Carlow miss chance to top Tailteann Cup group
Paddy McDonnell reacts to a missed goal chance in today's Tailteann Cup defeat to Longford Photo: Pat Ahern
A listless Carlow ended the Tailteann Cup Group 4 round-robin stage of the competition to rivals who were already out of the running in Tullamore on Sunday.
The Midlanders had nothing to play for but pride and they did this with a degree of style particularly when playing with the strong wind in the first half.
Oran Kenny opening the scoring with a two-pointer for Longford. Ross Dunphy replied with a point for Carlow. Matthew Carey picked off the first of his five two-pointers on ten minutes. This was followed by a goal from Kenny on 12 minutes when he intercepted a Carlow pass. Running almost 40 metres his finish was superb while it surely hurt the Carlow cause.
The Barrowsiders had their goal chances. Conor Doyle broke through the Longford defence but his shot was left and wide. Conor Crowley was also crowded out at the expense of a 45 which was not converted. Paddy McDonnell was unable to hit the target when he also broke through.
Meanwhile, the eventual winners with the wind built up a lead with three of their forwards registering two pointers as they took a 1-17 to 0-6 lead into the second half. Carlow cause wasn’t helped when they lost Crowley to a black card in injury time just before the interval.
They still got off to a great start to the second half with Kyle Nolan firing over a two-pointer from the throw-in. They were unable to build on it with the Longford defence on top.
The Carlow goal arrived in the final quarter when Ross Dunphy took the scoring pass from John Murphy. As the clock wound down, Niall Hickey was denied on the double by Patrick Collum in the Longford goal. With eleven minutes left to play, Conor Doyle added a Carlow two-point free which gave his side something to aim for.
It wasn’t to be. A successful comeback never materialised as Longford regained lost pride in what was a difficult season for them.
The result means that Carlow finish in third place in the group and the draw for the preliminary quarter-finals shortly after the game and Carlow have been handed an away tie against Sligo next weekend.
M Carey 0-15 (2-fs, 3-2pfs, 2-2p), O Kenny 1-2 (1-2p), J Moran 0-2 (1-2p), A Farrell 0-1.
C Doyle 0-4 (2pf 2p), R Dunphy 1-1, D Foley 0-3 (fs), S Murphy, C Crowley (1f), K Nolan (1-2p) 0-2 each, K Murphy 0-1 (f).
Patrick Collum; Patrick Fox, Oisin O’Toole, Bryan Masterson; Darragh Finlass, Cian Brady, Dessie Reynolds; Daire Duggan, Ryan Moffett; Caolan Lynch, Matthew Carey, James Moran; Aaron Farrell, Dylan Farrell, Oran Kenny. Subs: Jayson Matthews for Lynch (44), Iarla O’Sullivan for Moran (63), Paddy Moran for Kenny (68).
Johnny Furey; Paddy McDonnell, Mark Furey, Lee Moore; John Phiri, Niall Hickey, John Murphy; Kyle Nolan, Conor Doyle; Ross Dunphy, Darragh Foley, Mikey Bambrick; Conor Crowley, Kevin Murphy, Sean Murphy. Subs: Shane Clarke for Foley (45), Aaron Amond for K Murphy (51), Jamie Clarke for M Furey (55), Paddy Regan for J Murphy (63), Adam Burgess for Nolan (68).
Liam Devenney (Mayo)
