Longford ladies beaten by Antrim and now face Offaly in relegation play-off

Antrim . . . 1-18   Longford . . . 0-8

Following the resignation of the manager Alan Mullen after the loss against Westmeath in Round 1 the previous weekend, Sean Meenaghan (Slashers) took charge of the county team for the long trip north.

Meenaghan will remain in the caretaker role for the relegation play-off against Offaly on Saturday week, July 8th in the battle to avoid the drop down into the Junior grade next year. 

Without injured trio Kate Shannon, Ciara Mulligan and Shauna McCormack, Longford started well against Antrim, scoring a point with a great left footed strike from Grace Shannon. From then on, the midlanders had to work extremely hard all over the pitch.

Longford created some good chances with Grace Shannon scoring five points in the first half and the midfielder was denied a goal following a great save from the Antrim keeper.

The visitors were forced to make an early substitution about ten minutes in with Ella Duggan being replaced by Rachel Fallon. Antrim executed some exceptional points and led by 0-12 to 0-5 at half-time.

Longford scored a couple of points on the resumption but were reduced to 14 players in a significant setback midway through the second half when Maria Kelleher was sent to the sin-bin for a ten minute period after receiving a yellow card.

A penalty was awarded to Antrim which was drilled to the back of the net and the home county were denied a second goal soon after when Longford keeper Riane McGrath produced a fine save. 

Antrim ran out emphatic winners in the end and last year’s All-Ireland Junior champions are shaping up as possible All-Ireland Intermediate title contenders as their rapid progress gathers momentum.   

Particularly prominent for the gallant losers were Grace Shannon, Katie Crawford, Funmi Talabi, Leanne Keegan and Emma Doris and Longford would appear to have a good chance of beating Offaly in the relegation play-off. 

LONGFORD: Rianne McGrath; Ella Duggan,  Leanne Keegan, Emma Doris; Caoimhe McCormack, Eimear O’Brien, Maria Kelleher; Funmi Talabi, Grace Shannon (0-7, 2 frees); Megan Glennon, Aisling Cosgrove, Katie Crawford (0-1); Katelyn McKeon, Ella O’Reilly, Grace Kenny. 

Subs:- Rachel Fallon for E Duggan (injured, 10 mins); Hannah Glennon for K McKeon, Edel Sheehy for M Glennon, Ruth Jones for R McGrath and Sarah Macken for G Kenny (all in the second half).