Longford took the third-tier title with a 1-12 to 0-13 defeat of Wexford at Headquarters.

This was the classic game of two halves as the midlanders bossed the opening period to lead by ten at the turnaround but then 'lost' the second half by eight, adding just two frees to their tally as they were forced to go on the defensive.

Wexford, who supplied the last six points, could argue with great justification that both Longford's second-half points were scored from frees that should never have been awarded. They'll be hoping for a change of fortune come championship time...

The result means that Glenn Ryan's men have gone through their entire league campaign unbeaten. And Wexford can at least look back on their second-half display with a degree of satisfaction.

Sean McCormack was sublime for the victors in the first half, hitting six points and creating the goal as Longford tore into a ten-point interval lead.

McCormack announced his return to the starting team with the opening score from a free after three minutes and the No.15 doubled the gap from another free from the hands on five minutes. Sixty seconds later it was 0-3 to no score as captain Paul Barden clipped over the first score from play - an excellent finish on the run off the right instep.

It was all one-way traffic as McCormack won and converted a free on eight minutes and Niall Mulligan was unlucky when his shot struck an upright after a clever Brian Kavanagh pass. Ciaran Lyng finally got the Model County up and running in the twelfth minute when he dropped over an excellent free from close to the right sideline.

John Keegan took Longford's fifth score of the evening and Barden all-too-easily added another one on the stroke of the first quarter as Glenn Ryan's men completely dominated their listless opponents: 0-6 to 0-1.

Kavanagh was on target for the winners and there were 27 minutes on the clock by the time Redmond Barry knocked over Wexford's second point - an amazing strike. A couple of minutes later Sean McCormack grabbed his fourth point to make it 0-8 to 0-2.

McCormack was delivering a towering performance and he slammed over a brilliant point with the left boot two minutes from the end of normal time at the end of the first half.

Substitute Paul Kelly slid home a Longford goal after more great work from McCormack in stoppage time and Ben Brosnan and McCormack traded points to leave the winners ahead by ten at the short whistle, 1-10 to 0-3.

Lyng (free) got the scoreboard ticking over again in the third minute of the second half and Barry closed the gap to eight five minutes later. Longford were struggling to add to their first-half haul, hitting a series of poor wides, but they still held a very comfortable lead, 1-10 to 0-5.

When Longford were awarded a very dubious free, McCormack made no mistake in the 48th minute; Lyng replied instantly off his right foot at the end of a mazy run into the Hill 16 end. And when PJ Banville brought Wexford closer McCormack again replied from another harshly-awarded free (full back Graham Molloy simply bumped into Kavanagh as he landed).

Wexford were getting no breaks but substitute Shane Roche kept them in it with a superb point on the three-quarters mark, 1-12 to 0-8. And the same player added another nice score to reduce the arrears to six. Wing back Adrian Flynn added to the Model County total as they continued to battle against the odds - they were within five with ten minutes left.

Jason Ryan's men had the momentum now and were attacking the Hill in droves. Barry nonchalantly curled over a free from distance from off the ground with nine minutes remaining, 1-12 to 0-11. A few seconds later, it was a three-point match when full forward Eric Bradley kept his cool to ease his shot between the posts.

What a turnaround we had witnessed at HQ! But time was against Wexford, who missed a couple of scoring chances that they could ill-afford to miss. With four minutes left, they were still flooding forward...

Lyng chipped over a free in the second minute of injury time but it was just a consolation as the Slaneysiders ran out of time.

Longford: D Sheridan; D Brady, B Gilleran, D Reilly; C Smyth, M Quinn, S Mulligan; B McElvaney, J Keegan; P McCormack, P Barden (0-2), N Mulligan (0-1); D McElligot, S McCormack (0-9), B Kavanagh. Subs: P Kelly (1-0) for P McCormack (35); J McGinty for Mulligan (58); F McGee for McElligot (69).

Wexford: A Masterson; R Tierney, G Molloy, N Murphy; B Malone, D Murphy, A Flynn (0-1); A Shore, D Waters; R Barry (0-3), C Lyng (0-4), B Brosnan (0-1); C Morris, E Bradley (0-1), PJ Banville (0-1). Subs: L Chin for Murphy (20); R Quinlivan for Shore (44); P Byrne for Brosnan (44); S Roche (0-2) for Morris (50); C Carthy for Bradley (70).

Referee: C Lane (Cork). Tweet

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