Leinster Senior Football Championship First Round

Offaly 2-21 Longford 2-13

By John Harrington at O'Connor Park

It was a long time coming, but Offaly’s first win in the Leinster SFC for nine years felt all the sweeter for their supporters because of that.

The fact that they beat Longford to claim it would have added to their satisfaction because they suffered a stinging defeat against the same opposition in the same venue this time last year. That day they contrived to lose a seven-point lead in the second-half, but having built a winning position in this match they never looked like letting it slip.

The game was won and lost between the 17th minute of the first-half and 45th minute of the second-half during which time Offaly outscored Longford by 10 points to none. That helped them into an eight point lead, and by the final whistle the same buffer separated the two teams.

The home team were full value for their convincing victory. They had stand-out performers in players like Eoin Carroll, Niall McNamee, Peter Cunningham, and Joe O’Connor and were a cut above Longford in all areas of the pitch.

Pat Flanagan's team enjoyed a positive start to the match and were 0-3 to 0-1 ahead after five minutes, but they then had the stuffing knocked out of them when they conceded a very soft goal. There seemed to be little danger when Alan Mulhall raced from his goal to intercept a shot from Barry McKeon that was falling short. But the ball took a big bounce and went clear over the Offaly goalkeepers head on its way to the back of the net.

That gift of a goal seemed to give Longford a surge of belief, because they dominated the next ten minutes of the match as they outscored Offaly by five points to two. They had a firm grip on the middle third of the field during this period, as Offaly found it particularly difficult to win possession off their own kick-outs.

A lot of ball was making its way into the Longford attack, and Robbie Smyth in particular was making the most of it as he hit three nice first-half points. Longford were ahead by 1-6 to 1-4 after 17 minutes, but, amazingly, they would not score again in the half.

Offaly suddenly go the bit between their teeth as forward Peter Cunningham drove them forward from centre-back, midfielders Eoin Carroll and Niall Smith started getting on more ball, and forwards like Graham Guilfoyle, Niall McNamee and Bernard Allen caught fire. They hit eight unanswered points before half-time with the pick of the bunch the last one from Niall McNamee as he went on a mazy 50 yard run before firing it over to give his team a 1-12 to 1-6 lead at the interval.

Points from Michael Brazil and Nigel Dunne kept Offaly ticking over early in the second half before James McGivney eventually scored Longford’s first point for 28 minutes. Another McGivney point had Longford within five of Offaly by the 53rd minute, but then the home team struck a decisive blow when Niall Smith got on the end of a flowing move to flick the ball past the Paddy Collum for Offaly’s second-goal.

Robbie Smith did hit back with a goal of his own for Longford, but it was sandwiched by five more Offaly points as the home team kept a tight grip on the contest. Their first win in the Leinster Championship since 2007 came in some style, and they now advance to a quarter-final showdown with neighbours Westmeath with real momentum.

Scorers for Offaly: Niall Smith 1-1, Bernard Allen 0-4 (2f), Niall McNamee 0-4, Nigel Dunne 0-4 (1 ’45, 1f), Graham Guilfoyle 1-0, Anton Sullivan 0-2, Peter Cunningham 0-2, Eoin Carroll 0-1, Michael Brazil 0-1, Johnny Moloney 0-1, Joey O’Connor 0-1.

Scorers for Longford: Robbie Smyth 1-5 (2f), Barry McKeon 1-1, James McGivney 0-4, Darren Gallagher 0-1, Colm P Smyth 0-1, Mickey Quinn 0-1 (1’45).

**Offaly: **Alan Mulhall; Brian Darby, Eoin Rigney, Sean Pender; Niall Darby, Peter Cunningham, Joey O’Connor; Eoin Carroll, Niall Smith; Johnny Moloney, Nigel Dunne, Michael Brazil; Bernard Allen, Niall McNamee, Graham Guilfoyle.

Subs: Anton Sullivan for Michael Brazil (53), Sean Doyle for Bernard Allen (66), Nigel Bracken for Nigel Dunne (67), Cian Donohue for Brian Darby (70), Jason Gethings for Graham Guilfoyle (74).

Longford: Paddy Collum; Dermot Brady, Barry Gilleran, Andrew Farrell; Darren Gallagher, Donal McElligott, Barry O’Farrell; Diarmuid Masterson, Michael Quinn; Dessie Reynolds, James McGivney, Barry McKeon; Paul McKeon Brian Kavanagh, Robbie Smyth.

Subs: Paul McGee for Andrew Farrell, Michael Brady for Paul McKeon, Colm P Smyth for Dessie Reynolds (all ht), Rory Connor for Darren Gallagher (53), Mark Hughes for Brian Kavanagh (58), Brian Farrell for Barry O’Farrell (62).

**Referee: **Anthony Nolan (Wicklow)

**Attendance: **5,023