Longwood’s footballers suffered another defeat, their fourth on the spin, when losing out by two points to Ballinlough on Friday evening.

While the scoreline does not lie, anyone who attended the game will find it hard to fathom how the home team came away from the game with nothing to show for their efforts.

Having taken the lead in the third minute, Longwood would proceed to dominate the opening half with five of their forwards getting on the scoreboard.  Their half-time lead of 0-8 to 0-4 was the very least that their efforts deserved.

They maintained the four-point advantage, leading 0-10 to 0-6, through two thirds of the contest and the home support could have been forgiven for thinking a win was on the cards.  

Alas, the home team did not trouble the scoreboard for the final twenty minutes of the game.  A critical 47th minute turnover was ruthlessly punished with Darren O’Higgins finishing to the Longwood net.  Ballinlough took the lead for the first time in the 58th minute and, with Longwood pushing forward for an equaliser, the men in red broke away to kick the insurance point in injury time.

So another tough loss to take for the home team.  The recent losing habit is one they will have to kick, and fast.  

Longwood: Anthony Healy, Conor Dixon (0-1), Tomás O’Brien, Adam Leacy, Adrian Maguire, Sean Sheridan, Brian Stagg, Sean Coloe (0-1), Bob Maguire, Gavin Griffith (0-1), Ryan Moore (0-4), Ciaran Sheridan (0-1), Ben McLoughlin, Niall Mulvey (0-1), Louis Butler (0-1). Subs: Sam Dixon for Ben McLoughlin