Longford boss fumes over Sunday Game snub

Longford chairman Brendan Gilmore has hit out at the Sunday Game’s coverage of the county’s Leinster championship win, claiming the discussion unfairly centred on Offaly.

Analysis of the game ran for less than a minute of Sunday evening’s programme and Gilmore was disappointed the Longford players were not afforded the credit they deserved.

Pundits Kevin McStay and Ciarán Whelan were charged with assessing the first-round clash, but the discussion was focused completely on Offaly’s Leinster woes of recent years.

Gilmore referenced last year’s controversial qualifier encounter against Wexford which was the focus of much debate on the Sunday Game.

He added: “Now when we do win, there is very little discussion on it. Hopefully in three weeks’ time if we do win again, the coverage will concentrate a little more on Longford.”

Gilmore accepted Offaly carry greater weight in football circles, but said weaker counties should not be discriminated against in terms of the level of coverage they receive.

“I was disappointed with the coverage,” he fumed.

“This was big win for both players and management. There was a lot of pressure there and it was a much needed championship win. I was involved in our last championship win over Offaly and that was back in 1965 so that tells you how much we needed to win this. Everyone in Longford then was looking forward to sitting down and watching the Sunday Game on Sunday night to see what the pundits had to say about Longford, to see how the game was analysed.

“Fair play to Ciarán Whelan who congratulated Longford on the win and focused on Longford despite the fact that he was asked to comment on Offaly. I was looking forward to see who the lads thought played well, what areas they believed we were strongest in. There was none of that.

“We deserve fair coverage and I don’t think our lads got that. I was disappointed that the rest of the pundits didn’t even comment on Longford’s win.”

Longford midfielder Michael Quinn insists progress will not have been achieved unless the scalp of Wexford is taken on the second weekend of June.

“[Sunday’s] win is not really worth anything if you can’t follow it up with another game. Consistency is a huge problem that we need to work on. Once you get the work-rate, the consistency will come.

“We know we have three tough weeks ahead of us but it’s a good position to be in and we’re looking forward to it.

“There’s no love lost between the two of us but we know what they’re capable of. At the end of the day, we played in our last league game against them that led to us being relegated so we’re out for revenge.”

Meanwhile Offaly secretary Tommy Byrne said they will await referee Martin Higgins’ report before deciding on whether or not to appeal David Hanlon’s red card.

The full-back was dismissed after 66 minutes of Sunday’s contest.