Supporters’ Club Notes (26/08/2018)

EXCELLENT WIN

It was a grand evening for football and a right good crowd was in the City Calling Stadium on Saturday to witness De Town progress to the next round of the FAI Cup. With so many old familiar faces  back in the crowd, it was like the old times again. The best part of the night was the determined spirit with which the team played. Shels, on numerous occasions tried to play the ball out of defence but were harried non stop. It was an excellent team display from start to finish. With Mick Kelly outstanding once again between the sticks, each Town player in front of him played their part in the uplifting 2-0 win. It looked like  we'd go in on level terms but when Dylan Mc Glade fired home an added time penalty (we don't get too many), there was a sense that justice was done.

We expected the visitors to emerge with all guns blazing and hoped that a certain former player wouldn't find the back of our net. But it was the hosts who upped the tempo and took complete control of the game. Daniel O'Reilly smashed home a real cracker to soothe whatever nerves there may have been.

Some visiting supporters said they were happy to be out of the cup so that they could concentrate on promotion. Fake news. They beat us 6-1 in our last game and genuinely expected to beat us, if not by that same margin. If we can maintain the present momentum, we'd be a match for any premier side in the next round.

“Stand up if you're Longford Town” rang out from the stands in the final minutes. Hopefully, that chant will become  familiar again- just like the old days.

CABINTEELY AT HOME

We have yet another vital game at home this Saturday. Cabinteely are our visitors, with kick off on Saturday September 1st at 7.30. While they may be 12 points between us, that'll matter for nothing come kick off time. They've proved to be tricky opponents before but hopefully we'll pull a few tricks out of the bag ourselves to keep the pressure on Drogheda. This Friday night, the Drogs face league leaders UCD at home . Hopefully the students can do us a favour up there.

But what we really, really need is a huge and vocal home support on Saturday night. We can only concentrate on our own games and get as many as possible out to support the effort. See you there, on Saturday night.

A BIT OF COVERAGE

You could be forgiven to believe that the FAI Cup is a state secret with its lack of decent coverage in the national media, particularly on our national broadcaster. Thankfully there are a number of social media platforms which are doing a pretty good job. Following our Saturday night win, the dedicated sports forum The 42 had a very good and detailed account of the win. They also included 3 top class photos from the INPHO agency. Contrast that to the 7 seconds on RTE Radio sport.