Dublin 2-25 Longford 0-12

“My memory is not the best,” laughs Pearse O’Neill. He’s just been asked to jog it back to the spring of 2010 when the mark last featured in inter-county Gaelic football.

Jason Ryan last night stepped down as Kildare manager after two years in charge. Ryan had previously been coach and selector under Kieran McGeeney in 2013.

Longford GAA may have to foot a bill of over €3m after after an expert report recommended the demolition and rebuilding of Pearse Park’s covered stand areas. 

Jack Sheedy is among the leading candidates to succeed Tomás Ó Flatharta as the next Laois senior football manager.

Longford GAA chiefs are on the hunt for a new senior football manager after Jack Sheedy resigned the post on Tuesday night.

Sitting in the Hogan Stand two weeks ago watching John Heslin roll in the game-clinching goal, it was hard not to get drawn in by the pure joy and excitement the Westmeath squad and supporters were experiencing.

Longford 0-11 Kildare 2-24: Just last week, Offaly manager Pat Flanagan asserted that so-called weaker counties consistently got the short end of the stick when it came to getting decisions against teams with higher profiles.

Dublin 5-18 Kildare 0-14: With pins the size of swords, Dublin popped Westmeath’s party balloons less than an hour after they had been blown up yesterday.

Ciarán Whelan didn’t quite do a Tomás Ó Sé on it, but he is seriously dubious about Kildare’s chances of beating Dublin in Sunday’s Leinster semi-final.

Longford 2-15 Carlow 1-8: Three weeks on from their refusal to bow to pragmatism and shut up shop against Dublin, Longford’s commitment to attractive football finally paid off on Saturday.

As May turns to June we have seen the first few weeks of championship football with provincial championships throwing up a mixed bag of competitiveness and quality.

Jack Sheedy stood defiant afterwards.

Dublin 4-25 Longford 0-10: Not for Longford the parked bus.

Peter McNamara looks ahead to this weekend’s GAA Championship action.

The arguments are as familiar to us now as Croke Park, Michael Lyster and an umpire’s white coat, but the ongoing domination of Dublin’s footballers at all levels in Leinster is such that those fires will continue to be stoked as the fine weather sets in. 

Former Longford manager Glenn Ryan has dismissed the suggestion that the county are on a damage limitation mission against Dublin tomorrow afternoon.

Longford manager Jack Sheedy is unlikely to opt for an ultra defensive formation when his charges attempt a giant-killing act against Leinster champions Dublin in Croke Park tomorrow.

It will forever be known as the game that led Jarlath Burns to declare the death of football, but Rory O’Carroll fully expects Dublin to be faced with the same defensive dilemmas this summer as that employed by Derry at the end of March.

As the music boomed out of the victorious Longford dressing room Jack Sheedy beamed, while across the tunnel Pat Flanagan struggled to get the words out through the anguish of defeat.

Longford 0-16 Offaly 0-13: In a streaky game where both sides thrived on confidence, ultimately Offaly’s lack of self-belief cost them when they saw the finishing line.

Longford’s survival instincts served them well as they came from seven points adrift to oust Offaly in a keenly contested Leinster SFC clash at O’Connor Park in Tullamore.

Tyrone goalkeeper Niall Morgan has failed to overcome a groin injury and will sit out their Ulster football championship preliminary round clash away to Donegal on Sunday.

OFFALY 4-16 LONGFORD 1-12: A little context first. 

Offaly had way too much firepower for Longford and it was their more clinical finishing of better chances created that earned them the new Division 4 silverware.

Paul Barden has committed to a 15th season in the Longford shirt.

Longford chairman Brendan Gilmore has called on the Leinster Council to force Dublin to travel for their provincial championship opener in 2015.

For the first time since 2008, Clare and Limerick will meet each other in the Munster senior hurling championship next season.

Jack Sheedy’s Longford were bounced out of the All-Ireland senior football championship by Tipperary this afternoon.

ALL-IRELAND SFC ROUND 2A:

Tipperary football selector Michael O’Loughlin is delighted his county have a home draw against Longford in the second round of the qualifiers.

This morning's draw for rounds 2A and 2B of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship qualifiers has thrown up a juicy all-Ulster clash between Tyrone and the losers of the Monaghan-Armagh replay.

Derry 2-14 Longford 2-16

Derry 2-14 Longford 2-16

It’s Thursday afternoon and Jack Sheedy is under pressure. He is tending to his two-year old. A little over 48 hours out from what many believe will be his Longford team’s last competitive game of 2014, he is working to a tight schedule.

Longford will be hoping for a repeat of their shock 2012 qualifier win over Derry, having drawn the northerners for a second time in three seasons.

Longford 0-19 Offaly 0-15

Midfielder John Keegan says Longford’s deplorable recent Leinster championship record must be reversed.

Offaly football manager Emmet McDonnell believes his "naive" players are being crucified by the new advantage rule.

CAVAN

Former Dublin senior footballer Jack Sheedy was this evening appointed as the manager of the Longford senior and under-21 football teams.

Pat Flanagan has spoken of his disappointment at the way he was let go as manager of the Westmeath senior footballers, with Dubliner Paul Bealin voted in to replace him earlier this week.