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.