Match Preview

MATCH PREVIEW: Longford Town v Drogheda United

Thu Feb 28th 2019

Match Preview by Tony Ghee

Longford Town host their first league game of the 2019 season on Saturday night as they entertain Drogheda United at the City Calling Stadium with the game kicking off at 7.30pm. 

Neale Fenn’s charges kept a clean sheet at the Markets Field last weekend in their away draw to Limerick FC, while the Louth side recorded an emphatic four-nil victory at home to Cobh Ramblers as Mark Doyle twice, Chris Lyons, and Adam Wixted all rattled the Cobh net.

The major talking point of the week for the Midlanders was the return of talismanic midfielder Sam Verdon to the club. Verdon was a stand-out player for the ‘Red & Black’ last season until injury ended his season prematurely as Longford just missed out on the play-offs. Sam joined Premier Division side Finn Harps in the new year, but after his contract was cancelled last week, he jumped at the chance to rejoin the club, and he is a major acquisition for the season ahead.

Drogheda made the play-offs last season after coming from behind to beat Longford Town 2-1 at United Park in their third and final league meeting. The victory virtually assured that Drogheda would make the top four at Longford Town’s expense as two Gareth McCaffrey goals earned them all three crucial points after the Town had taken the lead courtesy of Dean Dillon.

In the earlier encounters, Longford won one-nil at the City Calling Stadium with the returned Sam Verdon bagging the contest’s only goal on twenty-seven minutes, while the opening encounter ended in a draw as Ciaran Kelly snatched a last gasp equaliser for Drogheda to cancel out Dean Byrne’s earlier salvo for Longford.

On the team news front, the newly re-signed Sam Verdon goes straight into the match day squad, but winger Carlton Ubaezuono and defender Kevin Knight remain sidelined through injury.

The returning Sam Verdon, who makes a welcome return to De Town.



MATCHDAY 1 PREVIEW: Limerick v Longford Town

Thu Feb 21st 2019

Preview by Kieran Burke – @KieranBTS

The long wait is finally over as on Friday night, Longford Town will finally return to competitive action with a trip to the Market Fields to tackle recently relegated Limerick FC on the opening night of the 2019 SSE Airtricity League First Division.

So much has happened since “De Town” ended their 2018 campaign with a draw at home to champions UCD. Sadly, there have been some big name departures in the likes of Mick Kelly, Daniel O’Reilly, Sam Verdon and of course last season’s top scorer, Dylan McGlade. However, manager Neale Fenn has once again spread the net far and wide in terms of recruitment and in the likes of Lee Steacy, Anto Breslin, Conor Kenna and Aaron Dobbs to name a few, the former Dundalk and Shamrock Rovers star looks to have picked up some potential gems.

Anto Breslin, just one of Town’s signings through the close season.

In full, Longford Town have added no less than twelve new names to the squad during the course of a very long off-season and with some valuable pre season encounters against the Ireland’s very best in Shamrock Rovers, Bohemians, Cork City, Dundalk, Sligo Rovers and Cliftonville, it is hoped the squad can gel together quickly and get off to a flying start in what will undoubtedly be one of the toughest First Divisions in many a year.

Friday’s opponents, Limerick have had something of a turbulent few months. However, despite relegation last term, popular boss Tommy Barrett has been able to add some real experience to his ranks with former Longford midfielder, Sean Russell, re-joining the club after time abroad, while Robbie Williams and Darren Murphy are names most League of Ireland followers will be familiar with from recent years.

While Neale Fenn appears to have opted for a particularly young group once again this season, Tommy Barrett appears to have attempted to find a winning formula of youth and experience, with youngsters Aaron Fitzgerald and Karl O’Sullivan highly rated by many on Shannonside.

The Muster outfit played a number of locally based friendlies during pre-season, comulating in a 2-1 victory over the Irish army side just a few days ago. Whether Longford’s run outs against higher calibre opposition translate into a quicker start out of the blocks on Friday night remains to be seen but Neale Fenn must be pleased by the selection headache he is likely to have on opening night.

Jamie Hollywood, continuing his fight back from injury.

In terms of injuries, Jamie Hollywood has managed to get some minutes under his belt in pre-season as he continues his fight back from a serious knee injury picked up in Galway last season, while Dean Byrne is also back on track after an early end to his 2018 campaign. Peter Hopkins is another key man who suffered injury woes last season but again, the winger has picked up some minutes in recent weeks. New signing from Dundalk, Carlton Ubaezuonu is the squad’s only absentee ahead of opening night, having not featured in the lead up to the new campaign, while there are no suspensions to worry about this weekend.

