Longford condemned Offaly to their fourth ESB Leinster MFC final defeat in six years when they sprung a major surprise at Croke Park yesterday.

Longford 0-14
Offaly 0-8

When the sides met in a first round encounter in Tullamore on April 17, the Faithful County destroyed Longford by 19 points, but Ciaran Fox's charges turned the tables with a sensational win which gives them their first provincial title in eight years.

"The way it turned out, the heavy defeat helped us. On April 17, we were the worst team in Leinster, on July 11 we're the best. All of those backdoor games helped us," a delighted Fox said.

Despite their talisman Noel Andrew Graham missing a couple of early frees, Ken Kelleghan's Offaly side took a slender 0-5 to 0-4 lead into the break with Stuart Cullen, Derek Kelly, Peter Cunningham, Barry Cushen and Graham all getting on the scoresheet.

But Longford never looked back after Diarmuid Cooney brought them level immediately after the restart, going on to outscore the fancied Faithful by 0-10 to 0-3 in the second period.

Graham momentarily restored his side's lead from a free, but that was the last time they led as Darren Gallagher and Padraig McCormack sent over long-range points in quick succession.

Another Graham free levelled, but Longford gradually pulled away thanks to points from Robert Smith (three), Darren Farrelly and Barry McKeon. Tweet

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