Supporters Club Notes

Supporters’ Club Notes (24/07/17)

GOOD AWAY WIN

Wexford is never an easy place to get a result but we came away with all three valuable points.

The hosts started brightly enough on a dark evening with Sam Verdon making his debut for De Town. With the visitors playing a high square defensive line, Town netminder Paul Skinner was forced into some hair raising excursions to claim through balls, one from the feet of Wexford’s Dobbs. Skinner was forced into some last ditch kicked clearances too, the last of which spiralled away for a corner and he showed real calm when chesting an overhit backpass for another.

Don Cowan was his usual speedy self though he managed to stray offside three times, including once when the ball ended up in the Wexford net. But a sizzling right hand cross out foxed the home keeper with new boy Verdon steaming in to register a brave header as he collided with the far post. Scoring on your debut was a lovely feeling for both player and elated manager. With just five minutes into the second half  Jake Kelly fired in a precision corner form the right. The ball was cleared but only as far as Tristan who fired it to the back of the net from the edge of the box. Most thought that would wrap up the drama but a  couple of more incidents were to follow. Skinner was beaten by a long range shot to make things just a touch nervy. But the most peculiar incident was when a Wexford sub  brought down Kealan Dillon with a rash tackle and, which resulted in him landing on top of the hapless Dillon. Dillon naturally pushed the offending player off him as they both lay sprawled on the pitch. After awarding a free to De Town, the ref then flashed a red card at poor Kealan.

But, in reality the visitors were much superior at this stage  and weren’t tested despite despite their numerical inferiority. In summary on a dark summery night, we could and maybe should have won by more but the  three points were all that mattered.

SHELS AT HOME

This Saturday night we welcome Shelbourne to the City Calling Stadium with the usual 7.30pm kick off. Shels were surprisingly beaten by Wexford two weeks ago and again last week by Cabinteely with an added time goal. So, we can expect a bit of fight back from Shels. At the moment we sit in fourth place  on 28 points ahead of Cabinteely on goal difference but with Shels just one behind on 26 points. So a win for our visitors would allow them to leapfrog us. However, we’re playing with a different brand of football under Neale Fenn and confidence seems to be on the rise, so with  home advantage and good local support,  hopefully we can maintain our winning ways.

CONDOLENCES

The Supporters’ Club would like to extend its sincere sympathy to Cody Mulhall on the recent and sudden death of his father, Cathal Mulhall. We also extend our sincere condolences to the family and friends of Damola Adetosoye on his recent tragic death at such a young age. Damola played many times at the City Calling Stadium and was a very promising and gifted young talent. May they both rest in peace.

DRONE FOOTAGE

Anyone who has viewed the recent drone footage of the City Calling Stadium on our website has to have been impressed. Judging by the amount of likes and shares, that is certainly the case. An other thing that strikes home about the marvellous footage is the quality of our facilities. What other club , rural or urban have all seater stadium with a superb car park along an national roadway. Hopefully those in charge of international youth affairs in the FAI will throw their eye on the drone footage and award us some sort of international underage game. As they say nowadays, it’s a no brainer. Well done to Eoin Comerford on his camera skills ; greatly appreciated.

CAR BOOT SALE

With time ticking on, we’re now well into the last week  of July. For some that means holidays in sunnier climes for others it means that the August car boot sale is drawing ever nearer. For this August bank holiday car boot sale, we really do need more volunteers as some of the reliable  volunteers    will be on  well deserved breaks. Give Liam Healion a shout if you can help in any way. Monday August 7^th is the date for the Car Boot Sale which also sees a full moon thrown in for free.

50/50 LOTTO

Andy Dardis was over the moon with the first draw of the new 50/50 Lotto. Eoin Fagan, Ballinalee was the first winner and a delighted Eoin picked up a cheque for €600 at half time during the game against Waterford. It’s much simpler to play and half of the earnings go straight to the one winner. So the more people who play the lotto, the bigger the prize. Simple. And so far so good. Well done to Andy and all his promoters and sellers. The second draw was won by  James McGuinness, who picks up a cheque for a very handy €600….winners alright !

