Fermanagh 3-22 Longford 2-20
Fermanagh withstood a late comeback from Longford to eventually prevail by five points in their entertaining Lory Meagher Cup final at Croke Park on Sunday afternoon.
Fermanagh opened up on the front foot through early scores by Brian Teehan, Aidan Flanagan and Luca McCusker with Longford’s sole early success coming through Evan Tully.
The Ulster side should have pushed further clear in the 6th minute as Teehan reacted smartly to fire home after Seán Corrigan’s shot had rebounded off the upright but referee James Judge disallowed the effort following a consultation with his umpires.
They continued to control matters however thanks to further scores by John Duffy and Tom Keenan with their opponents staying in contention thanks to points by Joe Rabbitt, Cian Darcy and Cathal Mullane.
However, the momentum from those three points was quickly dispelled as Teehan got the goal he deserved in the 17th minute, sweeping home from 10 yards across Pat Burke in the Longford goal to put six points between the teams.
While Darcy clipped over two frees by way of riposte for Longford, their opponents finished the half in a dominant manner as they struck five points on the bounce through Danaan McKeogh (twice), Caolan Duffy, John Duffy and Corrigan to push eight points clear by the interval.
Any hopes of a Longford comeback were quickly dispelled upon the restart as McKeogh was on hand to crash home within twenty seconds after Teehan had placed pressure on Burke close to goal.
That buffer was maintained briefly as David Buckley fired home for Lingford in the 40th minute with the free-taking of Darcy keeping them in the hunt as the half progressed.
Teehan’s second goal looked to have settle the issue in the 56th minute but a Rabbitt goal prompted a frantic conclusion that saw McCusker and JP McGarry fire over insurance points in added time.
Fermanagh: C McKernan; S McKendry, R Porteous, Ciarán Duffy (0-1); A Flanagan (0-1), R Bogue, O Johnston; D Bannon, Caolan Duffy (0-1); L McCusker (0-4, one free), T Keenan (0-2), J Duffy (0-2); S Corrigan (0-4), B Teehan (2-3), D McKeogh (1-3, one free).
Subs: J Tormey for J Duffy (46), R McGurn for McKendry (51), JP McGarry (0-1) for McKeogh (62), B Corrigan for Flanagan (64), D Teague for Keenan (72).
Longford: P Burke; J Casey, E Allen, S Lancaster; A Quinn, K Murray, E Tully (0-2); P Lynam (0-1), C Mullane (0-2); O Gately, D Buckley (1-1), J Rabbitt (1-1); R Murray, C Darcy (0-13, twelve frees), R Courtney.
Subs: C Flynn for Gately (48), M Mulcahy for R Murray (51), D Caslin for Buckley (59), D Crossan for Courtney (70).
Referee: James Judge (Mayo).
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