There is no team news available for the hosts, but what we do know is picking up early points could prove vital to Neale Fenn’s side given the difficult fixtures thrown out by the FAI’s computer. After a long trip to the Market Fields, Longford Town will play in front of their own fans next Saturday as last season’s play off rivals, Drogheda United come to the City Calling Stadium.

Kick off in Limerick on Friday night is 7.45pm and Jason Mannix will oversee the opening night’s festives with the whistle in his hand.

MATCH PREVIEW: Drogheda United v Longford Town

Thu Sep 13th 2018

Match Preview by Tony Ghee

Longford Town travel to United Park in Drogheda tomorrow (Friday) for a crunch league clash with play-off rivals Drogheda United, where an away victory will gaurantee Neale Fenn’s charges a promotion play-off spot.

However, a home win will see Drogheda leapfrog Longford into the final play-off berth with just one round of matches to go, a draw will mean that Longford and Drogheda will fight it out on the final day of the regular season in their respective games against UCD and Cobh, with Longford holding a one point advantage.

So far this season, Longford are unbeaten against the Louth side. A Sam Verdon goal assisted by Dylan McGlade gave the ‘Red & Black’ all three points at the City Calling Stadium.

However, the goal that could come back to haunt the Town in the final shake-up, could be Ciaran Kelly’s last kick-of-the-match equaliser when the sides clashed at United Park to cancel out Dean Byrne’s lead goal for Longford.

The game finished in a one-all draw, but Kelly’s goal resulted in a three point swing, and means that if the Town had held on for victory, they would be four points clear of Drogheda instead of just one.

While Drogheda had no game last weekend due to the Irish Daily Mail FAI Cup Quarter-Finals, Longford will be looking to bounce back in style from last Week’s Cup mauling at home to double champions Cork City.

Morale is excellent in the Longford camp and last week’s result has firmly been consigned to ‘Room 101’ and will have no bearing on tomorrow’s outcome.

On the team news front, Darren Meenan and Shane Elworthy are suspended, while Dean Byrne and Jamie Hollywood are both definitely out injured. Sam Verdon is not fit for a starting place, but may be fit enough for a place on the bench.



MATCH PREVIEW: Longford Town v Shelbourne FC (FAI Cup 2nd Round)

Tue Aug 21st 2018

Match Preview by James Donnelly

Longford Town FC v Shelbourne FC

Irish Daily Mail FAI Cup 2nd Round

Saturday 25th August 2018 / 7.30pm / City Calling Stadium

Longford Town FC welcome Owen Heary’s Shelbourne to the City Calling Stadium on Saturday night for the Second Round of the Irish Daily Mail FAI Cup. In what is sure to be a high tempo game, Neale Fenn and Longford will be seeking revenge after suffering a heavy loss at Tolka Park in the league only a few weeks ago.

Shelbourne took on Athlone at home in the first round. Gifted their first goal through an OG from Athlone’s Nika Kalandarishvili, Shels went on to score 3 more in the second half to go through convincingly. Athlone kept Shels at bay with a limited number of chances in the first half with Greg Moorehouse causing problems for the midlands side. Paddy Kavanagh got Shels’ second on the hour mark when he easily tapped in from close range after being left unmarked in the box. The North Dublin side followed this up with Moorehouse getting on the scoresheet on 84 minutes followed by Lorcan Fitzgerald in injury time to make it 4-0. A comfortable win for Shelbourne who now know they face a tougher challenge on Saturday night when they come to the Strokestown Road venue.

Longford faced a tougher task in the opening round of this cup, travelling to the Showgrounds to take on Sligo Rovers. Having knocked out Sligo in the same round of the competition this time last year, Neale Fenn and co had nothing but confidence going into the game. Maybe it was a bit of naivety on Rovers part but they didn’t take the challenge of Longford seriously and ended up losing 1-0 to De Town. Dylan McGlade and goalkeeper Michael Kelly were the stars of the show but it was Jamie Hollywood’s vital goal that sent Longford through to the next round. Town had to do without the ever present Sam Verdon (who is out for the season now) after he went off injured in the opening 20 minutes and was replaced by Peter Hopkins who performed greatly but then picked up an injury of his own.

