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Brave Longford overcame horrendous conditions and Louth’s tough challenge at Mullingar to secure their spot in the Leinster SFC quarterfinals.
Repeating their loss to Wee County in the Allianz League Division 3, Padraic Davis’ team thanked midfielder Darren Gallagher, who scored 1-03 amid constant rain and heavy field.
Longford will be back in action next weekend against Laois at home, but the Louth Championship is over, ending a difficult season that also led to relegation to Division 4.
Sam Mulroy may feel very bad, as the full Louth forward accounted for his entire team’s 1-07 tally.
Granard’s man Gallagher was at his best in the first half, but he also scored an important point at the end, while substitute Robbie Smyth scored two crucial points after his introduction.
A heavy downpour that hit TEG Cusack Park beforehand and continued through the first quarter created torrential conditions.
Basic ball handling and distribution proved difficult, though Longford managed better in the worst of the rain and opened up a significant early lead.
They led 1-02 to 0-01 and all of that 1-02 occurred during an unexpected blitzkrieg between the seventh and eighth minutes.
Points from Liam Connerton and Rian Brady conceded Gallagher’s goal, which was a surprisingly fluid move that wouldn’t have been out of place on a tough field in the summer sun.
Gallagher was twice involved in a series of hand passes that shattered the center of Louth’s defense and kept up his run to accept a pass from Kevin Diffley and shoot from close range.
Louth, playing a two-man line from Mulroy and Conor Whelan, and with No. 13 Patrick Reilly reverting to the sweeper role, fought impressively.
In fact, they went ahead 1-03 to 1-02 after 28 minutes thanks mainly to Mulroy, who huddled in two free-kicks and scored a goal in the 27th minute after a run from the left.
In a tit-for-tat scoring match, the teams were tied at 1-03 and 1-04 each before Daniel Mimnagh signaled Longford to send them 1-05 to 1-04 ahead in the interval.
Gallagher scored 1-02 off Longford’s first half count, while Mulroy accounted for all of Louth’s score.
Worryingly for Longford, Gallagher came out early for the second half to test whether his apparently injured left ankle was up to par. He appeared to be handicapped while running, but continued and had less influence in the second half before scoring that late score.
Louth made the best of the third-quarter exchanges and tied the game for the fifth time just before the second water break at 1-06 apiece, following back-to-back points from Mulroy.
Mulroy’s second was Louth’s first in open play, in the 52nd minute.
Longford finished stronger and finally edged out Louth 0-03 to 0-01 in the final 10 minutes with Smyth hitting two of those and Gallagher the other to secure his date with Laois.
Longford: Paddy Collum; Patrick Fox, Andrew Farrell; Gary Rogers; Donal McElligott, Barry O’Farrell, Colm P Smyth; Darren Gallagher (1-03, 0-01f), Kevin Diffley; Dessie Reynolds, Joseph Hagan, Daniel Mimnagh (0-01); Rian Brady (0-02), Liam Connerton (0-01), Iarla O’Sullivan.
Subs: Darragh Doherty for Hagan 35, Robbie Smyth (0-02) for Reynolds 50, Peter Lynn for O’Sullivan 60, Aidan McGuire for Connerton 72.
Louth: Craig Lynch; Dan Corcoran, Dermot Campbell, Kevin Carr; Patrick Reilly; John Clutterbuck, Eoghan Callaghan, Anthony Williams; Tommy Durnin, Bevan Duffy; Liam Jackson, Ciaran Keenan, Conall McKeever; Sam Mulroy (1-07, 0-04f, 0-01 45), Conor Whelan.
Subs: Paul Matthews for Whelan h / t, Emmet Carolan for Duffy 50, Conor Grimes for Keenan 50, Gerry Garland for McKeever 63, Gerard McSorley for Reilly 67.
Referee: David Coldrick (Meath).
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