Longford's late revival not enough to stop superior Down

10.07.10 | Down 1-14 Longford 1-10 | By Padraic O'Brien

While the odds were stacked against Longford springing another shock in the All-Ireland Qualifiers when faced with such a difficult task away to Down, they showed a lot of character in staging a gallant late revival and battled it out to the bitter end in miserable wet conditions at Pairc Esler in Newry.

Extremely fortunate to be only six points behind at the break, 0-9 to 0-3, with courageous goalkeeper Damien Sheridan producing a couple of brilliant point-blank saves to keep his side in contention, Longford tried very hard to rescue the situation after man-of-the-match Martin Clarke fired home the crucial Down goal from a dubious penalty with 16 minutes of normal time remaining.

Defender Dermot Brady was harshly penalised for stopping Down midfielder Kalum King charging through and when the confident Clarke stepped up to slot the ball into the corner of the net it looked all over for Longford who now trailed by eight points, 1-11 to 0-6, which was a fair enough reflection of the overall superiority enjoyed by the mourne men during the course of the second round qualifier.

After operating a deep defensive tactic for the entire first half and who continued to struggle in the third quarter, Longford suddenly awoke from their slumber in eventually making the desired impact and after finally getting their first score from play in the 56th minute when Francis McGee shot over the bar, the Dromard marksman gave the county a glimmer of hope soon after when shooting to the net from close range.

It was a fine finish by McGee after the Down keeper Brendan McVeigh had saved a cracking shot from Bernard McElvaney and that goal in the 58th minute gave the large contingent of Longford supporters a real lift. Moments later, Down suffered another setback when Kalum King was sent-off for a second yellow card offence but Glenn Ryan's side were unable to capitalise on the extra man.

With Longford trailing by 1-11 to 1-7 Brian Kavanagh was unlucky with his attempt for a point that clipped the upright but the pressure was eased on Down when Martin Clarke landed a glorious long range free in the 62nd minute after Declan Reilly was most unfortunate to be punished for apparently impeding opposing forward Conor Maginn.

That was yet another frustrating decision by the whistle happy Fermanagh referee Martin Higgins who was hard on both sides with his poor handling of the game that left a lot to be desired and following a Paddy Dowd wide Longford were also reduced to 14 players when defender Shane Mulligan was dismissed for a second booking in the 64th minute.

But the boys in blue and gold never gave up the fight in the face of adversity and after Francis McGee fired over a free for his sixth point of the game, Paul Barden landed a delightful strike in the 67th minute to leave Down hanging on to a rather precarious 1-12 to 1-9 lead.

Remarkably there was just a kick of the ball between the sides with time running out but the mighty Martin Clarke stretched the Down advantage when landing a glorious point from a tight angle.

It was a highly exciting finish, to say the least, and the action quickly switched to the other end of the pitch with a quickly taken free by Paul Barden that was saved by the alert Down keeper Brendan McVeigh.

The referee ordered the kick to be retaken and Francis McGee slotted the ball over the bar in the 70th minute but Down were in no mood to let a deserved victory slip from their grasp and a stoppage time point from prominent wing forward Daniel Hughes clinched a place in the next round of the All-Ireland Qualifiers away to Offaly.

Make no mistake about it, Down were clearly the better side with the class of Martin Clarke proving to be the main difference as he clocked up 1-5.

Just three of Longford's eleven scores came from play and that return was not good enough at this level.

Francis McGee (1-7) and Paul Barden (0-2) were the only Longford forwards to get their names on the scoresheet whereas five members of the starting Down attack hit the target and that proved to be a decisive factor.

Reflecting on the poor first half display that yielded just three points from McGee frees it seemed that Longford were content with the famous win over Mayo in the previous round and looked lost away from the comfort of Pearse Park where they are so hard beaten.

Home advantage certainly gave Down a definite edge in front of over 4,000 supporters who braved the dreadful wet weather on a summer night and the Ulster side should have been out of sight at half-time such was the huge amount of possession they enjoyed despite the difficult underfoot conditions which resulted in many mistakes by both teams.