CONGRATS

Best wishes to Sinead Keegan, our merchandise manager , on her recent birthday bash. Seemingly the celebrations went well on into the night and only selected photos were allowed to be  published. Club legend Donald Keogh was also celebrating a birthday recently as was one of the league’s top groundsman, our own Seamus Murray. But not too many go to South America to blow out the candles, something our former chairperson Kevin Carberry will be doing this week.

Well done to out two underage teams who had excellent results again this past week end and to Aodh Dervan who was involved with the Irish U19s at Abbotstown  last week.

Congrats too to the Academy organisers who are attracting huge crowds to the City Calling Stadium. For sure, the future of De Town looks secure.

MISSING NOTES

The notes were written and sent out last week but seemingly ended up floating around in cyber space or somewhere in the distant ether. There were no official complaints and no one seemed  to notice. But in the unlikely event that you were concerned for the note writer’s well being, there’s not a loss on him. Just must have pressed the delete button instead of send.

SLIGO IN  THE  CUP

We’ve been drawn at home  against full-time side Sligo Rovers in the FAI Cup at a date to be decided. Sligo haven’t been flying as high as they’d like and judging by social media comments from the north west, this draw against us is about as good as it gets for an away fixture and a large travelling crowd is anticipated. For older members of both clubs, a certain cup tie played back in the 1960s will come to mind. The Bit O’Red were fielding a superb side against lowly Longford at a game played at the Park Road venue. The Sligo supporters travelled in their thousands and even had a special train for the occasion. They were expected to thrash De Town. But sport being sport and not an exact science, the locals were victorious  to the utter disgust of the large and boisterous Sligo following. One memory etched on this Town supporter’s mind was the sight of Sligo flags been burned by Sligo fans. Could history repeat itself? Be there to find out!

Supporters’ Club Notes (25/06/17)

ONE MORE POINT

When it looked like Athlone fans would go happy after finally defeating Longford Town this season, up popped Enda Curran to rattle the back of the hosts net and break some local hearts. It ended 2-2 but with just minutes remaining, it appeared that Roddy’s team would have bragging rights, if only for a night. The hosts went one up early on but like last week’s game against Cobh, we equalised just before half time. This time it was Jake Kelly who provided the vital goal. It was his second strike in as many games, having scored a late, late winner against Cobh. Athlone managed to go ahead again on the hour mark and indeed but for the woodwork six minutes later could have closed out the game. But with only minutes remaining, Enda Curran secured a point with his late,late goal. It was perfect timing and extends our unbeaten run which surely must boost squad confidence as well.

CABINTEELY ON SATURDAY NIGHT

This Saturday night we welcome back Cabinteely to the City Calling Stadium with a 7.30pm kick off.

As we know to our expense, they’re a very handy, well drilled side. However, in what was one of two big shocks last week end (UCD beating Waterford being the other), bottom side Wexford took all three points from them thanks to a 1-0 win. While Cabo will be anxious to get back to winning ways, they’re up against a Town team which is on a bit of a good run, so confidence should be reasonably high. We’ve been knocking in a fair few goals from different quarters of late and hopefully we’ll score enough to bag the three points on offer. It’d be a perfect start to July.

KARL CHAMBERS: JUNE WINNER

Congratulations to Karl Chambers who is the winner of the June Player of the Month award. We’ve just presented the May award at our last home game so this one has come round very quickly. The presentation will be made by Mary Canning before the game but that is if she can get time off from serving in the Club shop!

CHECK US OUT

Just in case you haven’t realised it, the Supporters’ Club now has its own Facebook page. We try to update it as often as possible with as much variety as is available to us. On Saturday night last night, we posted a very interesting video on Republic of Ireland U20 team which won bronze at the U20 World Cup in Malaysia 20 years this month. Brian Kerr says that it was probably the most successful Irish team ever. It was during this tournament that the first ever Golden Goal was scored ( by Damian Duff) but Longford Town all time legend Alan Kirby had a huge part to play in the goal, the move having started by him in the middle of the park. It’s well worth watching. It’s also amazing that the FAI aren’t officially recognising the 20th anniversary.

