STORM TRACKER: Follow 'Storm Amy' as it bears down on Ireland amid brutal forecast
Search
06 Sept 2025
Search
06 Sept 2025
Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content.
Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist.
If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider contributing and/or subscribing to our free daily Newsletter .
Support our mission and join our community now.
To continue reading this article, you can subscribe for as little as €0.50 per week which will also give you access to all of our premium content and archived articles!
Alternatively, you can pay €0.50 per article, capped at €1 per day.
Thank you for supporting Ireland's best local journalism!
Longford Town manager Stephen Henderson pictured at the previous home league game against Waterford FC Photo: Syl Healy
Longford Town may be adrift at the wrong end of the table alongside Finn Harps and Kerry FC at the moment but there is no doubt that they are beginning to move in the right direction.
At the moment Finn Harps, who are a full time outfit, are second from bottom but it appears that Dave Rogers is in for the long haul as manager with a fully professional squad.
However, like Stephen Henderson in Longford, the Harps boss has given youth a chance in recent games as the Donegal club are also hit by injuries.
To date the Town and Harps have played each other twice this season and the bragging rights are going the way of the former Shelbourne player Rogers as he got a win on their last visit to Longford. On that occasion a very disputed penalty was the difference between the teams.
The return game at Finn Park was a very close encounter that ended 1-1 and the Town scorer on that occasion was Aodh Dervin who will be back for Friday's game after missing the clash against Cobh on the Bank Holiday Monday through suspension.
As stated earlier, this Harps team is full time and that will be a big advantage in the second half of the current season. Harps will be a tough nut to crack as they have some seasoned campaigners in their squad.
37-year-old Keith Cowan is the veteran of the current squad while Noe Baba and Seamus Keogh are also very experienced players.
German keeper Tim-Oliver Hiemer is a very good netminder while they have many up and coming stars in their under 19 squad, somewhat like the Town.
Last Monday's six goal hammering against the league leaders Galway United will have Harps on high alert but the Town needs to start picking up three points in games rather than one from draws.
There is speculation that many of the First Division clubs will be bringing in new players during the July transfer break. The Town manager will be looking to strengthen his squad and hopefully move up the table and into contention for a promotion play-off spot.
After this weekend's games there will be the customary mid-season break and that should help injured players on the road to recovery.
Hopefully, there will be a big local crowd out for the visit of Harps this Friday night (kick-off 7.45pm) as games between the clubs are always intriguing.
After the break the Town face a real tough task when they have to travel to Galway on Friday, June 23 and the following week they are back at home against Wexford.
SSE Airtricity League First Division
Longford Town v Finn Harps
At Bishopsgate
Friday June 9
Kick-off 7.45pm
Subscribe or register today to discover more from DonegalLive.ie
Buy the e-paper of the Donegal Democrat, Donegal People's Press, Donegal Post and Inish Times here for instant access to Donegal's premier news titles.
Keep up with the latest news from Donegal with our daily newsletter featuring the most important stories of the day delivered to your inbox every evening at 5pm.
This publication supports the work of the Press Council of Ireland and Office of the Press Ombudsman, and our staff operate within the Code of Practice of the Press Council. You can obtain a copy of the Code, or contact the Council, at www.presscouncil.ie, Lo-call 1800 208 080 or email: info@presscouncil.ie.
