Darren Gallagher stars as Longford edge Louth
Darren Gallagher of Longford scores a point late in the game despite the efforts of Emmet Carolan of Louth. Picture: Eóin Noonan/Sportsfile
A few minutes before the rest of the Longford players returned to the field for the second-half in Mullingar, Darren Gallagher hobbled back out on his own.
Aided by the physio, he did a couple of straight line runs up and down the pitch but was clearly struggling with his left leg and shook his head in exasperation.
It didn’t look good for the big Granard man and, by extension, for Longford because it was his haul of 1-2 in the opening half that had left them a point ahead in horrendous conditions.
But he continued on, through the rain and the mud, and while he was a less influential figure in the second-half it was Gallagher who powered through in the 69th minute for a crucial point.
That score put Longford one ahead and remained between the teams until three minutes into stoppage time when substitute Robbie Smyth clipped over his second to effectively seal it.
It wasn’t pretty and it wasn’t a game to live long in the memory but for manager Padraic Davis it was a familiar bottom line; their key players delivered when required, securing a Leinster quarter-final clash with Laois next Sunday in Longford.
“Darren had a dead leg but he seemed to run it off,” said Davis. “He’s a hugely important player for us. He is always going to come good on the big day and he did that today, particularly in the first-half. He’s very much our go-to guy, probably too much so, we probably put a lot of pressure on him.
“We actually asked them at half-time, particular around that middle third, for other guys to step up and they did.” Smyth’s sweet striking came as the perfect antidote to the kicking difficulties experienced by both teams; Longford dropped six short into the ‘keeper’s arms throughout while Louth only scored 1-3 from open play.
“That’s the ability that Robbie has,” said Davis of his impact sub. “You’re either a big game player or you’re not. It’s either in the blood or it’s not and it’s certainly in his.” Both sets of supporters owe their players a debt of gratitude because these aren’t the Championship days that anyone dreams of. Drenched before the ball was even thrown-in, two teams that met in Division 3 earlier this year dug as deep within themselves as they possibly could.
Louth went with Paddy Reilly as a seventh defender and their defensive screen blocked up the play to an extent but Gallagher still broke through for an eighth-minute Longford goal after an expertly worked handpassing move.
Sam Mulroy was Louth’s key man and cancelled out that goal with his 27th-minute strike, engineering the major after a barrelling burst goalwards from the left when nothing appeared to be on.
County title winner Mulroy was their only scorer on the day and how they missed a Ryan Burns on top form to lighten Mulroy’s load.
A couple of Mulroy points tied it up at 1-6 apiece before the second water break and left it anyone’s game.
That’s when Gallagher and Smyth took over, the duo contributing three late points with Mulroy conjuring only one in response as Longford progressed.
“Sam scored everything today,” said Louth manager Wayne Kierans. “It’s probably something that we need to improve on. We possibly had a couple of chances at the start of the second-half and we were there for maybe a couple of goals or at least a point. I would agree, we are not clinical enough and Longford maybe edged that department.”
D Gallagher 1-3 (0-1f), R Brady 0-2, R Smyth 0-2, L Connerton 0-1, D Mimnagh 0-1.
S Mulroy 1-7 (4f, 1 45).
P Collum; P Fox, A Farrell, G Rogers; D McElligott, B O'Farrell, CP Smyth; D Gallagher, K Diffley; D Reynolds, J Hagan, D Mimnagh; R Brady, L Connerton, I O'Sullivan.
D Doherty for Hagan (35), R Smyth for Reynolds (50), P Lynn for O'Sullivan (60), A McGuire for Connerton (72).
C Lynch; D Corcoran, D Campbell, K Carr; P Reilly; J Clutterbuck, E Callaghan, A Williams; T Durnin, B Duffy; L Jackson, C Keenan, C McKeever; S Mulroy, C Whelan.
P Matthews for Whelan (ht), E Carolan for Duffy (50), C Grimes for Keenan (50), G Garland for McKeever (63), G McSorley for Reilly (67).
D Coldrick (Meath).
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