Long takes over managers role at Cherry Orchard

DAVID Long has been named as new Cherry Orchard Senior manager for the remainder of the 2026 season.

Long has a tough task at hand as he takes on a side which are struggling in Leinster Senior 1B at the minute, with a possibility of falling out of intermediate football.

Cherry Orchard currently sit in 12th place in the league with 16 points, three ahead of Castleknock Celtic and seven ahead of Newton Rangers.

The disadvantage for Cherry Orchard however  is that they have played 21 games so far in the league, more than anyone else in the division and Castleknock have played 19 games, Newtown Rangers have played just 16.

A captain of the Irish Army International Football Team as well as a former player for both St Francis and Sacred Heart, Long has a long history involved in intermediate football as a player.

This is his first gig in Senior management however and while he is aware that he has been thrust into a challenging position, he is more than happy with the quality he has seen within the team already.

“100%, the flipside is that some of the 19s players are well capable also.

‘What I did when I first came in was a full team meeting with all of the lads and laid out my stall and let them know what I was expecting from them.

‘We then had an in house game between mixed teams of the Seniors and U19s.

‘I was actually taken back by the quality of lads in the U19s, there were two or three lads who would be more than capable of stepping up.

‘I am 100% confident that there is enough there between the two teams.”

Long touched on importance of mentality ahead of the next few games.

“I told them in training, every game is a cup football from now on.

‘It’s not a thing of we are playing so-and-so team that are so many points ahead of us that it doesn’t matter.

‘It has to be won. Stroke that off the list and do that for the next game and the game after.

‘It’s a tough six games remaining no matter what.

‘We aren’t going to cover the cracks with paper, I’m being a realist.

‘We know it’s an uphill battle but we know what we have to do. Six cup finals. Can it be done?

‘Looking at the players 100%, we definitely have the quality.”