For the past number of months Longford minor football manager Ciaran Fox has had great belief in his players. Sunday afternoon in Croke Park the players repaid Fox for the faith he has shown.

By Longford Leader

The Longford boss was full of pride after his team clinched only the county's fourth Leinster Minor title. "Those lads were just asked to go out and to play to their natural ability," he told the Leader. "We've no systems, we've no special runs or diagonal runs. We asked them to go out and to play to their own systems; the football that they have been playing since they were three or four olds when they started to kick a ball.

The quality they brought; they brought it from their clubs, their families. They didn't get that at county minor level. That's their own natural ability."

Fox was particularly impressed with his players' performance after the break.

They stifled out a potent Offaly attack and completely outclassed and outfought their opponents. He said, "The second half was a top class performance. At the start of the game, we wanted to stay in the game, be competing and that is exactly what happened.

It was the way we were hoping that it would pan out and it turned out that way. This is a benchmark of where we wanted to go. We want to give a good account of ourselves from here on in."

As well as immediate progression with this minor panel Fox hopes that Longford can build on this success and start planning for the future. "It is important from a Longford prospective that we maintain these county players and keep them at county level and keep pushing them on. Longford needs them.

The backbone of the Longford Senior team at the moment are members of the 2002 Leinster minor winning team. We want these lads to drive on," said Fox.

Sunday was a proud day for the Sean Connolly's man and he admitted it was also a great day for his father, Longford GAA President, Jimmy Fox.

"It's a great day for him. He is a GAA man and a Longford GAA man through and through. It's a proud day for him. It is a proud day for me to see that he is up there too to see all this," the Longford manager said.

Copyright Longford Leader