Longford defended in numbers in allowing the opposition the opportunity to create chances with a string of passes and while it was the visitors who opened the scoring in the first minute when Francis McGee fired over a free, Down were denied a couple of goals in quick succession.

After Damien Sheridan reacted brilliantly to keep out a close range effort from Benny Coulter in the 5th minute, full-back Barry Gilleran then came to the rescue moments later with a brave block to prevent Conor Maginn finding the back of the Longford net.

Down gradually settled into their stride and after Mark Poland shot over the bar in the 7th minute, three more points followed from John Clarke, Benny Coulter and Daniel Hughes before Francis McGee (free) got Longford's second score in the 16th minute in making amends for an earlier miss.

Three more Down points through Martin Clarke (two well struck frees) and Hughes opened up a considerable gap (0-7 to 0-2) and while another McGee free materialised in the 22nd minute, that was as good as it got for Longford in the first half although Kevin Mulligan had a chance of a goal in the 27th minute only to be beaten to the ball by the advancing Down keeper McVeigh.

A minute later a great ball from Martin Clarke put Daniel Hughes in the clear with only Damien Sheridan to beat but the excellent Longford netminder made a great save when a goal seemed certain.

That was a very lucky escape indeed and Down went on to register another brace of points through Mark Poland (free) and Martin Clarke, the latter landing a terrific strike in the 35th minute to leave Longford trailing by 0-9 to 0-3 at the break and the situation could have been even worse with Kalum King fumbling another goal chance.

This otherwise sporting encounter turned nasty in the early stages of the second half when a row broke out in a sideline fracas involving players and officials but order was soon restored with the referee showing yellow cards to Shane Mulligan and his Down opponent Daniel Hughes.

With five minutes gone on the changeover, Longford's half-time substitute Noel Farrell fired over a free and after Mark Poland (free) replied for Down in the 43rd minute Francis McGee failed to convert a couple of frees before Paul Barden kicked a magnificent sideline kick over the bar in the 50th minute.

But almost immediately Down defender Declan Rooney surged forward to land a quality point and while a Francis McGee free yielded another Longford score the Martin Clarke penalty goal in the 54th minute looked to have put the issue beyond all doubt.

1-11 to 0-6 in arrears, Longford then stepped up another gear to outscore Down 1-4 to 0-3 from there until the finish but they left themselves with far too much to do in making their exit from the All-Ireland Championship and it remains to be seen what the immediate future holds for team manager Glenn Ryan who might not be the man in charge for the 2011 season despite the magnificent win over Mayo.

DOWN: Brendan McVeigh; Darren O'Hagan, Dan Gordon, Damien Rafferty; Declan Rooney (0-1), James Colgan, Conor Garvey; Ambrose Rogers, Kalum King; Daniel Hughes (0-3), Mark Poland (0-3, two frees), Conor Maginn; Martin Clarke (1-5, three points from frees, goal from penalty), John Clarke (0-1), Benny Coulter (0-1).

Subs:- Kevin McKernan for C Garvey (39 mins); Conor Laverty for J Clarke (58 mins); Peter Fitzpatrick for M Poland (67 mins); Aidan Carr for C Maginn (70 mins).

LONGFORD: Damien Sheridan (Dromard); Dermot Brady (Longford Slashers), Barry Gilleran (Longford Slashers), Declan Reilly (Colmcille); Shane Mulligan (Mullinalaghta St. Columba's), Enda Williams (Clonguish), Seamus Hannon (Mostrim); Diarmuid Masterson (Dromard), Bernard McElvaney (Ballymore); Paddy Dowd (Clonguish), Kevin Mulligan (Mullinalaghta St. Columba's), Paul Barden (Clonguish, 0-2, one from sideline kick); Francis McGee (Dromard, 1-7, six frees), Brian Kavanagh (Kilmacud Crokes), Sean McCormack (Killoe Young Emmets).

Subs:- Noel Farrell (Colmcille, 0-1, free) for S Hannon (half-time); Paul Kelly (Longford Slashers) for K Mulligan (49 mins).

REFEREE: Martin Higgins (Fermanagh).

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