London recorded their first league win over Longford after 12 attempts with a well-deserved victory over the Midlanders at Glennon Brothers Pearse Park in their Division 4 clash on Sunday afternoon.
The Exiles took the game to Longford right from the start. They opened the scoring with a point from Liam Gallagher but that was cancelled out by a free from Matthew Carey.
London were two up after eight minutes. They created a number of scoring chances but kicked four wides. Full-back Matt Moynihan came up to hit over a point for London in the 21st minute.
In the 23rd minute London went three points ahead with contributions from Daniel Clarke and Kristian Healy. Carey and a fantastic point from Oran Kenny cut the lead to one in the 28th minute.
The best point of the half came in the 34th minute with Clarke hitting over a wonderful point from a tight angle. In stoppage time Paddy Moran raced through and fired over to leave Longford trailing by one at the break – 0-08 to 0-07.
Six minutes into the second half London extended their lead to three points with Rafter and Healy on target. Just like the first half they had a chance to put further scores on the board but kicked three wides. The lead was six after 50 minutes of play as London dominated proceedings.
Longford manager Mike Solan decided to finally ring the changes in the 51st minute and introduced three players. Longford’s first attack of the second half came minutes later but kicked it wide.
The Reynolds brothers combined in the 60th minute with Daniel setting up Dessie to fist the ball to the back of the net. But the comeback was not on for the Midlanders.
London were reduced to 14 men in the 65th when Daniel Clarke received a black card. It mattered little to Michael Maher’s side as they followed up with two points to extend the lead to seven points.
Dylan Farrell got Longford’s only point of the second half in the second minute of stoppage time. Peter Lynn’s effort ended up in the back of the net right at the end as Longford got a consolation goal.
London: Andy Walsh; Daire Rooney, Matt Moynihan (0-01), Sean O’Donoghue; Conor Goggin, Conal Gallagher, Conor O’Donoghue; Liam Gallagher (0-01), Tighe Barry; Joe McGill, Daniel Clarke (0-02), Kristian Healy (0-04); Micheal O’Reilly (0-01), Shay Rafter (0-03,1f), Jim Davis (0-02).
Subs: Josh Obahor for Barry (33′), Ciaran Diver (0-03) for Davis (50′), Ciaran McKeon (0-02) for Healy (55′), Kristian Healy for McGill (63′)
Longford: Eoin McGuinness; Patrick Fox, Ryan Moffett, Bryan Masterson; Peter Lynn (1-01), Dessie Reynolds (1-00), Cian Brady; Liam Glennon, Oisin O’Toole; Oisin Kenny, Matthew Carey (0-03,f), Daniel Reynolds; Paddy Moran (0-02), Cathal McCabe, Oran Kenny (0-01).
Subs: Joseph Hagan for Oisin Kenny, James Moran for Brady and Dylan Farrell (0-01) for McCabe (51′), Ronan Sweeney for O’Toole and Jayson Matthews for Carey (69′).
Referee: Diarmuid Boylan (Monaghan)