Moran appointed manager of Longford senior hurlers

Adrian Moran has been appointed as the manager of the Longford senior hurling team.

The Ringtown clubman's new charges will be competing in Division 3B of the National Hurling League and in the Lory Meagher Cup next season. With only three hurling clubs in the county (Slashers, Wolfe Tones and Clonguish), he has one of the smallest player pools to choose from in the country, but he told the Westmeath Examiner that he is looking forward to the challenge.

“There's a good core group of players there that have a nice bit of talent. There is also a nice bit of youth coming through. It's my job to integrate the whole thing together and put a bit of structure in place.”

Moran, whose father is from Legan, was at the helm when Westmeath's U21s stunned the hurling world by beating Kilkenny in the 2016 Leinster Championship. His new backroom team with Longford, features a number of familiar faces from these heady days, including David Kennedy, Micheál Lawler and James Flynn.

Moran's time with the Westmeath U21s ultimately ended in a disappointing fashion in 2017 when the county board decided that the then senior manager Michael Ryan would coach both teams. Moran admits that he still has ambitions to coach his native county, but that at present he is fully focused on his new role in Longford. Looking ahead to next season, he says that wants his new team to challenge for honours on two fronts.

“The main objective is to push strong in the league and to win the Lory Meagher Cup. We feel that these are very realistic goals,” he says.

Moran succeeded Derek Frehill, who stepped down after three years in charge. His appointment was ratified at a meeting of the Longford County Board on Tuesday night.