Longwood’s hurlers suffered a disappointing defeat at the hands of an impressive Dunderry side in Boardsmill on Sunday afternoon.

The teams would not have lacked for motivation with a semi-final place up for grabs, but it was Dunderry who ultimately claimed the spoils.

Longwood can have few complaints with the result.  Despite a reasonable start when a Ryan Moore goal had the sides level after twelve minutes, they struggled to establish any real fluency in their play.  

The second quarter proved crucial as Dunderry rattled off a run of successive points to take a seven-point lead to the interval.  This period of the game also saw Ryan Moore forced to leave the action (he would later return) with a knee injury.  Moore had started the game well and was getting the better of his marker prior to the injury.

In fairness to Longwood, they rolled up their sleeves and worked hard after the break.  Indeed, they marginally outscored their opponent in the second period, but the damage had been done and, try as they might, they rarely looked like overturning the half-time deficit.

Longwood: Mark Kennedy (Capt), Ronan Greene, Billy Hogan, Ben McLoughlin, Tomás O’Brien, Joe Stenson, Sean Sheridan, Damien Healy (1-0), William Phillips, Sean Coloe, Anthony Healy (0-5), Conor M Dixon (0-1), Ryan Moore (1-2), Kevin Heagney (0-1), Conor Dixon (0-1).  Subs: Johnny Furey for William Phillips (blood sub), Ross Healy for Tomás O’Brien, Bob Maguire for William Phillips, Sam King, Kevin Maguire.

Next up for Longwood is a joust with St Patrick’s in the Intermediate Football Championship on Saturday evening.