Jacinta Brady fires Longford to victory

Longford 4-10 Antrim 1-12: A second half goal glut sealed a first TG4 All-Ireland Ladies JFC title since 1997 for Longford at Croke Park.

Midfielder Jacinta Brady claimed the player of the match award as the Midlanders ended a 19-year wait for national silverware.

Longford overturned a nine-point half-time deficit to win with seven to spare. Seven minutes before half-time, Longford trailed by 0-2 to 1-8 but three unanswered points before the break kept them in touch.

The second half saw substitutes Aoife Darcy and Aisling Reynolds make big scoring impacts.

They ran the bench early – three subs introduced in the first half and another at the break.

Ultimately, it was a run of 3-8 without reply that ensured glory for Longford – as they tagged on an unanswered 3-5 after the interval with Darcy, Brady and Aishling Greene all netting.

Scorers for Longford:

A Reynolds 0-5 (1f), J Brady, A Greene & A Darcy 1-1 each, E Heaney 1-0, O Noonan & L Burke 0-1 each.

Scorers for Antrim:

C Timoney 1-3 (0-2f), E Gallagher 0-4 (1f), M Cooper & M McGourty 0-2 each, Á Devlin 0-1.

LONGFORD:

M Kilkenny; S Hughes, L Keegan, M O’Reilly; C Farrell, E Dooley, M Moore; J Brady, M Reynolds; C Delaney, O Noonan, A.M. Bratton; A Greene, E Heaney, L Burke.

Subs:

M Noonan for O’Reilly (15), A Darcy for Delaney (20), A Reynolds for Burke (23), M Farrell for Dooley (h.t.), A Duffy for Moore (53).

ANTRIM:

C Drain; S Tennyson, E Kelly, S Haughey; E Mallon, S Cochrane, J McCavana; C Carey, D O’Kane; M Cooper, C Timoney, M McGourty; A McFarland, E Gallagher, Á Devlin.

Subs:

Á Tubridy for O’Kane (32), A McCann for Drain (43), C Dahunsi for E Kelly (48), N Kelly for Cochrane (53), M McCurdy for McGourty (55).

Referee:

J Murphy (Carlow).