AFL Division 4:  Nobber 1-8 Longwood 0-13

Resilient?  Yes.  Relentless?  Yes.  Relegated?  No!

Longwood displayed their trademark battling qualities to edge past Nobber on a ferociously warm Sunday morning in north Meath.

Recent games between these teams have tended to be tough and uncompromising and this was no exception.  

Missing key players, particularly in the early rounds of the league, has long been an occupational hazard but this does seem to build resilience and the “next man up” approach served Longwood well again yesterday.  

Nobber started well and Dale Larkin had them in front with a point inside the opening minute.  

A point from Conor Dixon levelled the game before an unforced error saw Longwood cough up possession deep in their own half and this was clinically finished to the net bu the Nobber forward line.  

Despite this setback, Longwood grew into the game and maintained a degree of control on proceedings.  Another potential hammer blow saw Conor Dixon leave the field with an injury, but again the boys dug in.   A point from the impressive Gavin Griffith saw them go to the half-time break trailing by just a solitary point.  Time to shelter from the sun and reset for the second half.

Half-time: Nobber 1-3 Longwood 0-5

Within thirty seconds of the restart, Longwood were level – Ronan Greene kicking an excellent point from a tight angle.

Credit to Nobber who responded with two points, both from frees.  Both teams worked tirelessly over the next fifteen minutes and excellent points from Cian Swan and Ryan Moore brought the sides level again before the much-needed hydration break.

The industrious Ciaran Sheridan kicked the visitors into the lead on the 20th minute.  This drew a further response from the black and amber who kicked two quick-fire points to wrestle back the lead.

Five minutes to play and Longwood were staring down the barrel of a relegation play-off.  Now was the time to stand up and Gavin Griffith duly obliged – two excellent points from play sandwiched a pressure free from Anthony Healy and this saw Longwood home by two points.

Some frantic social media searches ensued before news finally filtered through that the boys had preserved their Division 4 status for another year.  No mean feat for a team that had lost their opening six games in the competition.

Well done to the boys on keeping their heads up and continuing to work hard when the odds appeared stacked against them.  Special mention to the defence who worked tirelessly throughout the game, recovering from the concession of an early goal to restrict Nobber to just 1-4 from play.  Dominic Finnegan and Harry Leigh did a tremendous job tagging the dangerous Sean Meade and holding him to just a single point across the hour.

A special mention to Bob Maguire who made his first appearance since the opening round of last year’s Intermediate Championship.  A true warrior, Bob has worked hard to recover from a serious Achilles injury and it was great to see him don the white jersey again yesterday, although he may need to work on his two-pointers!  

Longwood: Anthony Healy (0-1), Coyle O’Brien, Dominic Finnegan, Mark Kennedy, Adrian Maguire, Harry Leigh, Cian Swan (0-1), Brian Stagg, Ciaran Sheridan (0-1), Damien Healy, David Coloe, Thomas Dorran, Ryan Moore (0-5), Conor Dixon (0-1), Gavin Griffith (0-3). Subs: Ronan Greene (0-1) for Conor Dixon, Bob Maguire for Thomas Dorran, Cian O’Sullivan, Sean Kelly, Kevin Maguire, Liam Foran.

With the football championship still four weeks away, attention now turns to the small ball with Longwood facing a tough challenge against a strong Navan O’Mahonys team in the opening round of the championship on Saturday evening.  We will keep you posted later in the week.

Maigh Dearmhaí abú!! 🤍🖤