Preview: Round 1A - Longford v Carlow
Preview: Round 1A - Longford v Carlow
Saturday, June 20
All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Qualifiers Round 1A
Longford v Carlow, Glennon Brothers Pearse Park, 7pm
Longford find themselves very much at a crossroads in their season.
It was all overwhelmingly positive for them early on, winning promotion from Division IV of the League despite losing the final to Offaly and gaining revenge over the Faithful County by beating them in the Leinster quarter-final.
But then they came up against the unstoppable Dublin juggernaut and they were run down to the tune of 27 points. A win in the qualifiers this weekend over Carlow and a decent season is assured, but if they lose Longford won't look back on 2015 with any great fondness.
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"If we perform to the level that we are capable of, then we can win the game," said manager Jack Sheedy. "If we don't, then Carlow could beat us. Therefore, we have to be right mentally and performance-wise."
Longford will be without defender Cian Farrelly, who headed to America after the loss to Dublin. Francis McGee is also out, the forward having had elbow surgery following injury against Offaly in the provincial quarter-final and it looks as though he is out for the season.
On the plus side, Ross McNerney is available for selection again. He was stretchered off in the game with the Dubs and was hospitalised with a nasty head injury, but he has since made a full recovery and has been given the all-clear to play.
Carlow were also in Division IV, where they lost to Longford by six points at home in April, and they lost their Leinster opener to Laois.
Manager Turlough O'Brien wants to see a better performance this weekend and hopes that having to travel to Pearse Park will help his team.
"We played better on the road in the League," he said. "No question of that. It doesn't matter where the match is played. We have to go out and perform. We are confident that if we get the best out of ourselves, we will be in contention to win. We have to perform a lot better than we did against Laois."
These sparsely populated counties are amongst the less successful in Leinster, and meetings between them have been relatively few. It's eleven years since their paths last crossed in the Championship, when Carlow pulled off what was then a surprise win.
Carlow's record in the qualifiers isn't much to write home about. Longford however, beat Division I Derry just last year and they have beaten Mayo in the past, whilst also pushing the likes of Kerry close in recent times.
Preview: Peter Sweeney
