Giurgi strikes twice for Longford Town in first win of the season

Longford Town . . . 2    Kerry FC . . . 0

After going close to scoring with just three minutes gone on the clock, only to be denied by a fine save from the advancing Kerry keeper Wayne Guthrie, the quick pace of Giurgi saw him weave his way into the box to put Longford in front.

Aodh Dervin, a dominant figure in the midfield sector throughout the match, was the creator with Derek Daly also involved in the slick move that ended up with Giurgi planting the ball in the corner of the net in the 10th minute. 

While the First Division newcomers Kerry enjoyed plenty of possession they failed to engineer a serious scoring opportunity in the first half and were fortunate not to fall further behind.

Right at the start of the second half a quickly taken free-kick from Kyle O’Connor caught out the Kerry defence with Gary Armstrong going through in a great chance to score a second goal for the home side but he directed his shot narrowly wide of the post. 

The Town then had a let-off in the 51st minute when a right wing cross from the prominent Leonardo Gaxha flew across the face of the goalmouth but Ryan Kelliher was unable to get a vital touch to the ball. 

Longford looked to have doubled their advantage in the 65th minute when a shot from Darragh Lynch broke into the path of Armstrong who finished the ball to the net but the goal was disallowed for offside. 

There was still a glimmer of hope for Kerry as they pressed for the equaliser and while they eventually got a shot on target through a long range strike from substitute Sean McGrath in the 75th minute, the Town keeper Jack Brady made a comfortable save.

A couple of other half chances followed quickly for the visitors with Gaxha and Gleeson shooting wide and while Longford had to endure some anxious moments, the victory was eventually sealed when the killer second goal materialised in the 89th minute. 

Giurgi, always a threat in the attack, smacked a cracking long range shot from some 30 yards out that found a way past the Kerry keeper Guthrie into the bottom corner of the net and it was no more than Longford deserved as they were clearly the better team in this basement battle. 

Stephen Henderson’s improving side are now in 7th position in the First Division table and will head for Limerick on Friday night next to take on Treaty United in a fairly confident frame of mind in the quest to collect some more league points.  

LONGFORD TOWN: Jack Brady; Shane Elworthy, Cian Byrne, Oisin Hand, Kyle O’Connor; Gary Armstrong, Viktor Serdeniuk, Aodh Dervin, Derek Daly; Darragh Lynch, Joshua Giurgi.

Subs:- Francis Campbell for Lynch (66 mins); Jamal Ibrahim for Daly (88 mins).

KERRY FC: Wayne Guthrie; Shane Guthrie, Kevin Williams, Jonathan Hannafin; Graham O’Reilly, Nathan Gleeson, Matthew Keane, Ronan Teahan, Sean O’Connell; Leonardo Gaxha, Ryan Kelliher.

Subs:- Robert Vasiu for Keane; Sean Kennedy for Kelliher and Sean McGrath for S Guthrie (all in the 57th minute); Kennedy Amechi for Gleeson (82 mins). 

Referee: Kevin O’Sullivan. 

Attendance: 416