The previous meetings between Longford and Shelbourne have been fiery encounters this season and not without controversy or incidents. Back in March, Shels ran out 3-2 winners thanks to hat-trick from former Town star Daivd O’Sullivan. In a game marred with controversy, Shels took the lead early when former Town player Shane O’Connor brought down O’Sullivan in the box who was awarded a penalty to which he easily dispatched past Kelly in goal. Sam Verdon equalised for Longford only a minute later when he capitalized on a loose ball at the edge of the box to drill home our first goal. Shels got their second on 72 minutes when O’Sullivan got between O’Reilly and McDonnell and headed home to put the home side in control again. Town were reduced to 10 men when Dylan McGlade was sent off for an off the ball altercation minutes later. Not to be undone, Sam Verdon got his second of the night and De Town’s equalizer on 87 minutes when in a similar position, Verdon pounced on a loose ball to blast it into the net. The controversy wasn’t over yet. Late into injury time, Shelbourne were awarded a penalty after Peter Hopkins was deemed to have handled the ball in the box. A harsh decision considering he was on the ground already and was trying to manoeuvre out of the way. Sam Verdon was then sent off for a second yellow for dissent and David O’Sullivan rounded off his hat-trick by converting the penalty. A tough result for Longford to take but a game many felt they should have won.

Sam Verdon celebrates scoring Longford’s equaliser during our previous league game with Shelbourne in July.

The league game just under a month ago in July was not without it’s moments also. A game that Shelbourne won comfortably on a flattering 6-1 scoreline, Town had to play with 10 men for the majority of the second half after former Shelbourne player Jamie Doyle was given a straight red for dissent. Trailing 1-0 at half time thanks to a Dave Mulcahy header on the half hour mark, Longford failed to take their chances, Jamie Doyle going close on a number of occasions along with Sam Verdon and Dylan McGlade. The second half saw Longford come out on the attack and it wasn’t long before the equaliser came. Sam Verdon tapping in from close range after a Michael McDonnell header wasn’t dealt with by the Shels defence. Shels took the lead again on 68 minutes when new signing Karl Moore found space on the left side after a cross and easily slipped it past Kelly in goal. Shels got their third goal through David O’Sullivan only 2 minutes later. Daniel O’Reilly was working it out from the back when he chose to turn right and lay it off to the waiting Sam Verdon. Somehow, referee John McLaughlin ended up in the path of the ball, it ricocheted off him and into the path of a Shels player who then slipped O’Sullivan in behind the defence and he made no mistake in scoring although Michael Kelly did get a hand to it. The games next controversial moment came soon after when Jamie Doyle was given a straight red for dissent. Doyle, who won a challenge clearly, was deemed to have fouled a Shels man and immediately showed his frustration at the decision. Up until that stage, Longford still had a good chance of getting something from the game. With the extra man, Shelbourne took full advantage and went on the attack. 3 more goals for the Dublin side, Karl Moore got two more to get his hat-trick and a soft penalty awarded in the dying moments saw James English get in on the action. Throughout all the madness, Assistant Manager Daire Doyle was sent to the stands also and will only return to the dugout on Saturday night after serving his suspension.

Longford go into Saturdays game off the back off a fantastic 4-1 away win over Galway United. A game that De Town were never in danger of losing from the get go, the returning Jamie Doyle scored twice along with Dylan McGlade who stamped his mark on top scorer of the season. Jamie Hollywood went off injured late into the second half with what looked like a nasty injury so he is doubtful for the game.

Shelbourne come to the City Calling Stadium following a 2-1 victory away to Wexford last week. Wexford took the lead but two goals in the second half from Greg Moorehouse saw the Red’s leave Ferrycarrig with all three points.

If we go by this season alone, Saturday’s game will no doubt be another entertaining clash. Town will have to do without the pivotal Sam Verdon who is now on the injury list along with Dean Byrne while Jamie Hollywood and Peter Hopkins remain doubtful.

Longford last won the FAI Cup back in 2004, a second cup title in successive years while the last time De Town competed in the final for the Cup was a 2007 loss to Cork. Shels last won the Cup way back in 2000. Both teams will be looking to continue on a good cup run as the league winds down. With only a few games remaining, Shels are only 4 points ahead of Longford in the hunt for a play off promotion spot.



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