And breathe……………..at eight minutes past one on Sunday afternoon, Longwood’s players could finally exhale, safe in the knowledge that they would be playing Intermediate Football again in 2024.
The previous two hours had seen the pendulum swing one way and then the other on multiple occasions. It is testament to Longwood’s courage and resilience that they were on the right side of the scoreline when the referee blew the final whistle.
The game was played in glorious October sunshine on Boardsmill’s beautifully presented pitch. Despite both teams coming into the game on the back of a series of disappointing results, the players settled quickly, with both teams scoring a point within the opening two minutes.
Two further points, courtesy of an Anthony Healy advanced mark and a Mickey Burke free pushed Longwood into a two-point lead.
Dunderry reduced the difference to a single point before the opening goal of the game. When Karl Ennis gained possession close to his own 45 metre line, it’s impossible to know his initial intention but with space opening up in front of him, the marathon man continued to advance and suddenly found himself in on goals with just Sean Brennan to beat. The Longwood man kept his composure and coolly planted the ball past the goalkeeper with a well-placed shot. A huge boost for Longwood who now led by four points with just under twenty minutes played.
To Dunderry’s credit they responded quickly, kicking four of the next five points. Longwood could have been forgiven for thinking that the tide was turning against them when Anthony Healy was black-carded for a body check. Within seconds this was compounded by a Dunderry goal; it was somewhat fortuitous as the shot was partially blocked but the block only seemed to divert it past Harry Hogan in the Longwood goals. Hogan would have his revenge later in the piece.
Having been in the ascendancy for much of the half, Longwood found themselves trailing by two points at the interval.
Half-time: Longwood 1-4 Dunderry 1-6
With six minutes remaining on Anthony Healy’s enforced “rest”, Longwood were understandably cagey at the beginning of the second half. Their game management was effective during these minutes with Mickey Burke, Karl Ennis, Ross Kerrigan and Sean Coloe handling any amount of ball and controlling the clock. Healy’s return to the fray seemed to release the handbrake and they reeled off three consecutive points from the boot of Mickey Burke (2) and Billy Hogan, turning the scoreline in their favour.
With the wind seemingly in their sails, it was surprising that Longwood would fail to score for the following 12 minutes. Over the same period, Dunderry scored three points and took a two-point lead into the final ten minutes.
The stakes were at their highest and Longwood were treading water. It was a time for cool heads and leadership and thankfully Longwood have leaders in abundance. Sean Coloe, whose battle with Conor Dempsey was worth the admission fee alone, won an advanced mark thirty-five metres out from goal. With the pressure mounting, Coloe drilled the ball between the posts. A kick that Johnny Sexton would have been proud of!
Again Dunderry responded with a point to double their advantage. It could have been worse but for Harry Hogan who denied Dunderry what looked like a certain goal with a spectacular save from point blank range.
Longwood supporters were nervously glancing at the clock as it ticked remorselessly towards full time. With less than ninety seconds to play Anthony Healy received the ball in the top of the right position. Healy took on his man and tried to get a shot at goal. The ball broke on the edge of the square and with a mass of bodies battling for possession, picking the ball up was never going to be an option. Sean Coloe was quickest to react, using his soccer skills to telling effect he deftly back-heeled the ball to the Dunderry net. An amazing goal and Longwood led by a point.
Could they see out the remaining minutes of injury time? Alas no, as Dunderry fashioned one more opportunity which was coolly finished by Simon Carty. The full time whistle followed soon after.
Full-time: Longwood 2-8 Dunderry 1-11
Sixty minutes plus injury time had failed to separate the teams. The unseasonably warm temperatures continued to push the players to exhaustion and now they were faced with an additional twenty minutes.
Dunderry, who had lost a player to a red card late in normal time, were restored to fifteen for extra time.
It is to the credit of both teams that they continued to push for scores throughout both periods of extra time. Perhaps it was the fear of a penalty shoot-out, but whatever the reason the scores continued to flow. The opening period saw Dunderry take the lead on two occasions only for Longwood to equalise thanks to a Ryan Moore free and a Sean Coloe point from play.
Half-time in extra time: Longwood 2-10 Dunderry 1-13
The teams changed ends for the final time. Now it was Longwood who seized the initiative. Ryan Moore had seen enough and demanded the ball from his team mates. The Dunderry defence had marshalled Longwood’s key marksman for much of the contest but when he was needed most, Moore was up to the task. Each time he gained possession, the shout “left foot” echoed from his opponents (on and off the pitch). Moore happily obliged and dispatched three beautiful kicks over the bar with the aforementioned left foot. The third point arrived with just thirty seconds remaining. Surely Longwood would hold on this time.
Dunderry pushed for a late equaliser, but their final effort tailed off to the left and wide. Harry Hogan’s kick-out was quickly followed by the final whistle and all thirty players slumped to the ground; some from joy and elation, some from the horror of defeat and all from absolute exhaustion.
Final score (AET): Longwood 2-13 Dunderry 1-15
Longwood: Harry Hogan, Adam Leacy, Niall Mulvey, Fearghal O’Hare, Ciaran Sheridan, Mickey Burke (0-4), Ross Kerrigan, Bob Maguire (Capt.), Sean Coloe (1-2), Billy Hogan (0-1), Thomas Coloe, Sean Sheridan, Karl Ennis (1-0), Ryan Moore (0-5), Anthony Healy (0-1). Subs: Aaron Ennis for Sean Sheridan, Cathal Campbell, Kevin Maguire, David Coloe, Dean Keogh
It was tough on Dunderry to lose out in such circumstances. But sport can be cruel.
Longwood can look back with satisfaction on a job well done. They stood up and were counted late in normal time and particularly in the second period of extra time. It would be difficult to argue that they didn’t deserve their win. Indeed, barring one poor performance against Ballivor earlier in the championship, their form has been reasonably good throughout the competition, losing out only narrowly in most games.
Huge credit to manager Noel Kerrigan and his selectors Jim Mahon and Aaron Ennis. They stepped in to look after the team at extremely short notice and put in a huge amount of hard work over the past number of months. The players responded in kind and got their just rewards on Sunday.
Well done to all the players. Each one of them has given everything to the cause, particularly in recent weeks. They made many sacrifices to ensure Longwood retained their intermediate status and we are very proud of them all.
We look forward to cheering them on again next year. In the meantime our second team will play St Brigid’s on Friday evening in Dunganny in the Division 3 Final of the Reserve Cup. Details to follow during the week.
Maigh Dearmhaí abú! 🤍🖤🏁🏁🏁
