Tag: Aodh Dervin

Match Report: Cabinteely FC 2-0 Longford Town FC

Sat Jul 20th 2019

Match Report by James Donnelly

Longford Town missed out on all three points last night thanks to a Robert Manley brace that sealed the victory for Cabinteely in a tightly contested affair in Stradbrook.

De Town started the game brightly with Aaron Dobbs having the first major chance of the game after just 6 minutes. A long ball over the top was brought down by Sam Verdon who did well to play it into Dobbs in the box but his half-volley was straight at Stephen McGuinness in the Cabo goal who palmed it away to safety.

The home side pressured Longford and had a chance of their own on 24 minutes when a high ball was flashed across the box but Paul Fox’s connected header was high and over, much to the relief of Lee Steacy in goal.

Longford could have opened the scoring only minutes later when Conor Kenna snuck in un-marked at the back post and headed towards goal but it was easily gathered by McGuinness.

Cabinteely eventually got their goal after a period of sustained pressure on the Longford backline. Rob Manley got in between the defence and had his initial shot saved well by Lee Steacy but he recovered to slot it home from a tight angle to put Pat Devlin’s side in the driving seat after 36 minutes.

Town could have been on level terms just before half time when Karl Chambers played in Aaron Dobbs in the box but the Wexford’s man shot was blocked when it seemed destined for the goal.

The second half saw a number of changes for Longford with Aaron Dobbs and Karl Chambers being replaced by Dean Byrne and De Town’s newest signing, Sean Boyd. (On loan from Shamrock Rovers)

Sam Verdon had a chance on 58 minutes when he did well down the right side, getting into the box before shooting on goal, but again, it was straight at McGuinness.

Aodh Dervin, who put in a man of the match performance against Cabo. Pic: Ken Keenan

Verdon almost got an assist in the hour mark when he played in Sean Boyd. A brilliant move started by Aodh Dervin in midfield resulted in a expertly placed through ball releasing Verdon on the right before he squared it for Boyd in the box but the Rovers loanee hit the post from close range before it bounced off McGuinness’ back and was eventually cleared.

Cabo could have been two up when a ball over the top caught Mick McDonnell out and bounced over his head for Rob Manley to race onto but Town keeper Lee Steacy was quick off his line to smother the ball to safety.

Eight minutes from time, Verdon had a chance to level again but his header from an Anto Breslin corner was saved by McGuinness.

With 5 mins remaining, Longford threw everybody forward but it was the home side who would get the second goal of the game deep into injury time. Some sloppy play in defence led to Cabo sub Sasaki saw him play in Manley who did well to work it past Steacy to seal the win for the south Dublin side.

A disappointing result for De Town who are now in 3rd place in the league and face Galway United at the City Calling Stadium next Saturday night in a must win game in the promotion race.

Match Report: Longford Town FC 3-1 Athlone Town AFC

Sat May 25th 2019

Match Report by Tony Ghee

Longford Town moved up to second place in the First Division table just a point behind leaders Shelbourne, after a brace from Dean Byrne and a penalty from Sam Verdon earned Neale Fenn’s charges a three-one victory over Midland rivals Athlone Town at the City Calling Stadium.

The home side took the lead on the quarter-hour mark when Verdon was inexplicably shoved over by Athlone centre-half Ciaran Grogan. Verdon dusted himself down, and calmly despatched the penalty, sending keeper Aaron Myles the wrong way.

Longford’s lead was very short-lived as Athlone were back on level terms within two minutes as the home defence were caught napping. Longford failed to properly clear a left-wing cross from Kaleem Simon, allowing Aaron Brilly to slip the ball through to striker Dean Williams and he poked home the equaliser.

Longford regained the lead on thirty-one minutes when Dean Zambra’s corner resulted in Kealan Dillon’s poor headed clearance being put back into the Athlone box by Paul O’Connor and Byrne brilliantly finished to the Athlone net.

The ‘Red & Black’ almost scored a third on thirty-eight minutes but Anto Breslin’s twenty-five yard free-kick struck the Athlone crossbar.

Longford Town started the second-half in whirlwind fashion and were again denied by the woodwork just four minutes after the resumption. Verdon’s exquisite curling shot from just outside the box on the left came back-off the far post and was gathered at the second attempt by Athlone keeper Myles despite being under pressure from O’Connor.

Dean Byrne grabbed his second of the contest and Longford’s third on fifty-three minutes when he created space for himself before rifling his shot to the Athlone net.

The home side created another good chance in the sixty-fifth minute. Aaron Dobbs released Byrne down the left, he skipped past Evan White, got to the end-line and whipped in a cross that was headed narrowly wide by Verdon.

Byrne was denied his hat-trick on seventy-seven minutes when he weaved his way into the Athlone box from the left only for his effort to be saved by Athlone stopper Myles.

TEAM LINE-UPS

Longford Town: Steacy, Elworthy, McDonnell, Kenna, Breslin, Zambra, Verdon, Dervin, O’Conor, Byrne, Dobbs.
Substitutions: Chambers for Verdon & Hollywood for Zambra (both 72 minutes)

Athlone Town: Myles, White, Buckley, Grogan, Casey, Kearney, Hogan, Brilly, Dillon, Simon, Williams.
Substitutions: Stokes for Hogan (63 minutes), Lotefa for Dillon (76 minutes)

Referee: Garvin Taggert

PICTURES BY TIERNAN DOLAN



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: Cobh Ramblers FC v Longford Town FC

Sat Apr 20th 2019

Match Preview by James Donnelly

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

The red and black make the long trip to Cork today to take on Cobh Ramblers at St. Colman’s Park with a 7.00pm kick off in the seaside town.

Neale Fenn’s side come into tonight’s game unbeaten and having only conceded twice since the start of the season. A dominant display against Bray last weekend saw De Town earn a comfortable 2-0 win at the City Calling Stadium. Impressive form has seen Longford climb the league table and should we get another win tonight, the team will remain on top for another week.

Cobh have had an ok start to the season but have been impressing lately and will prove worthy opponents tonight as Stephen Henderson’s men look to continue their decent run of form. They had a great victory away to Galway last week, winning 2-1 courtesy of goals from the in-form Jaze Kabia and Maurice Nugent. They also had fine wins over Shels, Limerick (league cup) and Wexford since the start of the season and will be looking to gain a bit of consistency now with a performance against Longford tonight.

LTFC Manager Neale Fenn spoke to Tony Ghee last week about the upcoming fixture against Cobh…

“The few times we’ve gone down there, or since I’ve gone down there, we’ve found it difficult but you know, there’s no easy games in this league, you know. As long as we take care of ourselves, respect the opposition, we should be OK.”

In terms of injury news, Aaron Dobbs is out for Longford.

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