All-Ireland SFC qualifiers, round one:Impressive Longford finished strongly at Pearse Park to defeat Derry 0-17 to 2-8. There were also wins for Tipperary, Louth, Westmeath, Wicklow, Laois and Antrim.
Longford had fallen behind in the 33rd minute of the second half – there were 11 minutes of injury time due to a lengthy injury stoppage – when corner-back Barry McGoldrick scored his second goal of the game. But Longford bounced straight back with points from Padraig McCormack and Brian Kavanagh giving them a lead they never relinquished. McGoldrick was sent off for a straight red in the closing stages.
Westmeathadvanced at the expense of Louth on a scoreline of 1-15 to 0-12, although the referee might claim most of the headlines from this clash. Louth were down to 13 men before half time with Mark Brennan and Darren Clarke sent to the line, with the Clarke decision in particular attracting the ire of the crowd.
Nonetheless Louth led at the break by two, 0-7 to 0-5, and despite playing against the elements in the second half they somehow managed to haul themselves back onto level terms. Ultimately though the extra men told against them, and although Westmeath had John Heslin sent off in the second half, they managed to run out comfortable winners, with the contribution of substitute Callum McCormack, who landed 1-3, the difference between the sides in the end.
In Semple Stadium, Tipperaryrecorded an impressive 1-12 to 0-10 win over Offaly. They led at the by 1-5 to 0-6, with the goal coming from Peter Acheson, although the gap could have been greater with Michael Quinlivan missing a penalty for the home side.
Quinlivan impressed beyond that though, registering 0-4 in all, with Tipperary totally taking charge of the game in the second half. Their midfield dominance meant that Offaly at one point went a full 15 minutes in the second half without scoring.
Laoisdefeated Carlow in Portlaoise, 1-10 to 0-9. John O'Loughlin scored the game's only goal in the first half and substitute MJ Tierney impressed after being introduced with Laois scoring five unanswered points to close out the win. Carlow manager Luke Dempsey stepped down after the game.
Wicklowneeded extra-time to beat a Waterford side that spent most of the game playing with 14 men after Gary Hurney was sent off on 26 minutes. Despite that, Wicklow need an injury time point from full-back Alan Byrne to level the game at 1-9 to 0-12. The extra man eventually started to tell in extra time though and Wicklow ran out 1-17 to 0-15 winners.
In Ruislip Antrimgot a major scare from London before finally emerging as winners on a scoreline of 2-11 to 2-9.