Longford v Wexford, Glennon Brothers Pearse Park, 7pm
Longford v Wexford, Glennon Brothers Pearse Park, 7pm
Saturday, June 7
Leinster GAA Senior Football Championship Quarter-FinalLongford v Wexford, Glennon Brothers Pearse Park, 7pm
The footballers of Longford and Wexford could be forgiven for looking at each other on Saturday evening and thinking: "Not you again."
That's because they have made such a habit of meeting at important junctures over the last two years. Remarkably, this will be their fourth championship meeting since July 2012. They met twice in the 2012 Leinster quarter-final, the first game going to a replay, while they also met in Round 2 of the 2013 Qualifiers.
They also have played a couple of very significant league games in the last two seasons. They contested the Division III final at Croke Park in 2012, which Longford won, while they met earlier this year in an effective relegation decider from Division III, which Wexford won, sending Longford down to the bottom tier.
Of the three championship matches in the last two years, Wexford have won two and drawn the other. Their meetings have tended to be very tight, but Wexford have shown a consistent ability to get over the line against Longford, a trend new Longford manager Jack Sheedy will be very eager to reverse this Saturday evening in Glennon Brothers Pearse Park.
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Both counties know each other remarkably well, and the margin between them over their last five meetings has been minimal. While Wexford have won three out of the five games, the aggregate points difference between them over the five games is just six points, and that includes a game that went to extra-time.
Longford failed to take advantage of being at home to Wexford in the 2013 Qualifiers, but the Model County made it count when they met in their crucial Division III clash earlier this year. It's something Sheedy is eager for his side to make the most of this weekend.
"Playing in Wexford Park gave Wexford an edge in the league so hopefully being at home will have the same positive impact on us on Saturday," he said.
This is Longford's second outing of Championship 2014, having defeated Offaly at home back on May 18 in the Leinster First Round. Longford trailed 0-7 to 0-3 in that game, but they produced some excellent attacking football in the end to take a morale-boosting 0-19 to 0-15 victory.
"We created a lot of scoring opportunities against Offaly and have worked on a few things since then, so we're ready for a really big effort," said Sheedy. "Scoring 19 points was very pleasing in the circumstances. We had to work hard to get things right after being relegated but the response from everyone was first-class."
Sheedy has named his team for Sunday , with the only change seeing Barry Gilleran return at full-back in place of Barry O'Farrell, Gilleran having been injured for the Offaly win. The side includes Paul Barden, Brian Kavanagh and Seán McCormack in what is an impressive looking attack.
This is Wexford's first outing of the summer, and while recent history will obviously tell them that there is little separating themselves and Longford, their run of unbeaten games against the Midlanders - stretching to four in league and championship - should leave them full of confidence heading to Glennon Brothers Pearse Park on Saturday evening.
Aidan O'Brien has named his team for Sunday, and it's a strong looking side, with PJ Banville, James Holmes, Ciarán Lyng and Ben Brosnan included in attack, alongside dual player Michael O'Regan, perhaps more commonly known as a Wexford hurler.
Interestingly, Shane Roche, who has played in the forwards throughout his career, is named in goals for Wexford, with regular goalkeeper Anthony Masterson injured. Longford will have to pay particularly close attention to Roche's distribution, given his attacking credentials.
The winners of this game will play either Dublin or Laois in the Leinster semi-final on Sunday, June 29.
LONGFORD: Damien Sheridan; Dermot Brady, Barry Gilleran, Fergal Battrim; Colm P. Smith, E Williams, Shane Mulligan; John Keegan, Shane Doyle; Michael Quinn, Francis McGee, Paul Barden; Mark Hughes, Brian Kavanagh, Seán McCormack.
WEXFORD: Shane Roche; Robert Tierney, Graeme Molloy, Conor Carty; Michael Furlong, Brian Malone, Adrian Flynn; Daithí Waters, Paddy Byrne; Michael O'Regan, PJ Banville, James Holmes; Ciarán Lyng, Ben Brosnan, Kevin O'Grady.
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