Longford Town facing tough away games against Treaty United and Wexford FC

Longford Town travel to Limerick to take on Treaty United this Friday (kick-off 7.45pm) and then to Wexford on the Bank Holiday Monday.

These two games plus visits to Cork and then Kerry during a three week period is so hard on the team and management before the summer break. 

With four games down south the travelling will be very tough on our squad who have given Wayne Groves total commitment since he took over in his caretaker capacity and he has now been appointed as the permanent manager which will bring stability. 

 The news on the starting team for the Cobh match wasn't great as the influential Viktor Serdeniuk was out due to injury and Groves had to juggle his squad again. He had some good news with Kyle O'Connor available after suspension and the impressive Luke Wade Slater back after illness. 

Cobh are a much improved squad but we should have picked up all three points. 

Going into the game on Saturday night we were back on the bottom of the table after Kerry beat Finn Harps to jump over us on Friday night. 

There is no doubt that Wayne Groves has given this squad a belief that they can go out and get results and we expect to get some points over the weekend.

 The team travel to Markets Field in Limerick on Friday night to take on a Treaty United side that held the table toppers Cork City to a draw in Turners Cross last weekend.

 When the Town and Treaty met in Bishopsgate some weeks ago the Town won 2-1 after an excellent game of football. 

Byrne gave the visitors the lead against the run of play in the 43rd minute but Ross Fay 59 mins and Dean O'Shea just before the hour mark gave the Town a deserved lead which they held until the final whistle. Last season, Treaty were dominant in the games against the Town, winning 3-2 at the Market's Field in early April.

They followed that up with a 3-0 victory at Bishopsgate when two Enda Curran goals and a Stephen Christopher goal gave Treaty a decisive victory after the Town had keeper Jack Brady sent off on the hour mark. 

The next game in early August ended 3-2 to the Town at Market's Field with two late goals from Cristian Magerusan securing the three points. 

The final game at Bishopsgate ended 3-2 in favour of Treaty. 

Wexford a tough nut to crack at Ferrycarrig Park 

The Town travel to Wexford on the Bank Holiday Monday (kick-off 3pm) who were doing well up until last Friday when they lost 2-1 at home to Bray.

The teams met at Bishopsgate at the end of April and the visitors took the 3 points after a 2-1 victory. 

Mikie Rowe scored both goals for Wexford in the first half but Luke Wade Slater got a goal back in the 56th minute and the Town had Dean O'Shea red carded in the 87th minute. That was a performance to forget and let's hope the lads can reverse the result on Monday next. 

When the teams met last year the results were 50/50. The opening game at Bishopsgate ended 2-1 to the visitors with the two goals coming from former player Aaron Dobbs with Francis Campbell giving Town the lead in that game. 

The second game in Wexford ended 3-0 to the Town. Beineon O'Brien-Whitmarsh scored two and Josh Giurgi added goal no 3. 

The next game was at Bishopsgate and the Town won 2-1. Cristain Magerusan and Whitmarsh scored for the Town and Danny Furlong got one back for Wexford. The last game in Wexford ended 2-0  to the home side with Lovic and Dobbs scoring the goals.

Wexford are in a good position to get into the promotion play-offs and will be a tough nut to crack, especially at Ferrycarrig Park.They have James Keddy as manager and quite a few ex-Town players in their squad. 

This weekend will be a tough one for our team especially with all the travelling and let's hope that we don't pick up any more injuries. 

With five players still unavailable due to injury the new manager Groves will have to juggle his youthful squad. 

Local Emmanuel James is doing very well when introduced and he is giving opposing defences a lot to worry about and let's hope he gets a few more goals to give him extra confidence.