Longford are relegated to the bottom tier of the Allianz Hurling League after losing 1-20 to 3-13 to Monaghan at Glennon Brothers Pearse Park.
Longford trailed by six points in the 26th minute and were forced to play the remainder of the contest with 14 men when Shane O’Brien was shown a red card.
Derek Frehill’s men responded in style and a goal from Bart Hanley helped them reduce the margin to a single point at half-time as Monaghan led 1-9 to 1-8.
Monaghan opened up five point gap with two minutes of normal time left before late goals from Steven Creaven and David Buckley left a point between them deep into injury time.
Longford couldn’t relinquish Monaghan’s lead thereafter and the Farney men held on for a narrow victory.