Offaly led by four just before the break.
Longford were getting cleaned around the middle third of the pitch, and something needed to be done.
Dessie Reynolds – just out of minor – replaced Francis McGee at centre forward, and although it took a quarter of an hour to find his feet, his contribution proved crucial in the turning of the game for Longford.
Reynolds kicked two points from play and won vital breaking ball to set up further scores, as Longford came from seven down with just 20 minutes left to win by three.
His first score came with around 15 minutes to play, beating Offaly’s Graham Guilfyle to the hop of a ball, before a clever flick and lovely shot yielded a point.
We can see here how Reynolds reads the pass to Guilfoyle instantly, making his move just as the pass is leaving the foot of the Offaly defender.
The pass was overhit, landing over Guilfoyle’s head, and by the time the ball hops, Reynolds is on top of the midfielder.
He beats Guilfoyle to the 50/50 ball, flicking it over his head before collecting it at the other side, and hits a beautiful point to reduce the gap to three.
He also has a hand in the score that brought the sides level, showing some good awareness to latch onto breaking ball.
As the kickout drops in midfield, Kevin Diffley punches the ball forwards…
Reynolds anticipates things perfectly, coming back to collect the breaking ball. As we can see, support runners from Longford drag Offaly men towards goal, but Reynolds instead holds play up. A couple of neat handpasses later, the scores are level.
His second point put Longford into a leading position the would never give up, and again it shows some excellent natural awareness.
With teammate Mickey Quinn coming in off the touchline, Reynolds makes an excellent run into space, losing his marker who is guilty of ball watching, and instead attacks Quinn.
Quinn lures the Offaly men towards him, before slipping Reynolds through with a perfectly timed pass. As we can see, by the time Reynolds collects the ball, he’s in acres of space, allowing him to run through and pop over the leading score.
A game-changing substitution, and a big performance off the bench for the teenager.
Indeed, man management was vital for Longford, with substitutes Peter Foy and Ross McNerney chipping in with a further three points, as Longford booker a Leinster semi-final in Croke Park against Dublin.
