Paul Barden has revealed how a lack of credit afforded to Longford after they beat Roscommon in last year's Allianz Football League Division 4 final was a big motivating factor for them against Wexford.

The midlanders completed back-to-back Division 3 and 4 title wins at Croke Park on Saturday thanks to a dominant first half performance, and team captain Barden admitted afterwards that suggestions Roscommon didn't take last year's decider seriously (they played New York in the first round of the Connacht SFC eight days later) touched a nerve with him and his team-mates.

"We were a bit disappointed last year," the Clonguish stalwart said.

"We won a trophy, but everyone said Roscommon were preparing for the championship. That annoyed us a bit."

Longford manager Glenn Ryan was thrilled with his side's victory.

"We played well in the first half, poorly in the second half. But look, it's great that we hung on and I actually thought we'd need an extra score towards the end. Our lads showed great willingness to work hard and be disciplined when we could have given away some very handy scores towards the end," he said. Tweet

Most Read Stories