle.  Indeed, it was Curraha who struck the first meaningful blow when a point attempt held up in the wind, fell short of the target and eventually ended up in the hands of Padraig O’Hanrahan who dispatched it to the net. 

 Longwood responded quickly, Ciaran Sheridan making the first of many forays forward to kick a fine point.  Curraha’s county star Diarmuid Moriarty kicked a point to restore a three-point lead and this seemed to spark Longwood into action. 

They started to dominate the middle third with Damien Healy and Billy Hogan particularly prominent.  Points from Ryan Moore and Mickey Burke were followed by a two-pointer from the boot of Sean Coloe and Longwood had grabbed the lead.  And then a sucker punch, the concession of a sloppy goal gave the initiative back to Curraha. 

Skipper Niall Mulvey then showed his leadership qualities, taking possession 65 metres from goal before breaking a number of tackles and kicking a fine point.  An inspirational score just when it was needed.

Longwood conceded a couple of frees that resulted in opposition points before Ryan Moore kicked a fine two pointer off the outside of his left foot.  Despite dominating the possession stakes, Longwood missed a number of scorable opportunities in the closing minutes of the half and it took another Ciaran Sheridan point to reduce the deficit to a single point, 2-5 to 0-10, at the break.

A point down after playing with the wind, Longwood’s supporters may have feared the worst.

A point up after playing against the wind, Curraha would surely have felt the heavy lifting had been done.

Longwood refused to follow the script.  They paused, reset and went again.  This time with a ferocious intensity.

They forced an immediate turnover, and Mickey Burke levelled the game with a fine point within 45 seconds of the restart.  The Longwood team were now totally energised, relentless in their hunt for possession.  This possession was converted into scores which started to flow at an impressive rate.  Brian Stagg pointed them into the lead before midfield powerhouse Damien Healy surged forward to score a goal. 

Curraha were now being starved of the ball and when they did manage to venture forward, they kicked a number of wides due to the intense pressure being applied by Longwood’s defenders.  Dominic Finnegan stood out, a fine footballer in his own right, he sacrificed himself for the good of the team, delivering a towering performance and greatly restricting the impact of Diarmuid Moriarty.

Longwood added 2-2 over the next five minutes, the goals coming from Harry Hogan and Anthony Healy while Ryan Moore and Ciaran Sheridan registered the overs.   A monster two-point free from Billy Hogan, into the wind, pushed Longwood fourteen points clear with twelve minutes to play.

The third quarter was the defining period of the game.  When Curraha kicked their opening score of the second half after twenty minutes, the horse had already bolted. 

Longwood will be somewhat irked to have conceded a third goal late in the game, but they responded with another Billy Hogan two-pointer and a late Mickey Burke free to complete the job.

An important win for Longwood, but in many ways the performance was even more satisfying.  It’s only one win and the players and management will know that more will be required in the coming weeks, but it gives them a solid base on which to work from.

The only downside was an injury to Bob Maguire midway through the first half, the defensive warrior suffering a serious Achilles tendon injury that will sideline him for the foreseeable future.  The “spirit of Bob” was certainly evident in the second half!

Longwood: Kevin Maguire, Sean Carpenter, Tomás O’Brien, Bob Maguire, Dominic Finnegan, Niall Mulvey (Capt.) (0-1), Ciaran Sheridan (0-3), Damien Healy (1-0), Billy Hogan (0-5), Mickey Burke (0-4), Harry Hogan (1-0), Sean Sheridan (0-1), Ryan Moore (0-4), Sean Coloe (0-2), Adrian Maguire. Subs: Brian Stagg (0-1) for Bob Maguire, Anthony Healy (1-0) for Adrian Maguire, Conor Dixon for Tomás O’Brien, Gavin Griffith for Sean Coloe, Ben McLoughlin, Conor M Dixon, Cian O’Sullivan, Jason Kerrigan

Next up for our intermediate footballers is a clash with Drumbaragh on Sunday 17th August.  Before that, our reserve team travel to Ashbourne on Tuesday evening while our senior hurlers will face up to Ratoath next Sunday.  

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