Laois knock courageous Longford U-20s out of the championship

Laois . . . 2-12   Longford . . . 2-9 

The result in Portlaoise means that Longford are out of the championship and thus there is nothing at stake in the remaining group fixture away to Carlow on Tuesday night next. 

It was a courageous display from Longford and Laois (who beat Carlow in Round 1) needed a late flurry of points to emerge victorious to clinch at least a Leinster quarter-final spot with Meath also qualified from Group 1.  

Longford were well beaten by Meath (0-12 to 0-4) in their championship opener last week and got off to the worst possible start again.

 Oisin Hooney opened the scoring for Laois inside the 3rd minute before Jack Byrne burst through the Longford defence, picking out David Costello who put the ball beyond the opposing keeper Oisin McManus for a very early goal.  

Cormac Murphy opened his account in the 10th minute before Laois got in for their second goal five minutes later thanks to a brilliant run and finish from Hooney. Shaun Fitzpatrick and Costello tagged on a couple of points to make it a ten-point game; 2-4 to 0-0.  

Longford got in for their first score in the 19th minute – a rocket of a goal from Caolan Lynch. The corner-forward added another two scores as he inspired his team to an extraordinary comeback. Michael Flynn pointed twice in the last minute of the first half to leave Longford trailing by just two points; 2-5 to 1-6 at the break. 

The visitors opened the scoring in the second half with the first free of the game through Matthew Flynn before Dunne hit straight back. 

Longford were camped in the Laois half for the following six minutes and finally drew a mistake from the hosts, which Micheal Hynes punished with a goal to put the visitors in front for the first time, 2-7 to 2-6.  

The sides traded scores for the next ten minutes before a point from Costello brought Laois level with nine minutes remaining.

 Conor Heffernan put the hosts back in front in the 57th minute and substitute Cathal Lee added another 60 seconds later. Costello tagged on one more score in stoppage time to seal victory for the home side. 

SCORERS – Laois: David Costello 1-3, Oisin Hooney 1-1, Colin Dunne 0-3 (1f), Shaun Fitzpatrick, Cormac Murphy, Conor Heffernan, Jonah Kelly and Cathal Lee 0-1 each.

Longford: Caolan Lynch 1-2, Micheal Hynes 1-1, Michael Flynn 0-3, Matthew Flynn 0-2 (1f), Ronan Courtney 0-1. 

LAOIS: Conor Brown; Stephen Lennon, Ben Dempsey, Sean McGrath; Conor McWey, Simon Fingleton, Darragh Slevin; Ben Reddin, Conor Heffernan; Cormac Murphy, Oisin Hooney, Shaun Fitzpatrick; David Costello, Jack Byrne, Colin Dunne.

Subs:- David McEvoy for C Murphy (36 mins); Tom Fennelly for B Reddin (42 mins); Jonah Kelly for O Hooney (47 mins); Cathal Lee  for C Dunne (54 mins). 

LONGFORD: Oisin McManus (Killoe); Darragh Finlass (Ballymahon), Sean Morgan (Longford Slashers), Cian Sutton (Clonguish); Oisin O’Toole (Dromard), Dylan Lynch (Sean Connolly’s), Ronan Courtney (Mostrim); Ben Lynn (Longford Slashers), Matt Duffy (Dromard); Matthew Flynn (Clonguish), Micheal Hynes (Granard), Gavin Farrelly (Killoe); Michael Flynn (Clonguish), Jamie Brady Hynes (Granard), Caolan Lynch (Abbeylara).

Subs:- Jason Glancy (Clonguish) for J Brady Hynes (24 mins); Diarmuid Farrell (Ardagh Moydow) for D Lynch (52 mins), Jack Walshe (Ballymahon) for G Farrelly (54 mins); Josh Sorohan (Clonguish) for R Courtney (60 mins). 

Referee: Eamonn O’Connor (Offaly).