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MATCH Review hear the crowd shouting, it really motivates you to keep going. A big thanks to everyone who came." A Longford senior debutant in 2017, Nevin was one of several Slashers players to produce stand- out displays on the biggest stage of all. Having chipped in with two excellent points in the opening half of the contest, she once again broke forward to hammer home her side's fourth and final goal in the 51st minute. To score 1-2 in an All-Ireland final is something that defenders can normally only dream of, but Nevin believes the way the team is structured - under the guidance of joint-managers Conor Clarke and Bryan Farrell - makes it possible for her to play with a degree of abandon. "I'm lucky. We're a great team, running up and down. If you go, someone is going to cover you. We have a really attacking half-back line. We know that we all have each other's backs. It's really nice to be able to do that." Longford Slashers Break New Ground By Daire Walsh On what was an historic day for club and county, Longford Slashers' flying wing-back Orla Nevin explained how the backing of the local community helped to drive them on to success in the currentaccount.ie All-Ireland Intermediate Club Championship final at Croke Park on December 10. By virtue of qualifying for a showpiece affair against Tipperary's Mullinahone at the north Dublin venue, Slashers had already broken new ground. No club side from Longford had reached a national decider at adult level in Ladies Football before, but the Farneyhogan outfit became the first to do so courtesy of a semi-final win over Charlestown of Mayo. Braving bitterly cold conditions, a passionate group of Slashers supporters made the journey to see their club-mates putting Longford on the map with an emphatic 4-11 to 2-8 triumph over their Munster counterparts. Yet as Nevin readily acknowledges, it wasn't just the Slashers faithful who were rowing in behind the team for their march to All-Ireland glory. "The whole town was behind us. If you drove through town, there were flags everywhere. Even driving up today, there was a send-off for us. It was just brilliant, the support we got from all the clubs," Nevin remarked in the direct aftermath of their impressive victory. "The support was unreal. Anyone really you met wanted to go or was going in town. The last week, if you bumped into someone, everyone was talking about it. Everyone wanted to be here and it really helped out. The support was just brilliant. When you Images clockwise from top: 1 Orla Nevin of Longford Slashers 2 Chloe Gunn of Mullinahone. 3 Kara Shannon of Longford Slashers in action against Eimear Horan of Mullinahone. 4 Grace Shannon of Longford Slashers. 5 Michaela Kenneally, left, and Grainne Horan of Mullinahone makes their way on to the pitch 22 | WINTER 2022 / JANUARY 2023 | www.ladiesgaelic.ie