Longwood’s late evening trek to Meath Hill resulted in disappointment on Thursday evening with the men in blue maximising home advantage in the Reserve Cup Final.

The opening half saw Longwood take the initiative, rattling off three quick points, courtesy of the Sheridan brothers, Ciaran and Sean and an Anthony Healy free, to lead after just six minutes. Meath Hill responded with a brace of points but Longwood pushed on again and another Healy free plus two more Ciaran Sheridan points gave them a 0-6 to 0-2 advantage.

The younger of the Sheridan brothers was causing all sorts of problems for the home team, his powerful running punching holes in the defence at every opportunity. Indeed, but for picking up a serious knock to his knee just before half-time, the final result could have looked very different.

The home crowd at last had something to cheer two minutes before the break when they pierced the Longwood rearguard and scored a well taken goal. The scores were now level, not exactly a true reflection on proceedings to this point.

Rather than drop their heads, Longwood responded immediately. Straight from the kick out, the ball was worked down the field and ended up in the hands of Louis Butler. The young half forward shot instinctively on the turn and the ball crept under the cross bar and into the net. The three-point lead had been restored and Longwood carried this advantage to the half-time break.

Half-time: Meath Hill 1-3 Longwood 1-6

Longwood were braced for a Meath Hill onslaught and the home team didn’t disappoint. Three quickfire points brought the teams level and the game was up for grabs. Indeed they would proceed to register eight successive points before a Sean Sheridan free halted the run of scores.

The home team upped the ante in the third quarter, they gained a strong foothold in the middle sector of the field and pressed forward at every opportunity. This, combined with the awarding a number of very soft frees saw them take command on the scoreboard. Try as they might, Longwood could not stem the tide.

The final whistle was greeted with cheers from the home faithful while Longwood were left to rue what might have been.

Longwood: Kevin Maguire, Lorcan Hannon, Adam Leacy, Coyle O’Brien, David Coloe, Tomás O’Brien, Brian Stagg, Ciaran Sheridan (0-4), Bob Maguire, Gavin Griffith, Sean Sheridan (0-2), Louis Butler (1-0), Adrian Maguire, Anthony Healy (0-2), Sam Dixon. Subs: Ben McLoughlin for Hannon, Ross Healy for Griffith, Jason Kerrigan for Dixon, Kieran Murtagh, Daniel Fahy, Donal Stagg.

Next up for Longwood is a trip to Ballinacree to play St Brigid’s in Division 4 of the ACFL on Saturday evening @ 5:30. The Reserve team were scheduled to travel to Moynalvey on Sunday morning @ 10:30 but in the interest of player welfare both teams agreed on a switch to Monday evening @ 6:00