Allianz FL D3: Fermanagh and Down get off the mark

ALLIANZ LEAGUE DIVISION THREE RESULTS

Fermanagh 0-15 Longford 0-8

Down 2-11 Tipperary 1-11

Down and Fermanagh are the early leaders in Division Three of the Allianz Football league, after they picked up victories in contrasting styles against Tipperary and Longford respectively today.

The first game of the 2023 Allianz Football League took place in the picturesque setting that was St. Joseph's GAA club in Ederney this afternoon, and the home side quickly reversed the form of the preseason competitions by recording an 0-15 to 0-8 win over O'Byrne Cup champions Longford, in a contest where the first half was full of fast, open, attacking football, while the second saw Fermanagh continue to control the game, but fail to pull away due to some poor shooting on their part.

Iarla OSullivan did strike two excellent points from wing back in the first half for Longford, but outside of that, Fermanagh were in complete control and were full value for their five-point interval lead. Che Cullen at full back and Darragh McGurn at centre forward were the star men for the Erne County, who kept Longford scoreless from play aside from those two O'Sullivan scores, as well as racking up an 0-11 to 0-6 lead themselves.

Sen Quigley struck five frees in that opening half while there were some exceptional points from Jonathan Cassidy, Ryan Lyons, Ryan Jones and McGurn, with Paddy Collum producing an exceptional reflex save to deny Sen Cassidy.

Longford played their best football of the game in the opening ten minutes of the second half and they cut the lead to three points through a McGivney free and Keelin McGann, but they were overwhelmed for the remainder of the game and despite Fermanagh racking up eight second half wides, including several scorable frees, there was never any doubt about the result.

Down also started well in their clash with Tipperary at Semple Stadium, getting off the mark through a Pat Havern score in the fifth minute of play, and they built up a 1-6 o 0-2 lead by half-time with a very polished display of controlled football that was rigidly strong in defence, and racking up turnover wins consistently. Havern was also the goalscorer after 20 minutes, having been set up by Eamon Brown.

Team captain Conor Sweeney got his team's first point from play in the third minute of the second half, and Tipperary received a further fillip when Niall McParland was dismissed for a second bookable offence two minutes later.

The lead was reduced to four points as Tipp piled on the pressure, with Conor Francis and Teddy Doyle trading goals just after the hour mark to heighten the tension going into a dramatic closing few minutes. Tipperary reduced the gap to two points while Down's Andrew Gilmore rattled the crossbar, but a second yellow card for Doyle in stoppage time was enough to allow Down to complete the scoring through a Havern free, and confirm their win.