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Match Report: Galway United 2-1 Longford Town FC

Fri May 17th 2019

Match Report by James Donnelly

SSE Airtricity League First Division
Galway United FC 2-1 Longford Town FC
Friday 17th May 2019 | Kick-off: 7.45pm
Eamonn Deacy Park

Galway United took all three points at Eamonn Deacy Park tonight in what is Longford’s only second defeat of the season so far.

Two second half goals from talisman Vinny Faherty saw the tribesmen cancel out Dean Byrne’s first half opener and seal the win for the home side.

Galway had the first major chance of the game on 6 minutes when a mix up between Town defender Mick McDonnell and goal-keeper Lee Steacy saw the ball come loose but Steacy did well to get down and gather the ball under pressure from a Galway player.

De Town opened the scoring on 11 minutes when a mistake by Nugent in defence for Galway saw Dean Byrne punish the home side to put Longford in front. A high ball from the Red and Black was headed back towards goal by Nugent but he mistakenly thought Horgan was there to collect when in fact he was just behind him. Horgan and Byrne raced after the ball but it was the Longford Town player who got there first and he tapped it under the arms of the Galway keeper and into the net.

Galway could have been level on 34 minutes when Cian Flaherty had a looping header magnificently saved by Lee Steacy in the Longford goal. Only moments later, Steacy was called into action again when he denied Conor Melody’s low flying shot.

At half time, Longford probably deserved to be leading but Galway had their chances and knew it was still all to play for in the second half.

Dean Byrne who got Longford’s only goal v Galway United tonight.

The home side got their equalizer within minutes of the restart. Marc Ludden with a cross to Vinny Faherty who placed a perfect header beyond the reach of Lee Steacy in goal on 49 minutes.

Galway could have had their second on 52 minutes when Donal Higgins dispossessed Conor Kenna and went through 1 on 1 with Lee Steacy but once again, De Town goal-keeper got down well to make another save.

Substitute Sam Verdon had a chance to put Longford ahead just aftet the hour mark. Some good build up play saw Shane Elworthy receive the ball down the right wing, his cross was headed clear but it eventually found Verdon and his shot forced a good save from Horgan in the Galway net.

Longford had another missed opportunity on 69 minutes when Aaron Dobbs raced clear of the Galway defence and was 1 on 1 with Horgan but he sliced his shot wide. Dean Byne then had a chance only 5 minutes later. Leaving two Galway players in his wake, he drove from midfield at the Galway defence but his shot was straight into the hands of Horgan.

Galway looked the more likely to score in the remaining minutes and they did just that. Nearly a carbon copy of his first goal, Vinny Faherty again got in between the Longford defenders to place a header into the back of the net with only 5 minutes remaining.

De Town tried for an equaliser but the home side ran out deserving winners in the end.

Pictures by Ken Keenan

TEAM LINE-UPS:

Galway United: Kevin Horgan, Christopher Horgan, Marc Ludden, Stephen Walsh (C), Maurice Nugent, Conor Melody, Vinny Faherty, Cian Murphy, Wilson Waweru, Ivan Gamarra, Donal Higgins.

Subs: James Tierney (GK), Iarfhlaith Davoren (replaced Higgins), Colin Kelly, Ronan Asgari, Mark Hannon (replaced Faherty), Shane Doherty (replaced Waweru), Matthew Barrett.

Longford Town: Lee Steacy, Shane Elworthy, Anto Breslin, Mick McDonnell, Conor Kenna, Peter Hopkins, Aodh Dervin, Dean Zambra, Adam Evans, Dean Byrne, Aaron Dobbs.

Subs: Jack Menton (GK), Jamie Doyle (replaced Hopkins), Carlton Ubaezuonu (replaced Evans), Sam Verdon (replaced Dervin), Karl Chambers, Sean Brennan, Kevin Knight.

Match Preview: Longford Town FC v Cabinteely FC

Fri May 10th 2019

Match Preview by James Donnelly

SSE Airtricity League First Division
Longford Town FC v Cabinteely FC
Saturday 10th May | 7.30pm
City Calling Stadium

The two top teams of the first division come head to head at the City Calling Stadium on Saturday night. Neale Fenn’s unbeaten Longford Town side welcome Pat Devlin’s high flying Cabinteely who are just one point behind De Town in the league table.

Longford will be looking to make it 5 home wins out of 5 and extend their unbeaten run to 11 consecutive games. Cabo will be no pushover though as they are in great form away from home having beaten Wexford, Cobh, Drogheda and Shels on the road.

The last meeting between the two clubs back in March saw the points shared as the game ended in a 1-1 draw. Goals from Rob Manley (brother of current LTFC defender Joe) and Sam Verdon decided the encounter in a game that both teams felt they could have gotten the win from.

Since then, both clubs have been in flying form with the De Town just edging ahead by one point but also with a game in hand due to a home game against Galway being postponed for the June Bank Holiday.

The Red and Black had a brilliant win away to Drogheda last week thanks to an Aaron Dobbs goal just before half time. They had their work cut out for them in the second half however, as the home side brought wave after wave of attack but the back line of Lee Steacy in goal, Shane Elworthy, Mick McDonnell, Conor Kenna and Anto Breslin held firm for yet another clean sheet.

Cabo are coming into Saturday’s game on a high. Pat Devlin has transformed this team over the last few months and they cannot be underestimated. A win away to Wexford was followed by a hard fought draw away to Bray and a brilliant win at home against Shelbourne thanks to Kieran Marty Waters. The threat of Waters is always present and throw in the first division top scorer Rob Manley and it makes for an interesting game. The top scorer of the division up against the best defence in the division should provide an intriguing contest.

