Longford minors battle back to beat Westmeath in the Seamus Heaney Cup

Longford . . . 1-15    Westmeath . . . 3-7 

Extra-time was looming with the sides all square going into stoppage time but Longford took the lead when substitute Cormac Flynn shot over the bar after he was fouled by Westmeath defender Aodhan Curran who was sent-off for the tough tackle.

While the visitors were now down to 13 players after another one of their players was branded with a black card in the 57th minute, it looked like they had snatched a dramatic last gasp winning goal in a scramble but the umpires were adamant that the ball had not crossed the line in the sixth minute of additional time. 

Westmeath were furious as the danger was cleared and Longford made absolutely certain of the hard earned victory when Cormac Flynn (Kilmore) landed a point.

The reward for Tony Devlin’s gutsy charges is another home match in the Seamus Heaney Cup quarter-final against Carlow on Tuesday evening next (May 16), throw-in 7pm.  

In the special competition confined to the counties who do not qualify for the Leinster Minor Championship semi-finals, Longford trailed by 1-3 to 0-1 in the early stages of the game with James Mitchell scoring the Westmeath goal in the 8th minute. 

Longford came storming back to register 1-3 in succession, the goal coming from full-forward Luke Donnelly while the points were kicked by Patrick Mollahan (two frees) and Davin Donnelly. 

While Westmeath failed to convert a penalty in the 18th minute when Daire O’Connor had his shot well saved by the Longford keeper Darragh Egan, two goals in quick succession (24th & 25th minutes) from Kealan Connell put the Lake county back in control.

The boys in maroon ended up leading by 3-4 to 1-6 at the break with the other Longford scores in the first half coming from Kevin Baskett, Davin Donnelly and James Hagan (free).

The exciting wide open encounter continued in the second half with courageous Longford coming out on top after clocking up the impressive total of nine points on the changeover.

 Patrick Mollahan (three frees), wing back Jack Fitzpatrick (a cracking strike), James Hagan (free), Davin Donnelly, a brace from Cormac Flynn (1 free) and the other Cormac Flynn got the crucial scores. 

Longford also created a few goal chances which they failed to convert, most notably the point-blank effort from Luke Donnelly which was saved by the opposing keeper Luke Nicholson in stoppage time. 

Westmeath were restricted to just three points in the second half through Paul Keegan, Shane Cully and Aodhan Curran and their cause was clearly hampered by the black card for full-back Cian Whitney midway through the second half.    

LONGFORD: Darragh Egan (Carrickedmond); Ryan Keogh (Killoe), Patrick Clancy (Killashee), Daniel Lee (Killoe); Kevin Baskett (Clonguish, 0-1), Alex Nugent (Mostrim), Jack Fitzpatrick (Killoe, 0-1); Shane Donohoe (Killoe), Sean Egan (Carrickedmond); Jamie Dorr (Clonguish), Davin Donnelly (Killoe, 0-3), Cormac Flynn (Kilmore, Clonguish, 0-1); Patrick Mollahan (Killashee, 0-5, all frees), Luke Donnelly (Colmcille, 1-0), James Hagan (Clonguish, 0-2, frees).

Subs:- Tommy Killian (Killashee) for S Donohoe (half-time); Conor Doherty (Killoe) for K Baskett (half-time); Cormac Flynn (Clonguish, 0-2, 1 free) forJ Dorr (40 mins); Daniel Carey (Clonguish) for J Hagan (48 mins); Marc Cooney (Clonguish) for J Fitzpatrick (injured, 54 mins). 

WESTMEATH: Luke Nicholson; Aidan Maguire, Cian Whitney, Ruairi Doonan; Neale Pierson, Jack Murtagh, Aodhan Curran (0-1); Ryan Kelly (0-1), James Mitchell (1-0); Callum Rigney (0-1), Daire O’Connor (0-1), Cillian Geary; Shane Cully (0-2), Kealan Connell (2-0), Matthew Thornton.

Subs:- Paul Keegan (0-1) for C Geary (26 mins); Conor Leech for R Doonan (42 mins); Daire O’Brien for C Rigney (60 mins). 

Referee: Kieran Olwell (Meath).