Longwood 1-17 Drumbaragh 3-17

After the high of an opening round victory, Longwood experienced the low of championship defeat in an absorbing tussle with Drumbaragh on a sunny Sunday afternoon in Boardsmill.

The final scoreline was harsh on Longwood.  Trailing by three points deep into stoppage time, Longwood were pushing for what would have been an equalising goal only to see Drumbaragh turn them over and break up the field with Jimmy Corcoran slotting home a goal with the last kick of the game.  That said, it would be hard to argue that Drumbaragh did not deserve their victory.  

It had all started so differently.  Longwood may have been a little sluggish in the opening exchanges but soon settled, building a 1-6 to 0-2 lead with twenty minutes on the clock.  The forward line looked sharp with all six forwards getting on the scoresheet in this period of dominance; Harry Hogan kicking an excellent two-pointer while Sean Coloe, playing through the pain barrier, raised a green flag with a strong finish at the back post.

Ironically this period of dominance coincided with Longwood being a man down, Ciaran Sheridan harshly black-carded after six minutes.

A third pointed free from Hughie Corcoran reduced the deficit to six points.  And then a major turning point – Longwood cut through the Drumbaragh defence, the ball reaching Gavin Griffith whose goal bound shot was well saved by the Drums netminder.  Within little more than a minute the ball was in the opposite net, Jake Madden finding himself in space in front of the Longwood goal and finishing with aplomb.

Drumbaragh’s tails were up and they drew level with further points from Corcoran and Madden.

Credit to Longwood, they responded well in the closing minutes of the half.  As he has done so often in the past, Ryan Moore was man for the moment, kicking an excellent free and following it up with an outrageous two-pointer from play from out near the left-hand sideline.  

Half-time: Longwood 1-9 Drumbaragh 1-6

Aided by the breeze in the second half, Drumbaragh started strongly. Liam Ward was the main contributor with a brace of two-pointers, one from play and one from a placed ball.  Longwood responded with a Gavin Griffith point.

But Drumbaragh were on the up and another Ward two-pointer gave them a three-point lead midway through the second half.  A controversial red card for Longwood’s Ciaran Sheridan was followed almost immediately by a black card for Sean Coloe and the men in white were down to thirteen.  Shea McManus scored a fine goal for Drumbaragh and Longwood’s race appeared to have been run.

But to their immense credit, Longwood never gave up.  They showed tremendous resilience, kicking four successive points courtesy of Mickey Burke and Ryan Moore to reduce the deficit to just three points as the game slipped into injury time.  

Dominic Finnegan’s move out the field was paying dividends, and he caused havoc in the Drumbaragh defence with his powerful runs.  It took a number of cynical, some might say clever, fouls to stop his progress but I suppose the ends justify the means.

Try as they might, Longwood couldn’t fashion an equalising goal and they finally succumbed to the sucker-punch of a breakaway goal in the game’s final act.

So a disappointing day for Longwood.  As always, the player’s efforts could not be questioned.  They left everything on the pitch.  And thanks to their opening round win, they are still very much alive in championship 2025.

Longwood: Kevin Maguire, Sean Carpenter, Dominic Finnegan, Tomás O’Brien, Brian Stagg, Niall Mulvey (Capt.), Ciaran Sheridan, Sean Sheridan (0-1), Damien Healy, Mickey Burke (0-4), Harry Hogan (0-2), Gavin Griffith (0-1), Ryan Moore (0-8), Sean Coloe (1-0), Adrian Maguire (0-1).  Subs: Harry Leigh for Brian Stagg, Anthony Healy for Adrian Maguire, Tadhg Connolly for Gavin Griffith, Joe Stenson for Sean Carpenter, Ben McLoughlin, Conor M Dixon, Cian O’Sullivan, Cian Colgan, Jason Kerrigan.

Next up for the lads is a Senior Hurling Championship match against Clann Na nGael on Saturday evening before the group stages of the Intermediate Football Championship conclude the following Thursday evening with a game against Oldcastle.  

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