Ryan hoping Longford can make home comforts count

ARMAGH and Donegal’s meeting in front of the live TV cameras in Crossmaglen may be the standout fixture in the opening round of All-Ireland football qualifiers but further intrigue lies elsewhere.

Longford and Mayo will meet in Pearse Park later on the same evening at the end of June and, if history is any barometer, it is a fixture that possesses the possibility of a major shock.

Mayo have repeatedly thumbed their noses up at the back door route and, ordinary as Longford were in their Leinster Championship defeat to Louth, they are a different proposition on home ground.