LONGFORD ..............................1-10

FERMANAGH ...........................2-10

BY DAMIAN CAMPBELL

Fermanagh finally swung into National League action with this away visit to Pearse Park in Longford.

It was to be winning start for the Erne brigade to get their chase of the current divisional leaders up and running.

It was a hugely satisfactory success for Malachy O'Rourke's troops for contest had every pre-match appearance of being an exceptionally difficult assignment. A draw would not have been looked on as being a poor result so to leave with both points pocketed is a distinct bonus.

The team performance however was perhaps not quite so satisfactory in a game which never really developed a sustained tempo and it was to be a rather humdrum affair over most of the 70 minutes.

But it was Fermanagh who certainly produced much better quality football, their panache for slick, short supporting play surfacing at regular intervals as they carved out some excellent scores.

Defensively they were generally in command of their area, in the middle of the park Martin McGrath and Mark Murphy got through a more than decent amount of work and there were sporadic glimpses up front of quicksilver attacking play.

DOWNSIDE

The downside was that the team also underwent some undistinguished patches. Most notable of these came as the game was moving to a close.

Fermanagh had pushed an apparently comfortable six points in front and with Longford seriously handicapped by the fact that they were now reduced to a mere 13 players, the game looked to be securely clinched.

But the home side were to hit a fiery passage of all out assault and incredibly they were to post a four point haul that had their previously muted support in full throat.

Momentarily the bizarre looked possible. A thirteen man squad amazingly pulling off an astonishing comeback of epic proportions.

No doubt that there was mounting anxiety in the Fermanagh camp but in the end it all came right with a steadying point from a Mark Little free and the Longford revival was doused.

UNEXPECTED RALLY

It had been a spirited and unexpected Longford rally which had lifted the game from the torpor under which it had laboured for long spells. But Fermanagh had in the end managed to arrest the home side's rally and the eventual three point victory could not be seriously argued with.

Fermanagh had in the main been the better team and the win will have given all concerned a terrific lift for the next match, which is away to Leitrim in Carrick-on –Shannon this coming Sunday.

Another success on away turf and the team will have established itself as one of the key player's in the divisional promotion battle.

In a game which could not be described as tough or unduly menacing by any manner of means, three players were to be dispatched. Longford lost their wing back Shane Mulligan just prior to the break and full back Diarmaid Masterson also departed some fifteen minutes from full time.

Remarkably the departure of Masterson inspired Longford to easily their most dynamic spell of the match but in the end they were simply overwhelmed by an opposition who had acres of room to work in.

Fermanagh were also to finish undermanned, half forward Matthew Keenan sent off for a second yellow in added on time, but by that juncture the issue had been settled.

Fermanagh couldn't have got a better start than they one they did have, a goal with less than a minute elapsed. A high ball spun back off the Longford upright, it spilled down kindly to Liam McBarron who immediately off loaded to Ciaran McElroy and he had the easiest of tasks in thumping the ball into the net from the edge of the square.

Longford however almost cancelled out that startling score with a goal in reply but their wing half forward David Burden, homing in on goal though under pressure, pulled his low shot wide of the post.

It was the first of a trio of first half goal chances which Longford were to not avail of before the finally did find the net with a penalty strike on the stroke of the interval.

Boosted by the breakthrough of the early goal it was Fermanagh who were to shape up as the better team for most of the opening half. They picked off a number of well taken scores at regular intervals.

FORGE

Martin McGrath used his physical presence to forge his way forward for a fine shot that speared over the crossbar and Eamon Maguire, after a fluent approach movement, sweetly swung over a shot from an angle. Mark Murphy also got in on the act later in the half with another well hit point that was the end result of some incisive build up play.

Pat Cadden from a placed kick and Matthew Keenan, availing of an indifferent Longford defensive pass also chipped in with scores and Fermanagh were easing themselves into a decent lead.

The home side had been limited in their response, isolated scores coming from McGee and Kavanagh.

Fermanagh in fact should have been further ahead but in a ten minute spell of authority they failed to add to their tally, several chances sliding away owing to a tendency to take just a little too much out of the ball.

But a six point lead was solid enough as the interval beckoned.

But then Longford threw a spanner in the works as they converted a penalty, Paul Barden steering his shot into the bottom corner.

OPPOSITION

So Fermanagh despite all solid efforts over the opening thirty five minutes were only three to the good and they also had to face an opposition on the changeover reduced to fourteen. However, fourteen players can prove to be an even tougher handful than a full complement.

No surprise then that this long established tradition was to be repeated here with Longford bringing the game to Fermanagh and the Erne side's once comfortable position was seriously eroded.

Longford were now playing with a greater sense of fervour and they had Fermanagh struggling to contain them. The home team had a couple of early wides but then found the target through Noel Farrell and Brian Kavanagh to reduce the lead to the minimum.

Fermanagh were slumping into disarray, badly in need of an injection of a score to revive them.

And the score popped up in the forty seventh minute, a goal out of nothing really but smartly tucked away by Matthew Keenan after he had been fed through by Pat Cadden.

Longford answered with a point from a Noel Farrell free but Fermanagh, again patiently threading the ball through a clutch of players, had a good score from Damian Kelly.

Then came the second Longford dismissal and from the subsequent placed kick, Matthew Keenan slotted over the point to open up a five point gap.

Game secured one would have thought there was no way that a thirteen man team could rescue this situation.

But astonishingly Longford almost managed it and it made for a tense finale.

Place-kicker Francis McGee knocked over two scores inside a minute and spurred by this the home side launched a barrage of attacks as Fermanagh suddenly looked apprehensive.

Paul Barden tossed over his side's third point in succession and when he hit another the prospect of a sensation was definitely on the cards.

Could Fermanagh blow it? There was certainly anxiety and deep concern.

A steadying score was desperately required and thankfully it was to come, McBarron was hauled down and Little floated over the resulting free to give the team a much needed boost.

It was a crucial score for it signalled the end of the Longford surge. A three point gap was restored with a driven point from Martin McGrath which turned out to be the game's final score.

Still sometime to play out and with just the goal separating the team's, Longford were not bereft of hope.

They tried hard to engineer the equaliser and Fermanagh did have some defensive work over the final minutes but the goal never looked like coming and the Erne team had chiselled out what could be a critical victory.