Longford edge out minor footballers in Leinster Shield final

Sat, 14th July 2018

LONGFORD 1-13 DUBLIN 0-11

Longford were crowned Leinster minor football Shield champions when defeating Dublin by five points in Pearse Park, Longford on Saturday afternoon.

The Dubs, who lined out without their dual players such as Luke Swan, Conor Murray, Liam Dunne and Seán Foran as they prepare for their All-Ireland MHC semi-final, started slowly and found themselves 1-12 to 0-1 in arrears by the eighth minute.

Keelin McGann got the Longford goal and it provided the perfect start for the home side for whom Cian Dooner was their real match-winner.

By the 19th minute Longford held a 1-5 to 0-3 lead before Dublin settled and kicked four points in-a-row but through Dooner the midlanders finished the half leading 1-5 to 0-7 and held on strong in the second-half for victory.

Seán Guiden, son of former Dublin senior forward Niall, was the pick of the Dubs attack and he finished the contest with three points from play to add to two converted frees while wing-back Mark Lavin also hit two frees as well as two from play.

SCORERS – Longford: C Dooner 0-8 (0-2f), K McGann 1-1, R Reilly (0-1f), E McCormack, D O’Connell, R Leonard 0-1 each. Dublin: S Guiden 0-5 (0-2f), M Lavin 0-4 (0-2f), C McManus, L McGovern 0-1 each.

LONGFORD: P Murray; D Moffett, D Ciglianio, A Quinn; C Belton, J Moran, P Dempsey; J Borland, R Prior; E Finneran, E McCormack, K McGann; R Reilly, D O’Connell, C Dooner. Subs: C O’Nuallain for Quinn (37), R Leonard for Reilly (42), C Leonard for Borland (60), J Kiernan for McGann (62).

DUBLIN: S Murphy; N Hatton, A Fearon, A Rafter; C McManus, E Cashman, M Lavin; E Adamson, R Dwyer; L McGovern, M Dunne, A Watson; S Guiden, C Hennessy, T O’Neill. Subs: C O’Brien for Fearon (21), R Bolger for O’Neill (ht), M Grogan for Dunne (37), E Farquharson for Watson (42), J Bannon for Hatton (43), C Chawke for McGovern (52).

REF: A Coyne (Westmeath).