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You are > Home > Waterford hold out against Longford for second draw
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Tuesday, March 09, 2010
Waterford hold out against Longford for second draw
BY PHIL FANNING
WATERFORD 0-10 LONGFORD 1-07
Having failed to score after Brian Wall’s 43rd minute point put them into a two point lead, Waterford could be considered lucky to have held on for a draw against a Longford side that dominated possession for the remainder of the game but were guilty of some dreadful finishing as their forwards amassed a total of eight second half wides to Waterford’s two.
Overall this game was a poor advertisement for fourth division football and once again the position was not helped by a referee whose interpretation of the rules confused players and spectators alike and indeed himself at times. One would dearly love to know just what the referees’ assessor in the stand made of it all as Waterford players received six yellow cards, mostly for what could be termed “bread and butter” fouls while Longford appeared to escape with just one in a game that did not produce any undue aggravation from either side.
It took the Limerick referee just thirty seconds to make his mark on the game as Longford went on the attack from the throw in and a high dropping ball into the Waterford square was contested by Thomas Wall and a defender and forward.
Wall seemed to have the ball under control when the referee sounded the whistle. At first everyone thought it was for a free out as a result of a square infringement but soon it became clear, that the decision was a penalty to Longford, presumably for a third man tackle, something of a rarity in the present game. One could be cynical and suggest that the referee was embarrassed by the manner of his county’s win over Longford a week earlier when the midland side were denied a perfectly legitimate winning goal by a refereeing error, subsequently admitted, and so decided to make amends but that would be unfair.
Whatever the reason the awarding of a penalty at such an early stage for a reason that was hardly clear cut was most unusual and it put Waterford under pressure straight away as the home side was playing with the aid of a stiffish breeze in the first half.
Early Waterford attacks produced wides from a ‘45’a and play by Michael Donnelly while at the back the O’Gorman twins received yellow cards for the most harmless fouls, the second of which by Thomas resulting in a point from the free by Jamsie Martin that put his side four points clear in the seventh minute. Waterford then settled down to enjoy a good spell with Brian Wall opening their account from a close in free in the 10th minute and Michael Donnelly adding another from long range in the 13th minute.
Niall Hennessy made a great run in from the right wing in the 16th minute and was upended, bearing down on goal, for Brian Wall to convert the free and leave just a point between the teams.
The home side had a real let off in the 18th minute when a shot from Longford’s Jamesie Martin came back off the upright and from about four metres and directly in front of an open goal Paul Kelly somehow managed to drive the ball wide of the posts on the volley. Had there been television cameras present his effort would be shown again and again as the miss of the year.
Some sustained Waterford pressure finally saw them draw level in the 23rd minute when Conor McGrath put Niall Hennessy through for a fine point but Longford were soon back in front as some very poor play out of defence gifted points to Jamesie Martin and Francis McGee in the 26th and 31st minutes.
The Waterford selectors brought on Paul Ogle for Justin Walsh in a bid to tighten up matters in defence and in the 34th minute Brian Wall’s point from a free left just a point between the teams. Robert Ahearne missed a great chance to level the tie but in the last second of added time Tommy Prendergast ran on to a Mick Ahearne clearance and sent over a fine point to send the teams in at the break level on a score of Waterford 0– 6, Longford 1 – 3.
ALL TO DO
Waterford now had it all to do against the breeze in the second half but they started brightly with Liam O Lionain, having received little supply of ball in the first half, coming out to win the ball and putting Niall Hennessy through only for the Ardmore man to be again fouled and Brian Wall stepped up to put Waterford in front for the first time. Almost immediately afterwards Wall received a yellow card for some obscure reason before Shane Briggs was penalised for an illegal pick up and Francis McGee had the first of his four second half points to level the tie again.
Liam O Lionain was now causing problems for the Longford defence and again he was involved in a move that put Wayne Hennessy in for a fisted point and the lead in the 40th minute and two minutes later O Lionain himself collected a delivery from Robert Ahearne in the half forward line and went through the opposing defence with a devastating run that saw his shot just flash over the crossbar for a lead point that might as easily have been a goal. In a period of intense action Francis McGee pulled a point back for Longford but in the 43rd minute Kieran Connery set up Brian Wall for another point to maintain Waterford’s two point advantage.
At this point Longford sent their star player, Paul Barden, into the fray and within minutes McGee sent over another point from a free to cut the deficit to the minimum. There followed a long period without a score in which Waterford sent on Stephen Cunningham and Michael O’Gorman for Michael Donnelly and Robert Ahearne respectively but it was the behaviour of the referee that dominated the proceedings as he welcomed the third O’Gorman on to the field with another yellow card while also issuing a similar card to Longford substitute Noel Farrell.
Both sides continued to bring in their substitutes in an effort to get scores on the board and the better chances were falling to Longford who by the 65th minute had shot six second half wides to Waterford’s one.
ALL SQUARE
The visitors were finally rewarded for their pressure when McGee, after missing an easy chance in the 66th minute, slotted over the equaliser two minutes later.
Waterford seemed prepared to settle for the draw as Kieran Power went on to replace Conor McGrath for the final few minutes and though they defended well in those final closing minutes they did get chances to steal a victory only to give away possession when going forward. In the end Waterford can be happy to have retained their unbeaten run of four games without defeat while Longford will feel that they should have taken more than a point from this game. Waterford now face into what will be a big test away to Limerick on Saturday evening next hoping to get something from the game that will keep them in the promotion hunt.
This was not a good performance by Waterford with a number of their best players having below par performances. In defence the O’Gormans settled down well after some early lapses but they must have felt under some pressure as a result of those early yellow cards. Niall Hennessy also impressed going forward and won at least two vital points from frees as well as scoring another. The Waterford midfield did see a good share of possession without getting good ball forward and while Brian Wall had a fine game in attack O Lionain always looked to have the measure of the opposing defence when given possession.
There is no doubt but that Longford will take points from some of the other promotion candidates and this could work to Waterford’s benefit but in truth the matter of promotion is in their own hands.
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