Longford Slashers took particular encouragement from the performances of their under 12 team in last year's Westmeath hurling league according to underage coach Sean Stakelum.

You could draw the curtain on hurling in Longford if it wasn't for the Westmeath underage leagues." So says Longford Slashers hurling stalwart Sean Stakelum who is grateful to Westmeath officials for allowing his club to participate in their juvenile leagues. And since crossing the county boundary, Slashers have not only staved off the threat of going out of existence, they have also improved their playing standards.
Admitting that it is a constant battle to keep hurling alive in Longford, the Tipperary native says: "We are being squeezed now more than ever. It's a struggle all the time because hurling is very much a minority sport. We're trailing behind football, soccer and rugby in terms of popularity.
"The young lads love it once they start playing, but getting them to play hurling is the hardest thing. It's not easy to recruit young lads when they have no one to look up to or aspire to. There's no glamour attached to playing hurling for Longford."
Stakelum, whose son Seanie is chairman of Longford Slashers hurling club and was a member of the Longford team that lost the recent NHL Division 4 final to Monaghan, bemoans the decline of hurling in the O'Farrell County.
"Twenty years ago, there were 11 hurling clubs in Longford and now we only have Clonguish, Wolfe Tones and ourselves. It has been sad to see hurling die in places such as Ballymahon, Newtowncashel, Rathcline and Kenagh.
"It's going to take a big effort to revive it at this stage. In the past, you had a lot of people coming into Longford from hurling counties and they would promote the thing, but that's not happening anymore for whatever reason."
Because of a lack of competition in Longford, Slashers have had to look south to Westmeath for games. They get these in the under 12 and under 14 leagues, and last year the under 12s stole the limelight by reaching the 3rd/4th place final which they lost narrowly to Clonkill.
"Clonkill beat us by a point or two in the final at Cusack Park, but it was still a great achievement for us to get that far," Sean enthuses.
"Castletown-Geoghegan and Raharney met in the 'A' final and we had put up respectable performances against them earlier on. It was a great experience for the team and they have benefited a lot from playing in Westmeath. To be honest, I couldn't see a future for hurling in Longford town if we weren't allow play in Westmeath.
"We also won our own under 12 championship by beating Clonguish in the semi-final and Wolfe Tones in the final. If we can keep these lads together, we could have more success to look forward to in the older age groups in the next few years."
He continues: "Our under 14s didn't fare as well, but they were a young team and it was our first time to enter a team at that level in Westmeath in a number of years. Needless to say, they gained a lot from the experience and will be stronger this year."
Slashers made a controversial exit from last year's Longford SHC, meaning they have now gone nine years without winning the JJ Duignan Cup But Sean is hoping the progress of the club's juvenile teams will reap the rewards in the not too distant future.
"We haven't won the senior championship since 2001 and we haven't been in a final since 2007. We were very successful in the 1980s and we are trying to get back to that stage. But it's proving to be an uphill battle," he concludes. Tweet

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