First-half dominance seals Lory Meagher for Fermanagh

A strong first-half proved pivotal as Fermanagh overcame Longford by five points in their entertaining Lory Meagher Cup Final at Croke Park on Sunday afternoon.

A Brian Teehan goal at the end of the first quarter helped prompt a deserved eight-point interval advantage and Fermanagh did enough to repel a strong final quarter from Longford to claim a deserved success.

In doing so, they followed in the footsteps of 2023 winners Monaghan, and now join Louth as the county with the most success at this level with both teams having secured three Lory Meagher titles since the tournament’s inception in 2009.

There was a bright start from both sides with Fermanagh opening the scoring through Brian Teehan within forty seconds after an intervention from Hawkeye while Evan Tully responded for Longford in the 3rd minute.

The Ulster side regained their lead thanks to Aidan Flanagan soon after and doubled their lead through Luca McCusker in the 4th minute.

They should have been awarded a goal two minutes later as Teehan swept home after Seán Corrigan’s shot had rebounded off the upright but referee James Judge disallowed the effort following a consultation with his umpires.

Fermanagh didn’t seem too despondent as a result of that decision as they continued to dominate through points by John Duffy and Tom Keenan with Joe Rabbitt replying at the opposite end for a struggling Longford.

Ciarán Duffy and Danaan McKeogh added to their lead while their opponents offered their supporters some cause for encouragement with points in quick succession by Cian Darcy and Cathal Mullane.

However, the momentum from those two points was quickly dispelled as Teehan got the goal he deserved in the 17th minute, sweeping home from ten yards across Pat Burke in the Longford goal to put six points between the teams.

That margin remained fairly constant for the ensuing ten minutes with Darcy popping over a brace of frees for Longford but Fermanagh finished the half as they begun it with a brace of points from McKeogh leaving them well placed at 1-14 to 0-9 by the interval.

Longford’s hopes of a comeback were dealt a massive blow within twenty seconds of the restart as Teehan’s challenge on Burke forced a fumble that McKeogh gleefully gobbled up from close range.

The response to this setback was admirable however as Darcy added two frees to augment a Mullane score with Buckley almost netting in the 40th minute as he dragged narrowly wide of Chris McKernan’s right-hand upright.

He did gain his reward eight minutes later when crashing home across McKernan following fine approach play from Rabbitt but Fermanagh continued to clip away through McCusker and Corrigan to maintain a firm hold on proceedings.

Teehan added a superb goal in the 56th minute to confirm his team’s control but a goal from Rabbit four minutes later offered renewed grounds of optimism for Longford, particularly as Darcy continued to trim that deficit with his prowess from placed balls.

However, that elusive third goal failed to materialise as Fermanagh added two late insurance points through McCusker and JP McGarry, despite the last dismissal of full-back Rory Porteous.

Fermanagh: Chris McKernan; Seán McKendry, Rory Porteous, Odhran Johnston; Aidan Flanagan (0-1), Ryan Bogue, Dylan Bannon; Ciarán Duffy (0-1), Caolan Duffy (0-1); Luca McCusker (0-4, one free), Tom Keenan (0-2), John Duffy (0-2); Seán Corrigan (0-4), Brian Teehan (2-3), Danaan McKeogh (1-3, 0-1 free).

Subs: J Tormey for J Duffy (46), R McGurn for McKendry (51), JP McGarry (0-1) for McKeogh (62), B Corrigan for Flanagan (64), D Teague for Keenan (72).

Longford: Pat Burke; Johnny Casey, Eamon Allen, Seán Lancaster; Adam Quinn, Karl Murray, Evan Tully (0-2); Paddy Lynam (0-1), Cathal Mullane (0-2); Oisín Gately, David Buckley (1-1), Joe Rabbitt (1-1); Reuben Murray, Cian Darcy (0-13, twelve frees), Ronan Courtney.

Subs: C Flynn for Gately (48), M Mulcahy for R Murray (51), D Caslin for Buckley (59), D Crossan for Courtney (70).

Referee: James Judge (Mayo).