Meath 3-17 Longford 1-16

Meath had to battle hard to see off Longford in this round 1 game of the Gerry Reilly U-16 FT played in Millbrook, Oldcastle on Sunday evening.

With wind advantage in the first half, Meath had 3 points (Luke Mitchell (2) and Brian O'Hanlon) on the scoreboard before Longford's Cian Dooner  pointed from a free.  Two more Meath scores had the home county leading (0-5 to (0-1). Longford enjoyed a purple patch that saw them add 3 points to their tally. Points were exchanged before Colin Hawdon sent over a fine score to put 2 points between the sides. Meath's Conor Farrelly came to the rescue to block Longford's goal attempt. 

Meath's Dylan Morgan with Eoghan McCormack Longford

Down at the other end, Brian O'Hanlon pointed as he shot on goal. 3 Longford points on the trot had the sides level. But then the turning point came just before the break when Luke Mitchell converted a penalty to give Meath a 4 point lead.

H/T: Meath 1-9 Longford 0-8

Longford pulled 2 back in the early stages of the second half before Meath took over. Adam Reilly smashed a shot of the crossbar before Mitchell added a second goal to push the Royals in to a 2-11 to 0-10 lead after 45 minutes.

Longford's Reece Reilly with Conor Hetherton Meath

By the 51st minute, Meath had opened up a 9 point lead, thanks to four brilliant scores from substitute Joe Moore, and looked set for victory but Longford never gave up. Quick fire points narrowed the lead before Cian Dooner converted a penalty. Four points separated the teams as the game entered injury time. Sustitute Sean Commons sealed Meath's win with a very well taken goal. 

It was a terrific game, played with great spirit and determination by sides and much appreciated by all in attendance.

Meath's Adam Reilly was presented with the Respa 'Man of the match' award by John Farrelly (Oldcastle GFC)

Meath's Brian O'Hanlon with Mark O'Neill Longford

Meath: Sean Brennan, Conor Hetherton, Harry O'Higgins, Conor Farrelly, Colin Hawdon (0-2), Luke Newe, Jeaic Timmons, Adam Reilly, Killian Hogan, Adam Treanor, Zak Fitzsimons, Dylan Morgan (0-2), Adam Kelly, Luke Mitchell (2-4), Brian O'Hanlon (0-5)

Subs: Darragh Swaine for Fitzsimons, Luke Kelly for Newe, Bryan McCormack for Reilly, Sean Commons (1-0) for O'Hanlon, Joe Moore (0-4) for Kelly

Longford: Paddy Murray, Mark O'Neill, Eoghan Smith, Cian Murphy, James Moran,  Eoghan McCormack (0-1), Peter Dempsey, Euan Finneran, Aidan O Ceallaigh,  Cian Ó Nualláin (0-1), Darragh O Connell (0-3), Reece Leonard (0-2, 1f), Daniel Reynolds (0-1),  Reece Reilly, Cian Dooner (1-7, 5f)

Subs: Conor Farrelly for Murphy (inj), Jake Taylor (0-1) for Leonard, Cian Belton for Reilly,  Jonathan Borland for Reynolds, Sean Horgan for Dempsey, Tadhg McNevin for O Ceallaigh

Ref: Margaret Reilly (Cavan)

Tweet

Most Read Stories