Leitrim/Longford Masters great come-back v Laois
Longford Leader/Leitrim Observer
In the All-Ireland Masters Championship round-robin stages, the Leitrim/Longford panel took on Laois on Saturday last, the 27th of May.
Due to clashes with local fixtures, it was an under-strength Leitrim/Longford side that traveled to the splendid Kilcavan GAA facilities in Laois. Early on, the signs looked ominous as Laois had upwards of 30 players compared to the traveling panel's 19, including a number of subs carrying injuries; Geroid Nertney, Michael Flynn, and Declan Smith.
Both sides created good opportunities but Laois were much more threatening early on and had a couple of key forwards who were really in flying form and proving very difficult to contain.
The half-time score was Leitrim/Longford 0-05 to Laois's 1-07. Worse was to come as Laois scored 1-1 without reply at the start of 2nd half leaving a huge 9-point gap between the teams and a rampant Laois performance.
But the Leitrim/Longford squad who displayed a great work rate, even when under relentless pressure in the first half, finally started to click in the forward line. The half-time introduction of Geroid Nertney, and the much-improved ball-retention and movement upfront began to pay dividends. The ever-tenacious JP McManus magnificently turned the ball over and set up Eamon Dolan for a cracking unstoppable shot to the top corner of the net, the first of two that he scored in the second half. JP, Eamon, and the remainder of the forward line; Andrew McManus, Gerry Carberry, Mark Connor, and Geroid Nertney chipped in with several well-worked scores, to run out winners on a scoreline of Leitrim/Longford 4-11, Laois 2-10.
The forward line was well supported by the very committed mid-field pairing of Niall Brady and David Collum. In the second half, the defence managed to contain the Laois threat, turning over a lot of ball, and successfully dealing with several goal-mouth scrambles, with Gerry Carberry, in particular, covering a lot of ground.
Leitrim/Longford rotated their goalkeepers at half-time with great effect, both had very solid games. Leitrim's Martin McHugh found his man with every kick out during the first half and Longford's Francis Noonan coped very well with a lot of goal-mouth scrambles and high balls in the square as Laois looked for goals to get back in the game. Overall, while the team gave the ball away very cheaply at times and there were too many pot-shots at the posts, the hard work and tenacity throughout, much-improved ball retention, and linking up better together in the second half were the bed-rocks of this victory.
The Leitrim/Longford team and their management would like to thank the Laois Masters GAA for hosting this very keenly contested match. Separately, they would like to pay a very special tribute to Kilcavan GAA club, Co. Laois, for their hospitality afterward. This included a very large team of volunteers, a huge food buffet, and refreshments after the game, it was an outstanding effort that highlights the tremendous spirit within the Kilcavan GAA club.
Thanks also to Mary Mulligan (Physio), Aisling Sorahan, and anyone else who helped out on the day.
Round 3 of the All-Ireland Masters Championship will see Leitrim/Longford take on Westmeath in an away fixture, the match is provisionally set for Thursday evening the 8th of June, subject to final confirmation, full details later. Having 2 points out of a possible 4, this local derby is now a critical game for Leitrim/Longford.
The management is interested in hearing from anyone who would like to assist in roles around the team such as umpires, linesmen, waterboys, stats, camera work, kit-man, etc. And of course, we are especially interested in hearing from anyone interested in sponsoring various items, please contact Kevin 0873364408 or any of the management team (James Breslin, Seamus Sorahan, Kevin Hourican.)
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