Longford’s All-Ireland minor dream is shattered as superior Armagh score emphatic win

Armagh . . . 1-16    Longford . . . 1-3 

On a high in the aftermath of their major achievement in defeating Dublin to win the Leinster Minor Championship title, the Longford U-17 footballers dream of progressing a stage further in the All-Ireland Series was shattered in the quarter-final clash at Kingspan Breffni Park on Saturday.

Armagh were superior in most positions on the pitch and struck a real killer blow just before the break when corner-forward Shea Loughran planted the ball into the corner of the net with impressive attacking defender Conall Wilson creating the opening for this decisive goal that left the rattled midlanders trailing by 1-7 to 1-2 at half-time. 

Roving wing back Diarmaid O’Rourke was also involved in this slick move and he was particularly outstanding for the Ulster runners-up who quickly recovered from the shock of Luke Donnelly grabbing a goal for the Leinster champions midway through the first half.

O’Rourke (no 7) and Wilson (no 4) clocked up a total of 9 points (3 frees) between them as the well organised Armagh outfit stuck to their tight and patient gameplan on their way to a most emphatic win.

Some poor shot selection and a number of missed chances cost Longford dearly and while they did not do themselves justice on the evidence of this disappointing display, nobody can argue with the fact that Armagh were the much stronger side.

Spurred on by their large contingent of supporters at the Cavan venue, Enda McGahern’s charges battled it out to the bitter end in adding just a solitary point to their tally in the second half and that came from a free converted by James Hagan in the 50th minute.

The slick Armagh outfit, on the other hand, clocked up another 9 points on the changeover and could afford the luxury of shooting quite a few wides in cruising through to the All-Ireland semi-final. 

LONGFORD: James Ross (Ballymore); Alan Mimnagh (Clonguish), Conor McHugh (Grattans), Darragh Mulligan (Carrickedmond); Conor Doherty (Killoe), Mark Cooney (Clonguish, captain), Ben Blessington (Granard); Sean Fagan (Abbeylara), Peter Farrell (Grattans); Oisin Kane (Fr Manning Gaels), Cian O’Donnell (Granard), James Shannon (Longford Slashers); Luke Donnelly (Colmcille, 1-1), Joshua Marsh (Clonguish), James Hagan (Clonguish, 0-2, 1 free).

Subs:- Cormac Flynn (Clonguish) for B Blessington (28 mins); Karl O’Hara (Abbeylara) for J Marsh (38 mins); Michael Glennon (Clonguish) for P Farrell (38 mins); Keelan Hudson (Colmcille) for O Kane (43 mins); Liam Greene (Mostrim) for J Shannon (50 mins).

ARMAGH: Michael Finnegan; Tomas Fox, Gavin O’Rourke, Conall Wilson (0-3); Fergus Toale, Sean Woods, Diarmaid O’Rourke (0-6, 3 frees); Jack Loughran, Daithi O’Callaghan; Ross Marsden (0-1), James McCooe, Keelan McEntee (0-1); Fionn Toole (0-2), Eoin Duffy, Shea Loughran (1-2, 1 free). 

Subs:- Aaron Garvey (0-1) for R Marsden (37 mins); Oisin Gribben for E Duffy (50 mins); Danny McGee for T Fox (51 mins); Aodhan McGrane for F Toale (56 mins); Lewis Bellew for J McCooe (58 mins).

Referee: Pat Clarke (Cavan).