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Longford GAA thread

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A highly entertaining game of football this evening. Longford just came up short but not by much possibly ran put of legs but 100% for effort. From what I can see its evident that Solan has really got the best from this team..see yee in div 3 next year!

Dothesimplethingswell (Sligo) - Posts: 57 - 28/03/2026 22:04:50    2663661

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Hard luck to the lads they made us proud was impressed with Oran Kenny Dessie Reynolds and the whole defence

Longfordlad1985 (Longford) - Posts: 58 - 28/03/2026 23:55:40    2663672

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Hard luck to the hurlers and footballers. Wasn't to be on the day.

Looked like a smash and grab was on the cards in Croker yesterday, but the card ended it as a contest. On to the Leinster championship now, in better shape than anyone might have predicted a month ago. Still a lot to work on (really struggled with possession in the second half of normal time), but the trajectory is positive and a few lads really finding their feet in that county jersey. Fair play to Carlow, you could tell how much it meant to them - no more than ourselves they don't win trophies every day.

LongfordgaaAbú (Longford) - Posts: 663 - 29/03/2026 20:04:42    2663807

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So the league officially kicks/kicked off over the weekend, apart from the Slashers v Abbey game that was played last week. No real shocks. Only surprising one is Rathcline only kicking 3 points against Granard. But as I said last year, they rely too heavily on Oran Kenny for scores. Cashel are really on a hiding to nothing. They shipped a very heavy defeat to what I am assuming was practically a Clonguish B team. No surprise with Colmcille beating Killoe considering the amount of county lads Killoe have compared to Colmcille.

Spinx (Longford) - Posts: 1520 - 04/04/2026 09:31:41    2664665

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Replying To Spinx:  "So the league officially kicks/kicked off over the weekend, apart from the Slashers v Abbey game that was played last week. No real shocks. Only surprising one is Rathcline only kicking 3 points against Granard. But as I said last year, they rely too heavily on Oran Kenny for scores. Cashel are really on a hiding to nothing. They shipped a very heavy defeat to what I am assuming was practically a Clonguish B team. No surprise with Colmcille beating Killoe considering the amount of county lads Killoe have compared to Colmcille."
A good win for Carrickedmond over Mullineachta with Carrickedmond missing a few to the county teams

Clonbonnyrabbitt (Longford) - Posts: 113 - 04/04/2026 11:48:51    2664680

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Replying To Spinx:  "So the league officially kicks/kicked off over the weekend, apart from the Slashers v Abbey game that was played last week. No real shocks. Only surprising one is Rathcline only kicking 3 points against Granard. But as I said last year, they rely too heavily on Oran Kenny for scores. Cashel are really on a hiding to nothing. They shipped a very heavy defeat to what I am assuming was practically a Clonguish B team. No surprise with Colmcille beating Killoe considering the amount of county lads Killoe have compared to Colmcille."
I was very impressed by Granard Pat Flanagan has them in good shape the lads who left the county panel were big additions for them. Our lads were not at there best but with the county lads missing we can't really manage without oran oisin and iarla

Clonbonnyrabbitt (Longford) - Posts: 113 - 04/04/2026 13:07:12    2664694

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Fair play to ballymore some win vs ballymahon

Longfordlad1985 (Longford) - Posts: 58 - 11/04/2026 21:38:01    2665823

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Replying To Longfordlad1985:  "Fair play to ballymore some win vs ballymahon"
Great win for Ballymore is right. But Ballymahon are awful.....that 1st round game with us was one of the worst games of football I have seen in a long time.
Rathcline have kicked the grand total of 7 points in their 2 games......that is shocking!! Only for Cashel are in Div 1, Rathcline could be staring relegation in the face!

Spinx (Longford) - Posts: 1520 - 11/04/2026 22:39:59    2665830

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Replying To Spinx:  "Great win for Ballymore is right. But Ballymahon are awful.....that 1st round game with us was one of the worst games of football I have seen in a long time.
Rathcline have kicked the grand total of 7 points in their 2 games......that is shocking!! Only for Cashel are in Div 1, Rathcline could be staring relegation in the face!"
So far some absolute hammerings handed out in both divisions. I don't think the league will ever come back to what it once was. Half the teams don't care and why would they, Rathcline without their county players are nothing compared to the team that made a county semi final

Clonbonnyrabbitt (Longford) - Posts: 113 - 12/04/2026 14:15:23    2665882

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Replying To Clonbonnyrabbitt:  "So far some absolute hammerings handed out in both divisions. I don't think the league will ever come back to what it once was. Half the teams don't care and why would they, Rathcline without their county players are nothing compared to the team that made a county semi final"
Even with their county players, they are nothing special. A one man team.

