Longford hammered by Westmeath in humiliating defeat

Westmeath . . . 4-16     Longford . . . 0-9 

It was hard to believe that wind assisted Longford actually led by four points approaching the break in the National Football League Division 3 clash at Glennon Brothers Pearse Park on Sunday but Westmeath closed the gap with a crucial scoring burst in the closing stages of the first half.

Thus the home county had to be content with a slender 0-8 to 0-7 advantage going into the second half with Dessie Reynolds firing over four of the points while Daniel Mimnagh, David McGivney (2) and Joseph Hagan also got  their names on the scoresheet. 

While it was always going to be a real uphill battle against the wind, a total collapse materialised on the changeover in a cause of serious concern for the new manager Paddy Christie. 

It remains to be seen what Christie can do to halt the slide into a probable relegation battle and the next fixture in a couple of weeks time is another extremely tough task against unbeaten Cavan at Kingspan Breffni Park. 

Many mistakes were punished by the lethal Westmeath attack and from the moment a poor kick-out by keeper Paddy Collum led directly to the first goal in the 43rd minute the writing was on the wall for Longford. 

A strong start to the second half also yielded a point apiece from John Heslin (free), wing back Nigel Harte and Ronan O’Toole and when Ray Connellan made the vital interception to put Luke Loughin clean through to finish the ball to the net, Westmeath were five points ahead (1-10 to 0-8) in a complete  turnaround. 

Longford conceded another 1-3 and the second goal was also a gift as Paddy Collum dropped a dipping speculative shot and the alert Lorcan Dolan pounced to raise another green flag in the 53rd minute.

As it turned out, Longford conceded 2-9 without reply when the Westmeath machine eventually clicked into top gear before the rattled home side eventually got their only score in the second half when Darren Gallagher burst his way through to shoot over the bar in the 55th minute. 

That was a very poor return, to say the least, and rampant Westmeath were showing no mercy as they added another 2-3 to their most emphatic tally during the remainder of the match.

John Heslin (66 mins) and Sam McCartan (stoppage time) scored the goals to complete the demolition job and Longford suffered some more horror in this nightmare experience in ending up with 13 players on the pitch.

Yellow and black card offences saw David McGivney (69 mins) and Andrew Farrell (stoppage time) sent-off and Paddy Christie and his fellow mentors were left to reflect on a very demoralising defeat - another reality check in the aftermath of the O’Byrne Cup success.  

LONGFORD: Paddy Collum (Fr Manning Gaels); Patrick Fox (Mullinalaghta), Andrew Farrell (Cashel), PJ Masterson (Abbeylara); Ryan Moffett (Killoe), Gary Rogers (Mullinalaghta), Iarla O’Sullivan (Rathcline); Darren Gallagher (Granard, 0-1), Fergal Sheridan (Colmcille); Michael Quinn (Killoe), Daniel Mimnagh (Killoe, 0-1), Keelin McGann (Kenagh); Joseph Hagan (Dromard, 0-1), David McGivney (Mullinalaghta, 0-2, 1f), Dessie Reynolds (Sean Connolly’s, 0-4, 1m). 

Subs:- Rian Brady (Mullinalaghta) for K McGann (52 mins); Peter Lynn (Longford Slashers) for G Rogers (52 mins); Jack Macken (Colmcille) for F Sheridan (52 mins); Peter Foy (St Loman’s Mullingar) for D Mimnagh (64 mins).

WESTMEATH: Jason Daly; James Dolan, Kevin Maguire, Daniel Scahill; Sam McCartan (1-1), Ronan Wallace, Nigel Harte (0-1); Ray Connellan (0-1), Sam Duncan; Conor McCormack (0-2), Ronan O’Toole (0-1), Senan Baker (0-1); Lorcan Dolan (1-1), John Heslin (1-5, 5f), Luke Loughlin (1-1).   

Subs:- Stephen Smith (0-2) for L Dolan (57 mins); Kieran Martin for S Baker (60 mins); Conor Dillon for J Dolan (61 mins); Andy McCormack for S Duncan (67 mins); Shane Dempsey for L Loughlin (67 mins).   

Referee: Niall McKenna (Monaghan).