Longford Town at home to title contenders Cobh Ramblers

Longford Town face one of their biggest games for quite some time when they play promotion chasing Cobh Ramblers at Bishopsgate on Friday night, kick-off 7.45pm.

There is no doubt that this Cobh side are the surprise packets in this year’s First Division campaign and with two games remaining they are in second place just four points behind odds on favourites for promotion Dundalk who have suffered a few shocks in recent weeks. 

Three weeks ago the Town caused a major upset when they defeated Dundalk 3-2 at Bishopsgate in front of a large crowd. 

Since then the Longford travelled to Bray and came away with a very impressive 2-0 victory and on Sunday the Town travelled to Limerick and came away with a 2-1 victory over play-off hopefuls Treaty United who remain 5th in the table and still holding the last play-off position. 

To beat the Limerick outfit, league leaders Dundalk and third placed Bray in succession is a tribute to this new look Town side who were second from bottom of the table a month ago. 

With two games remaining this young Town squad are still in a chase for fifth place. Beating three top 5 teams is great form but on Friday we face a very tough game as this Cobh side are second on merit and they still have a chance to gain automatic promotion as league leaders Dundalk continue to drop points. 

I saw a quote from an irate Dundalk supporter over the weekend and it wasn’t really complimentary to the team and management. The supporter stated that his team were losing the plot by dropping points to the bottom of the table teams. I would think he is unhappy to lose to the Town a few weeks ago at Bishopsgate and the draw against Athlone Town last weekend. 

With points in mind we have to pick up three on Friday night and keep us in the race for 5th place in the table. As stated this is a very good Cobh side who are so hard to beat. 

To date the teams have played each other on three occasions this season with the Cobh side having the bragging rights at this stage. 

The first meeting between the clubs was in Cobh back in early March and on that occasion the home side won comfortably on a 5-0 scoreline. Bellis, Griffin, Coffey (two) and Bosnjak were the goal scorers on that occasion.

The second meeting was in Bishopsgate and that game ended 1-1. Whelan gave Cobh the lead in the 67th minute but Fran Campbell equalised in the fourth minute of stoppage time to earn a vital point for the Town. The final meeting between the clubs was in Cobh when the home side won 3-1. Former Shelbourne player Shane Griffin scored a hat-trick for Cobh while Daniel Norris was on target for the Town. 

Looking at the stats one would think that the Town have a big job ahead of themselves if they are to pick up three more precious points as we head for the end of the season but this new look squad have great commitment and character and having won the last three games the squad will be confident of causing another upset.

 The experienced Shane Griffin, who previously played with Shelbourne, is a Premier Division player in waiting and he like Barry Coffey would be starters in most Premier Division teams. 

Niall O’Keeffe, who previously played with Waterford,  is a very good midfielder who has the experience needed to play at the highest level. 

The current Cobh squad have quite a few ex-Cork City players who have experience in Premier Division football and that will stand to them as they chase a place in the top flight. 

Barry Coffey has scored over twenty goals so far this season and he is lethal around the penalty area but they have players in other positions who are also capable of scoring.

The Town are no doubt a better team since the arrivals during the summer transfer window and this is one of the reasons for the much improved performances in recent weeks. 

Jamie Egan is back in action after a long absence due to injury and unfortunately picked up another injury recently after some impressive displays in the centre of the defence.

Dean O’Shea missed some games recently due to injury but thankfully he was on the bench in Limerick at the weekend. Good to see Aaron Walsh come on as a late sub against Treaty. 

The arrival of Alex O’Brien and Sean Moore recently have given Wayne Groves a better hand to pick from for the vital end of season games. Such is the form of Sean Moore that Tom Mohan has picked him for the upcoming friendly games against Albania for the Republic of Ireland under 19s. 

Being picked for these games unfortunately means that he will miss the match against Cobh on Friday night.

With Sean being out this will mean that some other player will get a chance to prove to the manager that he is good enough. The form of new goalkeeper Kian Moore is another plus for manager Wayne Groves. 

Another player in top form is Stefan Ugbesia who has added goals to his game in recent weeks. 

The next two games are crucial for the Town as we push forward to the end of the season. Three points are needed to keep us in the chase for a play-off spot which would not be considered a few weeks ago.

 The team are giving their best at the moment despite the injuries and let’s hope that the next two weeks will end with a place in the play-offs.

Support

On Friday night the club will play one of the biggest games for quite some time and we are asking for supporters to come out in big numbers for the game.

We would like to thank our supporters for their loyalty over the years when we have fought adversity as we continue to chase our dreams of getting back to the summit in League of Ireland football. 

The club needs to get our supporters out for this game and we urge lapsed supporters to come out and give the lads that big push in the remaining games. Your support will be greatly appreciated.

 Wall Rebuilt 

Supporters will see that the wall has been rebuilt and it looks great. A big thank you to all who contributed towards the work needed to rebuild the wall. Thanks to all who contributed to this big job and supporters coming to the game will get a big shock at the marvellous job done on the wall. 

SSE Airtricity League First Division

Longford Town v Cobh Ramblers

At Bishopsgate

On Friday October 10 

Kick off 7.45pm