Longford senior footballers left to lament on a very poor season

The jury is out as to whether former Dublin star Paddy Christie is the right man for the job and while Longford were unlucky not to beat Offaly in the opening round of the Leinster Championship, relegation to Division 4 of the National Football League was a major blow. 

Under the guidance of Christie in his first season in charge, the midlanders only managed to win one game in Division 3 and that was the meaningless final round fixture against Antrim with the demotion issue already decided.

 While just a solitary victory was registered from a total of four games in the 2023 Tailteann Cup at home to Wicklow, it must be said that Longford produced an excellent performance in the first half of the preliminary quarter-final against Down at Pairc Esler in Newry on Saturday evening last.

 The committed players deserve a lot of credit for making it extremely difficult for the red-hot favourites but squandered the opportunity of springing a shock after missing three clear-cut goal chances approaching the break.

Longford still led by 1-8 to 0-8 at half-time with Joseph Hagan scoring the goal in the 28th minute but the course of the game changed completely in the second half as dominant Down outscored the underdogs by 1-12 to 0-4.  

Speaking to the dejected players after the game in Newry, the manager Paddy Christie believes that Longford are on an “upward curve” but the target of promotion from Division 4 next year will be hard earned with tricky fixtures against Laois, Wexford, Tipperary, Carlow and Leitrim - not forgetting Waterford and London.