Spinx (Longford) - Posts: 1520 - 12/04/2026 16:48:52    2665918

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Well that's was shocking stuff all round. I knew it was going to be tough day out for Longford but that was dreadful. Be lucky to win a game in division 3 next year unfortunately.

williesboy (Leitrim) - Posts: 551 - 12/04/2026 17:16:15    2665929

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Replying To williesboy:  "Well that's was shocking stuff all round. I knew it was going to be tough day out for Longford but that was dreadful. Be lucky to win a game in division 3 next year unfortunately."
Didn't want to defend so much space and time for Westmeath any team would put up a good score the way we set up thought only Dessie Reynolds Dylan farrell and paddy Moran only positives long kickouts a big problem again

Longfordlad1985 (Longford) - Posts: 58 - 12/04/2026 21:27:45    2666016

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Granted that Westmeath team is a far better team all round than ours as even with the players they are missing from other years, most of their starting 15 are operating at a much higher level, we were still awful. Gave WM any amount of time and space on the ball, they were converting chances moving the ball from one end of the pitch to the other in a matter of a few passages of play.

Getting promoted/league final was great and all but I still think as i did at that time that our true level was shown more so in the Leitrim game than any others. There isnt a team in the Tailteann cup that will fear coming up against us, and as much as I hate to say it, theyd be right!

Feel sorry for the lads that are in there and committed to to it for the year, no criticism on them as theyre carrying the can and lining out. With the way the leagues & championship at senior level and same at underage are at the minute, its not looking good for the next few years.

LongfordSham (Longford) - Posts: 150 - 13/04/2026 08:33:35    2666074

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Replying To LongfordSham:  "Granted that Westmeath team is a far better team all round than ours as even with the players they are missing from other years, most of their starting 15 are operating at a much higher level, we were still awful. Gave WM any amount of time and space on the ball, they were converting chances moving the ball from one end of the pitch to the other in a matter of a few passages of play.

Getting promoted/league final was great and all but I still think as i did at that time that our true level was shown more so in the Leitrim game than any others. There isnt a team in the Tailteann cup that will fear coming up against us, and as much as I hate to say it, theyd be right!

Feel sorry for the lads that are in there and committed to to it for the year, no criticism on them as theyre carrying the can and lining out. With the way the leagues & championship at senior level and same at underage are at the minute, its not looking good for the next few years."
Curious as what you mean by the league and championship structures? In Westmeath we have a really good league and championship system albeit the county board done their best to dismantle it. Yesterday was a tough day for ye; I thought we could have been on the ropes a little after losing to Wexford and the fact ye had the momentum of promotion.

The gap must be widening as we only finished 3rd in Division 3 and struggled to win some other games. I notice how many clubs are amalgamations in Longford; this must surely contribute to current results.

OverTheHill85 (Westmeath) - Posts: 273 - 13/04/2026 14:31:17    2666171

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Replying To OverTheHill85:  "Curious as what you mean by the league and championship structures? In Westmeath we have a really good league and championship system albeit the county board done their best to dismantle it. Yesterday was a tough day for ye; I thought we could have been on the ropes a little after losing to Wexford and the fact ye had the momentum of promotion.

The gap must be widening as we only finished 3rd in Division 3 and struggled to win some other games. I notice how many clubs are amalgamations in Longford; this must surely contribute to current results."
No Senior or Intermediate or Junior clubs are amalgamations in Longford. There are some amalgamations in underage, in Minor for example a third of teams competing would be amalgamations, but that was the case back the years too. Those amalgamations are driven by numbers rather than structures, so there is no easy fix to that.

I'm not sure the gap between us and our neighbours is widening, it just isn't narrowing beyond a few blips every so often. Division 4 is our level right now, and even though I'm happy the lads showed great resolve to gain promotion, we are not ready for that jump yet and that showed yesterday. The work that needs to be done is slow and frustrating, but we have to stick with it - what choice do we have? Having an overweight senior championship in Longford for many many years hasn't helped, and allowed clubs to avoid a drop down a grade which might have triggered more action and soul searching to up standards and so on. Competitions lacked inertia as a result and have become stagnant. The quality of our club game is below par and we can see that when we wander out into Leinster. Some of that is being addressed and a plan is in place to have a more sensible size for Senior, Intermediate and Junior Championships. It could go further IMO, but that change will make a difference I reckon. It is hard to pinpoint a precise thing or group of things that would turn it around in the short term. Hope will come from underage, so that's where most investment and effort needs to be.

LongfordgaaAbú (Longford) - Posts: 663 - 13/04/2026 17:02:36    2666220

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Ardagh and Moydow joined forces at Intermediate level. You can also argue the case that Ballymahon and Forgney are an amalgamation as well.

Spinx (Longford) - Posts: 1520 - 13/04/2026 23:17:48    2666277

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Replying To LongfordgaaAbú:  "No Senior or Intermediate or Junior clubs are amalgamations in Longford. There are some amalgamations in underage, in Minor for example a third of teams competing would be amalgamations, but that was the case back the years too. Those amalgamations are driven by numbers rather than structures, so there is no easy fix to that.

