Longford beat the Dubs to retain O'Byrne Cup

Longford 1-12 Dublin 0-09

Paddy Christie got one over his native county as Longford secured back-to-back Dioralyte O'Byrne Cup senior football titles at the expense of a largely second-string Dublin.

Keelin McGann’s 44th-minute goal was the crucial strike in Portlaoise where former Dublin captain Christie’s Longford fared best in the wet and wild conditions to make a little piece of history

Longford led by five points at half-time and pushed on for a memorable win with Cathal McCabe and top scorer Darren Gallagher also weighing in with 0-07 between them.

It’s the county’s fifth pre-season title, their third since 2020 and the first time they’ve successfully defended it.

It remains to be seen, of course, how much it all counts for as the season unfolds. Longford suffered relegation from Division 3 of the Allianz Football League after last year’s January success and only won two league and championship games all year.

As for Dublin, manager Dessie Farrell won’t be overly concerned as he only had five players - Evan Comerford, David O’Hanlon, Niall Scully, All-Star Colm Basquel and Brian O’Leary - with championship experience.

The All-Ireland SFC title holders will return to action next Saturday with what Farrell has described as their "core squad" when they host Monaghan in Division 1 of the league at Croke Park.

Longford have arguably an even more important game the same day as themselves and Laois are favourites for promotion from Division 4 and they will meet each other in Portlaoise.

Dubs Boss Farrell said beforehand that the result was almost immaterial as he sought to run the rule over as many new players as possible before the league.

Basquel’s involvement for the first time in the campaign brought the number of Dublin