Shane Carthy ensures St Vincent’s prevail

St Vincent’s (Dublin) 2-12 Mullinalaghta (Longford) 0-11: Entering the final quarter of an hour at Glennon Brothers Pearse Park, it seemed like 2016 might be bookended with chastening defeats for Dublin teams at the Longford venue.

Admittedly, St Vincent’s still held a one-point lead and weren’t in quite the bother that Dublin found themselves during their O’Byrne Cup defeat there last January. But the game was delicately poised all the same, and there for the taking.

That the 2013 and 2014 Leinster champions ultimately finished strongly to win by a flattering seven-point margin says a lot about them as a team.