I'm not sure the gap between us and our neighbours is widening, it just isn't narrowing beyond a few blips every so often. Division 4 is our level right now, and even though I'm happy the lads showed great resolve to gain promotion, we are not ready for that jump yet and that showed yesterday. The work that needs to be done is slow and frustrating, but we have to stick with it - what choice do we have? Having an overweight senior championship in Longford for many many years hasn't helped, and allowed clubs to avoid a drop down a grade which might have triggered more action and soul searching to up standards and so on. Competitions lacked inertia as a result and have become stagnant. The quality of our club game is below par and we can see that when we wander out into Leinster. Some of that is being addressed and a plan is in place to have a more sensible size for Senior, Intermediate and Junior Championships. It could go further IMO, but that change will make a difference I reckon. It is hard to pinpoint a precise thing or group of things that would turn it around in the short term. Hope will come from underage, so that's where most investment and effort needs to be."
Yeah I was aware with the fact that there were 12 senior teams which seemed excessive for a long time; also that some promoted teams had the choice to stay intermediate was a curious one but I guess the gap was just too big for some. A lot of good underage players in Longford especially seeing a Granard team doing well and a Leinster Minor win in recent times.

OverTheHill85 (Westmeath) - Posts: 273 - 14/04/2026 08:37:54    2666299

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Replying To LongfordgaaAbú:  "No Senior or Intermediate or Junior clubs are amalgamations in Longford. There are some amalgamations in underage, in Minor for example a third of teams competing would be amalgamations, but that was the case back the years too. Those amalgamations are driven by numbers rather than structures, so there is no easy fix to that.

I'm not sure the gap between us and our neighbours is widening, it just isn't narrowing beyond a few blips every so often. Division 4 is our level right now, and even though I'm happy the lads showed great resolve to gain promotion, we are not ready for that jump yet and that showed yesterday. The work that needs to be done is slow and frustrating, but we have to stick with it - what choice do we have? Having an overweight senior championship in Longford for many many years hasn't helped, and allowed clubs to avoid a drop down a grade which might have triggered more action and soul searching to up standards and so on. Competitions lacked inertia as a result and have become stagnant. The quality of our club game is below par and we can see that when we wander out into Leinster. Some of that is being addressed and a plan is in place to have a more sensible size for Senior, Intermediate and Junior Championships. It could go further IMO, but that change will make a difference I reckon. It is hard to pinpoint a precise thing or group of things that would turn it around in the short term. Hope will come from underage, so that's where most investment and effort needs to be."
Well games this year played against two of our neighbours resulted in a 10 & 21 point drubbing, so I think being realistic, the gap is widening, especially as and no disrespect to them, one of those was another Division 4 team with a very small pick of players.

Yes, there is a plan outlined for a more sensible size competing across the 3 grades at senior, which is needed, but this is meant to be 2nd year under the same plan, with multiple teams up to the old tricks in that time frame of not going down, precedent is set at the end of this season for others to do the same.

Totally agree that any improvement is going to be a slow process and we just have to stick with it, we don't have the luxuries of many other counties with what's available to us. I think its definitely a case that we had been spoiled for about 2 decades with what we had at underage and senior. In that period from 2000-2020 we won 2 O'Byrne Cups, some big league wins such as Kerry and others, Won a Division 3 & 4 and were unlucky not to stay in Division 2, became a very competitive team in the championship (Primarily the qualifiers), with some notable wins i.e Derry, Monaghan, Mayo and some near misses against Kerry & Tyrone. But we also produced it at Underage too having won 3 Leinster Minor titles and playing in i think 3 U21 finals. All of that really is an outlier for such a small county like ours, during this period of time we would have fancied our chances against anyone in the country in a one off game, those days are long gone and maybe its just a case that we have reverted to the mean for a county our size?

Hopefully the lads can regroup and try boost the confidence for next year with some wins in the TC and hope that theres another lever in a lot of the young players in our group to fight in Division 3 next year , and take it from there!

Longford Abú

LongfordSham (Longford) - Posts: 150 - 14/04/2026 08:54:03    2666301

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When Longford were top of Division 1 after defeating Kerry there were 16 teams in the senior championship. A much bigger issue has been the collapse in standards across the underage clubs. We have cleaned up with little to no opposition for a number of years now. That is far from boasting it is fact and it has not helped us at senior

liosbreac6265 (Longford) - Posts: 282 - 14/04/2026 10:43:42    2666315

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Replying To liosbreac6265:  "When Longford were top of Division 1 after defeating Kerry there were 16 teams in the senior championship. A much bigger issue has been the collapse in standards across the underage clubs. We have cleaned up with little to no opposition for a number of years now. That is far from boasting it is fact and it has not helped us at senior"
Its very worrying to see some amalgamations of large pockets of the counties joining up and still being on the receiving end of hammerings, even in Division 2 League or 'B' Championship games!! Fair play to Clonguish the last number of years at underage, great success, and they can only play whats in front of them , but it seems gone are the days of any sort of competitive formats at underage.

LongfordSham (Longford) - Posts: 150 - 14/04/2026 14:35:38    2666385

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