Longwood got their Intermediate Football Championship campaign off to a winning start with a win against Bective on Sunday afternoon in Boardsmill.

With both teams operating in Division 4 of the league, they are familiar rivals and well acquainted with each other.  That said, this year’s league encounter which Bective won comfortably, was not a good pointer given that Longwood are never at their best in March.

The game started with a bang, with just over a minute on the clock Longwood captain Harry Hogan transferred the ball to his younger brother Billy who was felled in the Bective square just as he was about to pull the trigger.  Penalty!

Harry Hogan’s spot kick was well struck but was deflected on to the post by Scott O’Sullivan, a tremendous save by the Bective netminder.  But Hogan was quickest to react, gathering the rebound before rounding a defender and finishing to the back of the net with aplomb.  An excellent start for The Wood.

Within two minutes, Bective had a goal chance of their own when Cathal McConnell burst through the heart of the Longwood defence only to drag his shot wide of the target.

Apart from that, Longwood bossed the opening quarter with points from Sean Coloe and Ryan Moore giving them a 1-2 to 0-1 lead.  Indeed, it could have been more but for some uncharacteristically poor shooting.  

An injury to Brian Stagg resulted in the talented dual star being replaced and this seemed to unsettle Longwood, allowing the Bective men to get the scoreboard ticking.  Full forward Con Smith was the chief contributor albeit from placed balls.  A brace of two-point frees kept Bective in touch although Billy Hogan countered with a spectacular two-pointer of his own off the outside of his right boot.

Further points from Adrian Maguire and the impressive Harry Leigh kept Longwood in front and saw them take a two-point lead to the interval.

Half-time: Longwood 1-7 Bective 0-8

With the wind at their backs for the second half, Bective would have been reasonably confident of turning things around.  Longwood were of a different mindset and a couple of early points from Ryan Moore and Gavin Griffith stretched their lead before Con Smith struck another two-pointer, this time from play, to reduce the margin.   

A minute later, a mix-up in the Longwood defence was seized upon by Tristan O’Neill who finished to the net to give Bective the lead for the first time.  

Points from Conor Dixon and Harry Leigh sandwiched a Bective over and there was just a point between the teams with fifteen minutes to play.

Two minutes later, another Con Smith free pushed Bective two points clear.  It was to be their last score.

Longwood, with Sean Coloe at the wheel, dominated the closing stages.  A third point from Harry Leigh was quickly followed by an opportunist goal from Gavin Griffith, the forward reacting quickly to a bouncing ball and flicking it over the advancing goalkeeper’s head to the net.  

 Longwood had wrestled back the lead and were in no mood to let it go.  They finished strongly, with two points from Sean Coloe and another from Billy Hogan.  

At the final whistle, the gap had stretched to five points.  Few could argue it wasn’t a fair reflection on the sixty minutes of football. 

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

So a good start for Longwood.  But the players and management will know full well that is all it is…………..a start.  Stiffer challenges lay ahead.

Next weekend sees the small ball take over with a battle against Killyon in the Senior B Hurling Championship.