Billy Sheehan's Laois relegated by Longford on final day

Longford retained their Division three status with a comprehensive seven point win in O’Moore Park

Joseph Hagan of Longford. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile

Longford 2-17 Laois 1-13 

Longford have retained their Division three status with a comprehensive seven point win over Laois in O’Moore Park.

1-6 for Joseph Hagan and 1-2 for Dessie Reynolds paved the way for Billy O’Loughlin’s men as he guided Longford to the win and relegated his home County in the process.

Joseph Hagan was the star of the opening half with five points from play. The wing forward popped up in excellent positions and made the most of the slack marking especially in the opening 25 minutes when he kicked four of his five first-half scores.

After going 0-2 to 0-0 in front early doors, Longford were reeled in by Laois. Two Gary Walsh points on the spin made in 0-3 each on 13 minutes while another point apiece continued the close nature to the opening quarter.

Laois then got in for a goal through Mark Barry to put them in the driving seat on 16 minutes but they wouldn’t score again for nine minutes and in the meantime, Longford hit back with a fine score from Darragh Doherty to leave it 1-4 to 0-6.

After Eoin Lowry put Laois two in front on 25 minutes, it all started to go downhill for them. Sean O’Flynn picked up a black card while they couldn’t muster up any more scores before half time.

Longford made the most of the numerical advantage with Dessie Reynolds raiding up from wing back to palm the ball to the net after Kevin Diffley had done well to cut in from the end line to set him up.

Reynolds then landed a corker from 40 metres before Darren Gallagher (free) and Hagan with his fifth left Billy O’Loughlin’s charges leading 1-10 to 1-5 at half time.

Longford got their second goal seven minutes after half-time through Joseph Hagan and that pretty much ended the game as a contest with them leading 2-11 to 1-5.

Laois tried hard to get back close but their wayward shooting let them down. Full back Mark Timmons did come up and hit three points from play but in the end, Longford were able to always keep control of the second half and maintain the cushion they had built up in the opening 35 minutes.

Scorers for Longford: J Hagan 1-6, D Reynolds 1-2, D Gallagher 0-3 frees, A Farrell, D Doherty, J Duggan (free), J Matthews, O Kenny and K McCann 0-1 each.

Scorers for Laois: M Barry 1-4 (0-3 frees), M Timmons and G Walsh (0-1 free) 0-3 each, E Lowry 0-2, S Moore 0-1.

LAOIS: D Bolger; T Collins, M Timmons, A Mohan; S O'Flynn, J O'Loughlin, G Dillon; K Lillis, J Finn; B Byrne, E Lowry, D O'Reilly; M Barry, E O'Carroll, G Walsh.

Subs: A Farrell for G Dillon (21), S Moore for A Mohan (ht), C Murphy for D O'Reilly (ht), B Daly for J Finn (43), R Munnelly for E O'Carroll (60) 

LONGFORD: P Collum; B O'Farrell, A Farrell, J Moran; D Reynolds, M Quinn, I O'Sullivan; K Diffley, D Gallagher; E McCormack, D Doherty, J Hagan; J Matthews, J Duggan, O Kenny.

Subs: PJ Masterson for B O'Farrell (43), K McGann for J Duggan (48), A McGuire for J Matthews (54), D Reynolds for O Kenny (60), R Moffett for Darragh Doherty (68) 

Referee: Brendan Griffin (Kerry).