Allianz Football League Division 3

LONGFORD 1-16 WESTMEATH 1-12

By Kevin Egan at Glennon Brothers Pearse Park

Longford will have the chance to secure promotion on home soil next weekend after a late Conor Berry goal wrapped up a fully-deserved four-point win over Westmeath at Glennon Brothers Pearse Park this afternoon.

Denis Connerton’s side controlled the middle third of the field for long stretches of the game and enjoyed enough possession to record their win despite shooting twelve wides and failing to convert a number of goal chances over the course of the 70 minutes.

Westmeath ended the game with 13 men but while John Egan’s straight red card in injury time was inconsequential, playing for nearly 25 minutes without corner back Jamie Gonoud proved to be a bridge too far for Westmeath, whose promotion chances were effectively ended by this defeat.

Fingers and toes might have been blue with the cold as occasional flakes of snow drifted across the home of Longford GAA this afternoon, but the quality of the football in the opening half certainly warmed the hearts of those in attendance, as these two sides played a high tempo game that ebbed and flowed over the course of an enthralling first 35 minutes.

The home side had the aid of the breeze in the opening half but it was Westmeath who made light of that handicap in the early minutes as they played some scintillating football, kicking five points in the first 12 minutes, three of them from play.

Luke Loughlin and John Egan kicked particularly impressive scores but that proved to be one of the few times that Egan ventured forward as he spent most of the half operating as a sweeper, a move which backfired spectacularly as the game went on.

Egan’s marker was Barry McKeon and with no direct defensive responsibility, he moved up to provide extra support around midfield, where he ran riot. The Colmcille man picked up a number of breaking balls but he also kicked two points of his own and set up another two as Longford moved into an 0-8 to 0-6 lead.

A kickout from Eoin Carberry that flew over the head of all the midfielders and ran to Luke Loughlin started a move that ended up with Ger Egan punching the ball to the Longford net after half an hour, but the hosts rallied again and with every one of their forwards in good scoring form, they took an 0-12 to 1-7 lead into the dressing room.

John Connellan fired the ball over the bar with the goal at his mercy immediately after half time, having scooped up the rebound when Paddy Collum made a superb save to deny James Dolan a goal, but Westmeath’s key men were finding the going tough in the face of superb defensive play from Diarmuid Masterson, Donal McElligott and Barry Gilleran across the Longford half back line.

Padraig McCormack also got the better of his battle with John Heslin and while the scores dried up in the second half, Longford continued to play the better attacking football.

Two magnificent second half scores from Luke Loughlin kept Westmeath within striking distance, even after Gonoud’s dismissal, but they were always just hanging on and when Barry McKeon made yet another darting run to set up an easy finish for Conor Berry at the death, Longford’s victory was assured.

**Scorers for Longford: **Conor Berry 1-2, David McGivney 0-3 (0-2f), Rian Brady, Barry McKeon & Robbie Smyth (0-1f) 0-2 each, Andrew Farrell, Dessie Reynolds, Daniel Mimnagh, Darren Gallagher & Diarmuid Masterson 0-1 each.

**Scorers for Westmeath: **John Heslin 0-5f, Ger Egan 1-0, Luke Loughlin 0-3, Kieran Martin 0-2, John Egan & John Connellan 0-1 each.

LONGFORD: Paddy Collum; Barry McKeon, Padraig McCormack, Patrick Fox; Barry Gilleran, Donal McElligott, Diarmuid Masterson; David McGivney, Darren Gallagher; Daniel Mimnagh, Conor Berry, Dessie Reynolds; Robbie Smyth, Andrew Farrell, Rian Brady. Subs: Pauric Gill for Farrell (53), Peter Foy for Gilleran (67), James McGivney for Reynolds (67) Darren Quinn for James McGivney (70+1, bc), Mark Nally for Gallagher (70+2), Shane Donohoe for Masterson (70+3)

**WESTMEATH: **Eoin Carberry; Jamie Gonoud, Frank Boyle, Mark McCallon; Noel Mulligan, Ronan Wallace, James Dolan; Denis Corroon, Alan Stone; Kieran Martin, Ger Egan, Luke Loughlin; Callum McCormack, John Heslin, John Egan. **Subs: **John Connellan for Stone (27), David Lynch for Mulligan (35+1), Ronan O’Toole for McCormack (49), Boidu Sayeh for Boyle (52)

**Referee: **Jerome Henry (Mayo)