Longford to face Dubs in Leinster MFC final

May 08, 2024

A general view of footballs.

Longford and Dublin both left it late to secure their places in the Leinster MFC final last night.

Longford, who recorded a shock victory over Dublin in the round-robin series, reached their first provincial final since 2015 after Cian O'Donnell's injury-time point gave them a 0-11 to 0-10 victory over Louth at Glennon Brothers Pearse Park.

Seeking to emulate their senior and U20 counterparts by reaching the Leinster final, Louth came flying out of the blocks to lead by 0-6 to 0-1 at the end of the first quarter, with Cillian McQuillan and Andrew O'Reilly scoring two point each. But the hosts rallied to trail by 0-5 to 0-7 at the interval before O'Donnell halved the deficit straight after the restart.

The Wee County pulled clear again with points from Tom Maguire, Conor Clinton and Luke Keenan before a wasteful Longford finally clicked into gear by registering the last five points per James Hagan (two), Conor Doherty and Cian O’Donnell (two). 

There was also late drama in Hawkfield where two goals in the last three minutes from Senan Bolger and Shane Devane handed Dublin an unlikely 2-10 to 1-12 win over Kildare.

Kildare led by 0-6 to 0-5 at half-time before Ronan Kelly's 38th mintue goal and points from substitutes Austin Donegan and Dylan O'Dwyer stretched their advantage.

But Dublin refused to accept defeat and stormed back to take the lead before O'Dwyer missed a late free to force extra-time.

 


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