RIGHT UP TO DATE

The dynamic Donnelly family duo have ensured that fans who can’t attend home games are kept right up to date with happenings on (and sometimes off) the pitch,as the game unfolds, through the LTFC Twitter and Facebook updates. They regularly have photographic updates as well. Even some away games are regularly updated which is greatly appreciated by supporters, especially though in far flung places around the globe. Even those working hard on their tans in sunnier climes are known to check in at regular intervals. Many Premier Clubs aren’t as nimble in the social media field and great credit is due to Paddy and James Donnelly. Click.

CAR BOOT SALE

Now that we’re leaving June behind, the count down to our next Car Boot Sale has started in earnest. But with some senior squad members unavailable for the August event, please don’t be shy about volunteering.

Supporters’ Club Notes (19/06/17)

DRAMATIC WIN FOR DE TOWN

Saturday night’s game against Cobh Ramblers was a perfect example of summer soccer. The weather and the pitch were superb which in turn led to a very entertaining night’s game. The only thing missing was an ice cream van. If this weather continues, it’s something we’ll have to consider.

Cobh came to the City Calling Stadium with high expectations of plundering all three points. To keep in touch with Waterford, the three points were precious. They already have put us to the sword so their handful of travelling supporters were expecting more of the same. With both Enda Curran and Don Cowan on the bench and Davy O Sullivan still on the injured list, many wondered where the goals (if any) would come from.

Former Town net minder Paul Hunt denied us going ahead early on as we applied plenty of pressure. However, in added time a fabulous looping header by Karl Chambers had Hunty stranded in no man’s land. The Cobh keeper could only glance over his shoulder as the ball rested in the bottom of this net with Chambers already celebrating his dramatic opener.

That goal stung the visitors who seemed to be verging on frustration while their tempers flared. With only minutes remaining, Cobh found the back of our net with the ball coming off the cross bar. Some disputed whether it had crossed the line at all but it’ll be a while before we have the technology to verify it.

The well organised visiting side threw everything at us to get what would have been an undeserved winner and nerves were fraught. But once again we struck and once again it was in added time when Jake Kelly sent the home support into ecstasy with a stunning and dramatic winning goal.

It was an other valuable win which saw us leap frog Shels after they had beaten UCD the previous night. What it all means is the two teams chasing Waterford dropped points but for us it was welcome three points and more importantly, it was a good solid performance against a team second from top.

ATHLONE UP NEXT (AGAIN)

The two Towns face one another yet again this season. The players must be sick of one another at this stage as they face each other on Friday night. While we may have the upper hand this far, that will count for nothing this time round. They had a credible draw down in Wexford at the week end and will hope to improve at home against us. We’re just a point behind Cabinteely who play Wexford at home on Friday night. A good Longford Town crowd will make the short trip to the other town and hopefully it’ll be a sweet return trip.

TRISTAN’S TROPHY

Heartiest congratulations to Tristan Noack-Hofmann who was presented with his player of the month trophy for May, last Saturday night. Long time loyal Supporters’ Club member Tony Gilleran made the presentation to a delighted Tristan. The next presentation will be made by Mary Canning whose name was drawn by Avril Gilchrist, our hard working boss.

CAR BOOT SALE

No, we don’t have a public holiday coming up shortly so we don’t have car boot sale until August. However, we will need some extra staff for August as some of the reliables will be on well deserved holidays. No matter where we are in the league table, it still takes a lot of money and voluntary effort to keep the ship afloat. Andy & friends are doing fantastic work on the Lotto and the car boot sale team are also putting the Trojans to shame. It has emerged that we now have to pay the local radio station to announce the details of the car boot sales something, alas, we can’t afford to do in the future. So just keep it in mind that on any public holiday (or Bank Holiday as we used to call them,) we have our Car Boot Sale, a vital cog in raising vital funds.

PITCH PRAISE

Once again on Saturday night last, the playing surface was simply perfect. There are many clubs currently in the top flight whose playing surfaces leave a lot to be desired and have come in for continuous criticism. So with that in mind, it was pleasing to hear Cobh’s manager Stephen Henderson heap praise on our green carpet. Stephen Henderson is well known for his views on the domestic set up, so whe he praises something, it’s truly merited. Seamus Murray, take a bow.