In terms of team news for Longford, Neale Fenn has a full selection to choose from this week. Kevin Knight made his first competitive start against Drogs last week and may well start against his former club this weekend. Peter Hopkins returned last week also after being out ill, the week before.

No team news in for Cabinteely.

Kick off on Saturday is at 7.30pm.

C’mon De Town!



Match Preview: Drogheda United FC v Longford Town FC

Thu May 2nd 2019

SSE Airtricity League First Division
Drogheda United FC v Longford Town FC
Friday 3rd May 2019
United Park | Kick-off 7.45pm

Match Preview By Kieran Burke (@kieranBTS)

Longford Town travel to County Louth on Friday night looking to banish the demons of last season, as De Town fell at the finish in the race for the play-offs against Drogheda United, Fridays hosts. A come from behind 2-1 win in the penultimate game of last season effectively secured the Drogs position in the play-offs, where Tim Clancy’s charges missed out on promotion after a dramatic two-legged tie against Shelbourne, who went on to lose in the final against Finn Harps.

With all that in mind, it has been a dramatic shift in form for both Longford and Drogheda United to start to 2019 First Division campaign with Longford Town currently the only unbeaten side in the League of Ireland, while Drogheda have struggled for consistency at times, leaving the 2007 Premier Division champions sitting in 4th place, four points behind Neale Fenn’s league leaders.

Captain Dean Zambra and Defender Mick McDonnell pictured in action last season against Drogheda United at the City Calling Stadium.

Drogheda United had a fantastic win on the road last weekend, traveling all the way down to St.Colman’s Park and coming away with an ultra-impressive 4-1 victory over Cobh Ramblers, while Longford showed their battling qualities in a scrappy 1-0 home triumph over a stubborn Limerick side. Dean Byrne was the match winner last Saturday for De Town and the former Hardwicke star will be hoping his stunning strike can kick start his 2019 campaign, having only returned to full fitness after a long term layoff last season.

In fact, Byrne was on the score-sheet with yet another sublime long range strike at United Park last season in a game De Town really should have won, conceding a 94th minute equalizer in a 1-1 draw. Ciaran Kelly was the Drogheda hero that night and the departure of the talented full back to St.Patrick’s Athletic has been a very difficult challenge for Tim Clancy and co to overcome at the start of this campaign. Double goal scorer in that crucial 2-1 win at the tail end of last season, Gareth McCaffrey has also since departed United Park and the strikers absence has clearly left Drodgeda lacking some cutting edge up front at times this year.

All in all, given Longford Town’s record breaking start to the 2019 season, many will fancy Neale Fenn’s team to repeat the win claimed over Drodgeda at City Calling Stadium earlier this season, a 3-0 victory that time, but having only lost at home once this season, Droghda will be yet another major test of De Town’s title credentials going forward.

Team News: Neale Fenn has a full selection of players to choose from.

Match Report: Cobh Ramblers FC 0-0 Longford Town FC

Sat Apr 20th 2019

Match Report by James Donnelly

SSE Airtricity League First Division
Cobh Ramblers FC 0-0 Longford Town
Saturday 20th April 2019, 7.00pm, St. Colman’s Park

Ramblers and De Town played out a fairly even 0-0 draw at St. Colman’s Park in Cobh tonight in a game that neither team fully deserved to win.

With Sam Verdon ruled out through injury, Dean Byrne slotted into the team with Carlton Ubaezuonu taking a place on the bench for the first time this season.

Both teams opened the game cautiously, creating little in the opening minutes. It was Longford with the first chance though as Conor Kenna’s header from a corner was tipped over the bar by Mylod in the Cobh goal.

On 33 minutes Dean Byrne almost opened the scoring for De Town. Shooting from just outside the box, his shot was saved by Mylod who tipped it out for a corner. Only a few minutes later, Byrne had an opportunity again but his shot inside the box was blocked by a Cobh body.

Cobh had the best chance of the first half on 40 minutes. A dangerous free kick floated in by former Town player Shane O’Connor was cleared but only as far as another Cobh man, the ball was whipped back in and headed on for Jaze Kabia who stuck a leg onto the end of it, it hit the Town post and was collected by Lee Steacy.

The second half was pretty much the same. Peter Hopkins had a chance on 52 minutes when he turned his man inside the box and shot but his left foot strike was the wrong side of the post and it went out for a goal kick.

Town goalkeeper Lee Steacy was deemed to have handled the ball outside the box on 71 minutes. The resulting free kick came to nothing and Cobh were left to rue their chances.

On a major positive note, Carlton Ubaezuonu made his debut for Longford, coming on in place of Adam Evans. The former Galway and Dundalk man caused problems for Cobh on the left wing.

Carlton Ubaezuonu, who made his competitive debut for De Town tonight.

Cobh forced a save out of Lee Steacy on 78 minutes but that proved to be the final major chance of the game for the home side.

Carlton went close for De Town in the dying minutes, forcing a save out of Mylod but it wasn’t to be as both teams had to settle for a share of the spoils.

TEAM LINE-UPS

Cobh Ramblers: Mylod, Taylor, McSweeney, O’Riordan, O’Connor, O’Connor, Kenny, Turner, Hurley, Fernandez, Kabia.

Subs: Hunt, O’Rourke, West, O’Leary, O’Driscoll.

Longford Town: Steacy, Elworthy, McDonnell, Kenna, Breslin, Hopkins, Dervin, Zambra, Byrne, Brennan, Evans.

Subs: Menton, Ubaezuonu (Evans), O’Conor (Brennan), Hollywood, Noack-Hofmann, Chambers, Manley.

Attendance: 140 est.

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