Late Longford surge sees Louth miss out on minor final

Louth 0-10

Longford 0-11

Five unanswered scores down the home straight including two late frees from the outstanding Cian O’Donnell saw Louth cruelly denied a place in a Leinster Minor Final after Johnny Clerkin’s side lost out by the slenderest of margins, in a game where they led until the final few minutes.

Upon reflection, the Wee County will surely wonder how they lost out in this clash, as they were seemingly in control for large spells, leading by three and four points on different occasions, thanks to some free flowing football, particularly in the first half, which saw them lead by 0-6 to 0-1 inside 16 minutes.

At this point, Louth were causing the home side particular havoc down their opponents’ right hand side, with Michael O’Shaughnessy and Michael McGlew combining effectively on that side, and forward Cillian McQuillan profiting with two early strikes to settle the visitors down early doors, as backing Longford players struggled to get close to their opponents. McGlew saw plenty of the ball over the hour, finishing with 43 possessions. 

Longford struggled early on but managed to get their opening score when James Shannon, whose sister Grace lined out for the Longford ladies side against Louth last week, found the lively Cian O’Donnell who pointed from play.

With players like Ben McKeown and Ciaran Devine marshalling that Louth defence, with Ewan Hoban as sweeper, Louth still maintained that early control, with Michael McGlew the latest player to profit from a flowing moving down their left flank, before two accurate Andrew O’Reilly strikes either side of a Donnacha Skinnader effort from close range following another fine move through the hands from Louth saw the Wee County lead by 0-6 to 0-1 inside 20 minutes. Alongside McGlew, Donnacha Skinnader once again was influential, driving at the opposition with every opportunity, finishing with 42 possessions over the hour himself. 

Louth’s kick out also deserves praise, with the visitors able to get their restarts away briskly, with players like Fionn Coyle, Ben McKeown, Ewan Hoban and Tom Maguire key reasons why Louth won 16 out of 18 on their own kickout in this game. 

The only regret that Louth may have from this opening half is that their lead wasn’t greater. An Andrew O’Reilly strike from range was spilled by Longford keeper James Ross, with Brendan Cassidy inches away from getting a telling touch.

Louth were also guilty of some loose passing, and a fine Cian O’Donnell strike, followed by a James Hagan free left three between the sides after 20 minutes.

A Cillian McQuillan free did stretch Louth’s lead to four, however two further James Hagan strikes, with the latter coming from play following a key turnover from Mark Cooney left the gap between the sides at two points, with Louth leading by 0-7 to 0-5 at the break. 

Second Half:

Things seemed to still going to plan for the visitors, as by the end of the third quarter, they led Longford by 0-10 to 0-6, and still managed to maintain a sense of control on proceedings.

Following an early Cian O’Donnell free, Donnacha Skinnader and Luke Keenan cleverly combined for the latter to find the marauding Tom Maguire in behind the defence, with Maguire’s effort fizzing over the bar.

Skinnader and McGlew once again combined to set up Conor Clinton for a fine strike from play, before Luke Keenan turned on the loop to put four between the sides after 42 minutes.

However, Keenan’s register was the last time that Louth would make an impression on the scoreboard, as Longford who were backed by a strong, vocal home support put the squeeze on their opponents in that final quarter.

Louth were once again guilty of some sloppy play in possession, and following a mix up when coming out with the ball, James Hagan’s effort for goal flew wide, but referee Eamon O’Connor brought the play back for a free, which Hagan converted.

The home support smelt blood, and Sean Fagan later set up Conor Doherty to close the gap to two points at 0-10 to 0-8 with 10 minutes remaining.

With the home crowd becoming more and more vocal and with Louth reduced to 14 men following Tom Maguire’s black card which was a blow to the Wee County, Longford kept pushing, and James Hagan was unfortunate to see his palmed effort loop over the bar instead of under it, which closed that margin to a point again, before deep into added time, Cian O’Donnell showed steady nerves to send his county into next week’s Leinster Minor Final with two late frees as Louth were just pipped by a point in a cruel fashion. 

However despite this agonising defeat, the Wee County can still look back on this Leinster campaign with pride, and with a lot of this young squad eligible to play under this age group next year, you could argue that the best is yet to come. 

Louth: Senon Connolly; Fionn Coyle, Ben McKeown, Ciaran Devine; Conor Clinton (0-1), Donnacha Skinnader (0-1), Michael McGlew (0-1); Tom Maguire (0-1), Michael O’Shaughnessy; Tadgh Devanney, Luke Keenan (0-1), Cillian McQuillan (0-3) (1f); Andrew O’Reilly (0-2), Brendan Cassidy, Ewan Hoban.

Subs: Joe Hanlon for O’Reilly (37), Ryan Nugent for Keenan (49), Flynn Markey for Cassidy (61).

Longford: James Ross; Alan Mimnagh, Conor McHugh, Darragh Mulligan; Conor Doherty (0-1), Mark Cooney, Ben Blessington; Sean Fagan, Peter Farrell; James Shannon, Cian O’Donnell (0-5) (3f), Cormac Flynn; James Hagan (0-5) (3f), Joshua Marsh, Karl O’Hara.

Subs: Liam Greene for O’Hara (HT), Luke Donnelly for Farrell (42), Oisin Kane for Shannon (42), Keelan Hudson for Mulligan (53).

Referee: Eamon O’Connor (Co Offaly).