Cloudy with patchy rain and sunny intervals

Find a...

Date Job Car Home











 




Smullen: Longford have never had it so good

Former Longford star Trevor Smullen is backing the current crop of talent to emulate what was achieved six years ago when they beat Derry in an All-Ireland qualifier at Pearse Park.

Smullen, who made his senior debut as a 16-year-old at the start of the 1994-’95 League, scored a goal on a day Paul Barden pointed a free in the final minute to grab a famous 1-16 to 2-12 victory. It remains one of the highlights of a sporting career that also includes playing basketball for Ireland.

The 34-year-old Ballymahon clubman is the current manager of Barden’s Clonguish club and has his finger on the pulse.

He thinks this could be the best Longford team of all time.

“Glenn Ryan has done a very good job with them” said Smullen. “They still have about eight of the 2006 team. Some of them are playing every bit as well as they were in 2006, if not better. Then they’ve added some fresh talent into it as well. Their recent record is second-to-none. They’ve been promoted twice in the league. They struggled in the first-half against Laois but came back and beat them in the championship.

“Had one or two things gone their way, they’d still be in the Leinster championship.

“So it’s hard to argue with the progress they’re making. It’s as good as it has been in a long, long time, if not as good as there ever has been in Longford.”

Prior to the 2006 defeat of Derry, Longford had troubled Dublin in the Leinster championship, before beating Waterford and Tipperary.

“There would have been a belief there that if we played very, very well we’d get the result. This time it’s different though. Longford people are probably expecting a result.”

© Irish Examiner Ltd. All rights reserved

Home

More from the Irish Examiner