Leitrim Longford Masters in action against Armagh this Wednesday

Leitrim Longford Masters take on a strong Armagh side in Dromard tonight (Wednesday July 5) in what has all the hallmarks of a great contest. 

Both teams have two wins from their four games and both teams are coming off the back of narrow defeats, Armagh against Donegal and Leitrim/Longford against Mayo.

Armagh is a well-organised, well-drilled, and a very fit outfit. They won all their preseason challenge games before beating Antrim and then Louth (1-9 to 0-2). They were then unlucky to go under against the two-time All-Ireland Masters Champions Tyrone, who had the likes of Sean Cavanagh, Steven O’Neill, Ciaran Gourley, and Conor Gormley in the squad.

Armagh also faced another one of the top four teams, Donegal who won 2-13 to 1-9. However, these tough games against leading contenders will be of great benefit to Armagh. Ryan McGreevey, Mark Murray, Eoin Reynolds, and Benny Rafferty have been some of their top scores.

With a significant number of the squad away on holidays and a couple of small injuries, Leitrim Longford will be without several starting players from their previous outing, the list includes; Derek McKeon, Mark Beirne, Dermot Turley, David Columb, Padraig McGarry JP, and Andrew McManus. They are also waiting on fitness tests on Dominic Glennon and Glenn Kelly, both crucial to the team, a lot may depend on their availability.

However, they have a number of players that were missing from the last outing, coming back into the squad - the evergreen Ray Cox  (Annaduff), James Hynes (St Marys, Granard), John Coyle (Mostrim), Padraig Murtagh (Colmcille), and Mark Conor (Ballymahon), which should help to plug some of the vacant slots.

It is sure to be a tight affair, and with only one game remaining in the league stages of the competition, both sides will be very eager to pick up their third win here. The game takes place in Pairc na Gael in Dromard at 8pm.