Round-up: Allianz FL D4 action
Longford senior football team manager Mike Solan. Photo by Ray McManus/Sportsfile
Allianz Football League Division Four
Antrim 0-18 London 1-14
Carlow 4-22 Leitrim 2-5
Longford 2-21 Wicklow 2-20
Tipperary 4-19 Waterford 0-18
Carlow cruised to promotion as Longford left it late to join them in moving up to Division Three in 2027.
Joe Murphy’s Carlow crushed Leitrim by 23 points at Netwatch Cullen Park in a game which they dominated from halfway through the first half onwards.
After losing back to back games to Longford and London, Carlow’s promotion push was threatening to come off the rails.
When it mattered most they responded in emphatic fashion despite trailing early on when Michael McKiernan and Fergal McLoughlin both hit the net for Leitrim.
In between those majors, Colm Hutton goaled for Carlow and then Ross Dunphy and Liam Gavin came to the party in a major way, sharing the next five points, three from Dunphy and two from Gavin.
The key score was John Murphy’s 41st minute goal for Carlow, which gave them a 2-12 to 2-8 lead and from there they never looked back, with Conor Doyle’s two pointer and further majors coming from John Phiri and Jamie Clarke.
Longford could hardly have secured promotion in a more different way as their late surge broke Wicklow hearts at Glennon Brothers Pearse Park.
Daniel Reynolds hit the winning point five minutes into stoppage time after Joseph Hagan had equalised a minute earlier. Hagan had earlier tied it up on 72 minutes.
Paddy Moran’s goal on 67 minutes blew the game wide open and reduced Wicklow’s lead from four points to one, in a game where they led by 10 points on 53 minutes before Oisin O’Toole’s 61st minute major gave Longford hope.
All Wicklow needed was a draw to go up, with Longford having to win - and the home side just about got there.
Elsewhere, if London had managed to overcome Antrim rather than coming up short by a point, they would have been promoted to Division Three, by virtue of finishing level with Longford and beating them on the head to head.
A red card for key scorer Ciaran Diver just before half-time hurt their chances, but they kept fighting and Nathan Feeney’s goal, as well as a pair of two point frees from Joe McGill made it uncomfortable for Antrim at Cargin. McGill hit 0-8, with 0-6 coming from dead ball.
In the final Division Four game of the day Tipperary warmed up for their Munster Championship opener against Waterford on April 12 by defeating them by 13 points at FBD Semple Stadium.
A Sean O’Connor hat-trick of goals, including one from a penalty, and another goal from Joe Higgins were the key scores for Tipp, who shot out into a 1-4 to 0-0 lead early on and never looked back.
