For the second year running, Longwood reached the junior football championship semi-final, only to lose to St. Ultan's. While disappointed not to have gone a step further, selector Noel Kerrigan believes another year in the junior championship might not be such a bad thing for the improving south county outfit. The Longwood footballers are still a work in progress, according to team selector Noel Kerrigan. Since the Johnstownbridge native first became involved with the South Meath club at the turn of the millennium, he has seen them make steady progress on the football front. This was the second year in-a-row that Longwood reached the junior championship semi-final and while they were disappointed to lose to St. Ultan's, there is little doubt that they are heading in the right direction. "When I joined Longwood as a player in 2000, they were playing in the junior 'B' championship and were in Division 5 of the league," recalls Noel, whose brother Declan was centre forward on the Kildare team that lost the 1998 All-Ireland final to Galway. "They were getting to quarter and semi-finals of the junior 'B' championship every year, but didn't seem to be able to go any further. We eventually got to a junior 'B' final in 2001, but were beaten by Kilmainham. We just weren't experienced enough to win." Longwood's luck began to change in 2002 when Kinnegad man and former Westmeath star Larry Giles was appointed manager. In his first season, he guided them to the Division 5 title, defeating St. Vincent's in the final. They reached the Division 4 final the following year, only to lose to Nobber. Giles handed over the managerial reins in 2004 to Eunan McCaffrey, who was assisted by Kerrigan and Michael 'Stoney' Burke. And they achieved a major breakthrough when leading Longwood to a junior 'B' championship success at the expense of Walterstown. "There was a belief in the team that year which hadn't been there before," Noel remembers. "We beat Walterstown in the final, but the game that stands out in my mind was the one against St. Brigid's in the group stages. We won by a point, even though they should have beaten us. We easily beat them in the semi-final after that, which showed just how much we had improved." Longwood maintained their progress last year, only losing to Navan O'Mahony's by a point in the junior championship semi-final. After taking a year out, Eunan McCaffrey returned to the football management set-up this year - linking up once again with Burke, Kerrigan and new selector Christy O'Brien - and brought the 'Wood to their second consecutive semi-final, which they lost to St. Ultan's by 0-13 to 1-7. Kerrigan, who is married to Longwood woman Anne Maguire, was making no excuses after the defeat and argues that the south county outfit still have improving to do before they challenge for a junior championship. "As much as I'd love to see us going up intermediate, I don't think it is something we are ready for just yet. It's a bit like in 2001 when we clearly weren't ready for junior 'A' football. We don't have a big panel and we don't have enough physically strong players to compete in the intermediate championship. "But we're learning all the time and hopefully next year we'll go a step further and contest a junior championship final. "While our defence contains a lot of experience, most of our forwards are still very young. A big drawback for us is that we don't field our own minor team - we have to amalgamate with Na Fianna. On top of that, hurling remains very strong in the club and we're competing with that." Longwood opened their 2006 junior championship campaign with a one-point victory over Drumbaragh. That was followed by a big win over Dunderry and they then repeated last year's semi-final victory over O'Mahony's, inflicting a 2-12 to 0-8 defeat on the Navan side at Pairc Tailteann. Aaron Ennis and Rory Maguire picked off early points to help Longwood to a 0-4 to 0-0 lead at the end of the first quarter. Ennis finished a sweeping move to the net before further points from Michael Burke and Ger Ennis gave the South Meath men a 1-7 to 0-2 interval lead. O'Mahony's resumed with three unanswered points, but their comeback hopes were dashed when Maguire grabbed a second goal to make it comfortable for Longwood in the end. Defeats to eventual finalists Kilmainham and Curraha, combined with a vital win over Summerhill, left Longwood needing to beat Gaeil Colmcille in their final group match to qualify for the knock-out stages. And they duly obliged with an impressive 1-12 to 0-6 victory at Sean Newman Park. The southerners started brightly with county panelists Michael Burke and Rory Maguire registering early points, and a Maguire goal put them firmly in the driving seat. A couple of lapses in concentration, however, allowed the Kells side in for some well taken points and they had reduced the gap to four points, 1-5 to 0-4, at the break. After a shaky start to the second half, Longwood steadied the ship and points from Burke and Wayne Leonard got them back on track. A frustrated Kells team had two players red-carded in quick succession and Longwood finished them off with late points from David Flynn and centre back Ray Dorran. Longwood showed their resolve when recording an extra-time victory over Meath Hill in an exciting quarter-final tie at Kilmessan. Meath Hill were quickly into their stride and opened up a 0-4 to 0-0 lead with the aid of a strong breeze. But a brace of points from Rory Maguire and one from Wayne Leonard brought the deficit back to the minimum at half-time. The Kildare-border side started the second half strongly and points from Mick Healy and Karl Ennis (two) gave them the lead before Meath Hill fought back to force extra-time - the teams finishing level on 0-8 apiece. After going two points down, Longwood hauled themselves back onto level terms after the first 10 minutes of extra-time. At the beginning of the second period, Longwood goalkeeper Jarlath Cully saved a penalty and that provided his team with the inspiration they needed to go on to achieve a 0-14 to 0-10 victory thanks to points from Maguire, Karl Ennis and David Flynn. Despite an early goal from Wayne Leonard, Longwood eventually succumbed to St. Ultan's by three points in the semi-final. Ultan's recovered from their early setback to lead by 0-8 to 1-2 at the break, and although points from Rory Maguire, Jim Dorran and Michael Burke brought Longwood level with 10 minutes remaining, St. Ultan's finished the stronger to seal their place in the final. "We couldn't have any complaints really," offers Kerrigan. "We only had about 25 per cent of the play and you cannot expect to win when that happens. What was glaring was the greater physical strength of St. Ultan's - we couldn't compete with them in a number of key positions." Noel is confident that Longwood will come back stronger than ever next year and suggests that the return of midfielder Michael Weir from Australia will give them a big lift. Right half back James Colgan missed the St. Ultan's game through suspension, and his return should also provide the team with a boost. "Our aim is to reach the knock-out stages and take it from there. There's no point in saying we're going to get to the final. You have to be realistic. But after reaching the last two semi-finals, we'd obviously like to take it to the next stage." In the league, Longwood just about retained their Division 3 status after being deprived of the services of Michael Burke and Rory Maguire for a number of their games. And Noel has a message for new Meath football manager Colm Coyle on the thorny issue. "I hope Colm sees sense and allows fellas who are on the county panel to play with their clubs in league matches. Both Michael and Rory missed out on a lot of football this year because they were county panelists. It's a ridiculous situation that shouldn't be allowed to continue," he concludes. The Longwood team that beat Meath Hill in the junior championship quarter-final was: J Cully; K Cleary, D Maguire, J Mahon; V Byrne, R Dorran, J Colgan; E Dixon, J Dorran; A. Ennis, M Burke (0-1), W Leonard (0-1); M Healy (0-1), K Ennis (0-5), R Maguire (0-5). Subs used: C Greene, M McDonnell, D Flynn(0-1) and A Holton. 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