Longford Town away to Athlone in the midlands derby clash

All roads lead to Athlone this Friday for the midlands derby (kick-off 7.45pm) and Longford Town manager Wayne Groves will be hoping for another win.  

Over the recent seasons games between the clubs have been close affairs with the exception of last season when the neighbours won three and drew the remaining game. 

Longford go into Friday's game in a good mood after picking up four points in our last two games. 

Last Thursday the Town travelled to the Carlisle Grounds to play a Bray side who sit in the top half of the table and in the play-off position. 

The game in Bray saw the Town's new look squad that included five new signings. Former Bolton player Eric Christopher Yoro started in midfield and he is a versatile player who can also play in defence.

 Also included in the starting eleven was midfielder Danny Norris who has joined the club from UCD. The club captain Shane Elworthy made a welcome return to the team after missing the Harps game the previous weekend.

 21 year old Norris looked good on his debut but was replaced by Adam Wixted in the 80th minute.

Manager Groves wanted to freshen up his team and the move paid off as the midfielder, who was out injured recently, got the all important goal for the Town in the 89th minute. 

Local youngster Emmanuel James also came on in the 80th minute as he replaced fellow striker Jordan Adeyemo. Francis Campbell also came on in the 80th minute when he replaced new signing Yoro.

 Jordan Tallon and Karl Chambers replaced Bastien Hery and Mo Boudiaf. 

Winger Chris Lotefa has joined the club from Bohemians after being on loan with Finn Harps. Carl Lennox, the 19 year old defender, has joined the club from Shamrock Rovers having been with Wexford. 

The other new signing is midfielder Emre Topcu who has joined the club on loan from Drogheda United. The 18 year old midfielder is a youth international in Turkey and a lot is expected from this exciting prospect. 

When new players come in there has to be some movement in the other direction. Striker Chris Lyons, who has been out injured for some time, has decided to quit the game on doctors advice and he will be sorely missed. 

Keeper Jack Harrington has signed for Athlone and Samuel Clarke has also left the club. The new faces will freshen up the team and the fact that we are now only two points behind Kerry will be a big incentive in the coming weeks. 

Drawing with Harps fourth in the table and beating Bray 5th in the table shows that we can compete with the in-form teams but Friday's game will be a tester for Wayne Groves and his youthful side.

Athlone beat us three times last season with the other game ending 0-0. The scorer in chief against us last season was Haitian striker Frantz Pierrot who scored five goals in the four games and he also got a red card in the first fixture at Bishopsgate. The striker has since left Athlone to join Drogheda.

The midlands rivals met twice this season with the first game in mid-March played in Athlone. The Town were 3-0 in front at half-time with goals from Wixted, Hand and an OG from Jones but goals from former Town players Dean Ebbe and Ibrahim in the second half earned Athlone a fortunate draw.

The second meeting between the clubs in mid May ended 1-1 in Bishopsgate. The visitors took the lead in the 53rd minute when Tetteh scored. The Town equalised in the 88th minute when Emmanuel James scored a very well taken goal. 

Four points from the last two games has pushed the Town close to Kerry who now only hold a two point lead and we hope that the injury crisis clears up in the coming weeks. 

There is no doubt that Friday's game is huge for the club. Local derby fixtures are usually very vocal and we ask our supporters to get behind the team from the kick-off against what would be considered the best Athlone team for years. 

Last weekend Athlone travelled to Dublin to play second in the table UCD and came away with three points from a 2-1 victory.

 The Athlone goals both came from the penalty spot. Dean Ebbe scored the first penalty on 32 minutes and his replacement Robinson also scored from the spot in the 57th minute. Holohan pulled back a goal for UCD in the 82nd minute. 

There is no doubt that this new look Athlone side under the guidance of Portuguese manager Dario Castelo are a very useful outfit and it will take a massive effort to get a good result on Friday. 

A big crowd will be over in Athlone and let the team hear that Longford roar. The Town are away on Friday week again when we travel to Eamonn Deacy Park to take on Galway United in the FAI Cup