Longford Town FC • Official Website
Manager Neale Fenn, Assistant Manager, Daire Doyle and Goalkeeping Coach, Ger Mooney visited Longford Town yesterday to attend Longford Comhairle na nÓg. Thanks to Supporters Club Chairperson Avril Gilchriest for organising it.
Cobh got their revenge for their 1-0 league loss from Saturday night against Longford Town on Tuesday evening. A 2-0 victory over De Town saw Stephen Hendersons men progress to the semi finals of the EA Sports cup for the first time. A beautiful free kick from Darren Murphy just before half time and second in the later stages of the second half from Andrew Wall was enough to see the Cork men through.
Town started the game positively and made an impact within seconds. A corner led to Tristan Noack-Hofmann heading the ball back towards goal to which Dean Byrne slotted it home however he was ruled to be offside although Cobh’s James McSweeney seemed to have been playing him on and didn’t protest the goal which seems to suggest he thought so also.
Town almost opened the scoring on 16 minutes. A good ball from Darren Meenan to Dylan McGlade saw the Town winger in space, he played in Evan Galvin who whipped in a low cross that was met by Dean Byrne but his shot was just wide of the post.
Cobh had the chance to take the lead only 7 minutes later when David Hurley raced past the Town defence to go through on goal but Longford Captain Dean Zambra raced back in time to get a great tackle in and block the shot. The resulting corner caused a problem but Town defender Daniel O’Reilly was on hand to clear it away with a header.
A much more physical game than the previous Saturday night’s league encounter, Longford found themselves limited in creating chances in the first half. A questionable free awarded to Cobh against Karl Chambers just before half time saw the Cork men open the scoring. Beautifully placed, there was nothing Jack Brady could have done to prevent it from going in.
Darren Meenan pictured in action against Cobh on Tuesday in the EA Sports Cup 1/4 Final. Photo Credit: Steve Alfred/Extratime.ie
Town could have equalized just after the start of the second half. Karl Chambers getting in behind the Cobh defence but he failed to connect with Evan Galvins cross.
Cobh nearly got their second on 77 minutes when a cross from Stephen Christopher just went over the bar, almost catching out Longford.
De Town had the majority of possession in the last 15 minutes but failed to capitalize. While it did look like Longford would get the equalizer and force it to extra time, the goal never came. Chris Mulhall coming closest in the last few minutes, he got onto the end of a long ball and raced through one on one with Mylod in the Cobh goal but his touch took it away from him and Mylod easily gathered.
Cobh got their second immediately after, breaking from Mulhall’s chance, David Hurley played in substitute Andy Wall who cooly rounded Brady in the Longford goal and slotted it home.
Cobh, fully deserved of the win, closed out the game and progress into the semi finals, much to the delight of the small crowd present.
Cobh Ramblers: Adam Mylod, James McSweeney, Ben O’Riordan, Adam O’Sullivan, Kevin Taylor, Stephen Christopher, Darren Murphy, David Hurley, Pierce Phillips, Cian Leonard, Anthony McAlavey.
Subs: Paul Hunt, Peter Callanan, Jaze Kabia, Michael Sadys, Andy Wall, Beineon O’Brien Whitmarsh.
Longford Town: Jack Brady, Tristan Noack-Hofmann, Daniel O’Reilly, Dean Zambra (Captain), Sam Verdon, Evan Galvin, Michael McDonnell, Dean Byrne, Karl Chambers (subbed: Ryan), Darren Meenan Subbed: Mulhall), Dylan McGlade (Subbed: Elworthy).
Subs: Michael Kelly, Shane Elworthy, Peter Hopkins, Chris Mulhall, Jackson Ryan, Daniel Ridge, Uli Keller.
EA SPORTS CUP SECOND ROUND
Shamrock Rovers v Longford Town FC
Monday 2nd March 2018
Tallaght Stadium | 7.00pm
Longford Town head to Tallaght on Monday night to face Shamrock Rovers in the second round of games in the EA Sports Cup. It was Rovers who knocked De Town out at the quarter final stage of this competition last year after a 1-0 defeat in Tallaght saw Longford bow out. There is currently only 7 of that Town team currently with the squad while all other players & management have since moved on.
Rovers come into the game off the back of a 1-0 victory over Sligo Rovers in the league while Longford left Galway last Friday night with a hard earned draw. Longford will be feeling optimistic having had a decent run of results in the league (bar the 3-2 loss to Shels courtesy of a last minute peno winner), the opening encounter with Cobh ending 2-2 followed by a comfortable 3-0 win over Wexford, throw in the 5-1 thrashing of Athlone and the performance of the team in Galway last Friday, De Town should be feeling fairly confident they can go to Tallaght and get a result. Rovers have had a similar start to their league campaign, an opening day draw with Dundalk, was followed two 6 goal thrashings of Bray and Derry. Followed by a loss to Cork City, the south Dublin derby with Pats ended in a 1-0 victory for Rovers and they followed that up with an away win over Limerick before losing out to Waterford at the RSC.
While clubs sometimes use this competition to throw out a few of the “youngsters”, Longford fans can expect a strong side to be fielded by Neale Fenn with maybe 2 or 3 changes from the team that lined out against Galway. Alan Kehoe and former Rovers player Darren Meenan are still out injured, Peter Hopkins who was on the bench v Galway remains 50/50 while Dylan McGlade will see out his last remaining game under suspension tonight. Sean Boyd and Joey O’Brien are on the injured list for Rovers.
Pic from 2017’s EA Sports Cup Quarter Final between Shamrock Rovers & Longford Town. Pic: Sportsfile
Highlights of the 3-0 victory over Wexford FC on Saturday night at the City Calling Stadium, plus a post match interview with Town manager, Neale Fenn speaking to Tony Ghee.
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