Longford keep ball rolling
Longford 0-10 Cavan 0-7
Longford clinched back-to-back league victories with a win at Kingspan Breffni Park thanks to a dominant second-half display.
Glen Ryan's men initially struggled to contain the rapier-like attacks inspired by Cavan speedsters Niall Smith and Niall McDermott. Longford eventually came out of their shell, with Sean McCormack ending a 32-minute barren spell to cut Cavan's lead to 0-4 to 0-3 at the interval.
The Leinster men were much more energised up front on the restart and by the 47th minute managed to regain the lead, 0-6 to 0-5, for the first time since the 19th minute. The visitors had a pep in their step and played with a swagger in the final 15 minutes that made Cavan look very second-rate and their penchant for taking the circuitous route played right into the hands of the mobile Longford defence.
Longford spurned a hatful of chances in the final minutes, but still managed to win pulling up.
Scorers -- Longford: S McCormack 0-4 (2f), P Barden, J McGivney 0-2 each, M Quinn (1 '45'), D McElligott 0-1 each. Cavan: R Galligan (2f), N McDermott, Eugene Keating (1f) 0-2 each, Padraig O'Reilly 0-1
Longford: D Sheridan; D Brady, B Gilleran, D Reilly; S Mulligan, M Quinn, C P Smyth; B McElvaney, J Keegan; D Barden, P Barden, N Mulligan; R Smyth, S McCormack, JJ Matthews. Subs: P Foy for S Mulligan (33), J McGivney for N Mulligan (h-t), D McElligott for R Smyth (h-t)
Cavan: J Reilly; D Barkey, O Minagh, R Flanagan; R Maloney-Derham, P O'Reilly, D O'Reilly; D Givney, G McKiernan; N Smith, N McDermott, K Meehan; B Fitzpatrick, E Keating, R Galligan. Subs: M Dunne for R Galligan (h-t), D O'Dowd for D O'Reilly (41), D McKiernan for B Fitzpatrick (54), R Cullivan for K Meehan (60), C McClarey for G McKiernan (67)
Referee: B O'Shea (Dublin)
Waterford 0-21
Kilkenny 0-2
Waterford were easy winners before a crowd of less than 50 paying spectators at a wet Fraher Field in Dungarvan last night.
The home team opened up an early five-point lead, with Kilkenny registering their only first-half score through Brian Byrne on nine minutes.
Waterford eased off in the second half but will be disappointed at not registering a green flag. They only had one shot at goal during the game. Kilkenny finished with some good attacking movements and were denied goals following two great saves from Stephen Enright.
Scorers -- Waterford: G Hurney 0-8 (2f), P Hurney 0-4, S Fleming, C McGrath 0-3 each, T Grey, JJ Hutchinson, J Veale 0-1 each. Kilkenny: B Byrne, S Duggan (1f) 0-1 each
