LONGFORD RFC’S HOPES of pulling off an upset in Edenderry this afternoon were dashed as Tullamore RFC prevailed in the Provincial Towns Cup.
The Midlands clubs had their sights set on silverware and while Tullamore tasted defeat in recent finals, Tullamore endured a 91 year wait to reach the final two.
Adrian Hanley, Tom Gilligan and Conor Molloy were among the try scorers in a 38-6 win for the men from Offaly. Captain Aaron Deverell claimed the man of the match award.
Speaking before kick-off, Deverell commented, “We lost a couple of finals in a row so we’re trying to put a few things right. We’re all fairly eager to make amends. There’s a lot of the team playing next Sunday who would have lost three finals in a row so there’s a lot of motivation there to get a medal in the pocket.”
“There’s great excitement in the team,” said Longford captain Derek Farrell before the match. “It’s a new experience for a lot of us.”
He added, “We’ve been training since the end of July and there’s been great commitment shown. There’s lads travelling from Dublin, Galway, Athlone, Limerick, everywhere.”
Farrell and his teammates led briefly, in the competition chiefly sponsored by Ciaran O’Brien, but once Gilligan dived over to make it 8-6 there was no looking back.