St Brigid's 0-12 Longwood 2-4

Longwood’s early morning trek to Ballinacree (I think we departed just after dawn!) ultimately proved to be fruitless but they competed strongly for the hour and, with a little more composure in front of goal, could well have taken at least a point to the bank.

Last week’s opening round success seemed to have had the desired effect and Longwood opened confidently, a Ryan Moore goal from play, his second in as many games, proving to be an excellent settler.  

With county star Harry Hogan featuring prominently in the centre half forward position, Longwood secured plenty of possession and kicked three excellent points, two from Hogan and one from Anthony Healy in the opening quarter.

St Brigid’s responded well and a run of three successive points saw them take a 0-7 to 1-3 lead to the interval.

As they had done in the opening period, Longwood were the dominant team in the early stages of the second half.  Sadly, this dominance was not reflected on the scoreboard.  Twice they were denied by the woodwork, shots from Niall Mulvey and Ryan Moore rebounding to safety on both occasions.  There were also a number of poor wides, albeit a swirling wind made it difficult for both sides.  

A Ryan Moore free brought the sides level but the home team responded immediately with a point of their own.  Thereafter, an excellent Longwood move saw the ball transferred to a marauding Niall Mulvey and the captain bore down on goal before dispatching the ball to the roof of the net.  A clinical finish and Longwood led by two.  

Try as they might, the boys could not add to their tally over the closing ten minutes.  St Brigid’s would register the last four points of the contest to edge over the line.  Longwood's young goalkeeper Sandijs Buls pulled off a couple of outstanding saves in the closing minutes to keep Longwood's hopes alive but it was not to be.

So no tangible reward for the players efforts but the early signs are certainly positive.  We look forward to seeing the boys perform over the coming rounds of the league.

Longwood: Sandijs Buls, Cian O’Sullivan, Sean Carpenter, Adam Leacy, Dominic Finnegan, Tomás O’Brien, Adrian Maguire, Niall Mulvey (1-0), Bob Maguire, David Coloe, Harry Hogan (0-2), Ryan Moore (1-1), Ben McLoughlin, Anthony Healy (0-1), Louis Butler.  Subs: Malachy Fisher for David Coloe, Josh Meagher for Ben McLoughlin, Mark Kennedy for Adrian Maguire, Conor Dixon for Louis Butler, Sam King for Anthony Healy, Jason Kerrigan, Liam Foran.  

Next weekend sees the start of the Senior Hurling League and Longwood will host Rathmolyon on Friday night. 

 

 

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