Longford Town seek first win of the season at home to Wexford FC

After travelling to promotion favourites Cork City last weekend, Longford Town are at home next Saturday night when Wexford FC come to Bishopsgate, kick-off 7.30pm.

Wexford come to town in fifth position in the table and there is no doubt that this team is geared for success. Their record to date after five games is one win, 3 draws and one defeat. 

Wexford have drawn against Kerry at home and away to Finn Harps and Athlone Town. Wexford lost their home game against Cork on a 4-1 scoreline and they won their away game to Cobh on a 3-0 scoreline. 

There is no doubt that Stephen Elliott is moulding this new look Wexford side into a force that could take the other league clubs by surprise. 

The manager Elliott has assembled a strong squad of players this season as he did good work making new signings.

 One player who is a real threat up front is Mikie Rowe Mikie will score at least 10 goals per season for his club and that is a good start for any manager in the First Division. 

Another name to come up in the Wexford team is defender Max Murphy who pops up during games as he runs forward and that puts opposing defences under pressure. 

Looking at the Wexford team that played at home to Kerry last weekend there are some well known players in this current Wexford squad. 

Their keeper Paul Martin is a very good keeper and it will be hard to get the ball past him. Evan Osam is a top class player and Wexford were very lucky to get him to sign for another season. 

Town supporters don’t have to be introduced to Dylan Hand who is a very useful player. Adam Verdon is another new arrival to the club and he, like Mikie Rowe is a great competitor. 

Jake Doyle is another top class player who chips in with some very vital goals. 

Last season the team played each other four times and the Town came out on top with two wins, one draw and one defeat against possibly one of the best footballing sides in the league. 

The Town lost their first game against Wexford when C Flynn, D Levingston and Mikie Rowe all scored for the home side and Mo Boudiaf scored a consolation goal for the Town. 

A few weeks later the teams met at Bishopsgate and the Town won two 2-1. Daragh Murtagh and Emmanuel James scored for the Town with R Kelly scoring for Wexford. 

The Town were away at the end of June and the only goal of the game came from Emre Topcu and that came after only 6 minutes. 

The final game of the season at Bishopsgate ended all square with both clubs trying to squeeze a winner in the 2-2 draw. The Town were two goals up after almost half an hour but Wexford hit back to level matters.

There is no doubt that this new look Wexford side will be hard to beat but the Town proved at the run in to the end of last season that they are capable of competing against any team. 

The team that manager Groves started against Cork showed quite a few changes from the team which started the previous game against UCD at Bishopsgate which ended in a draw. 

The good news before the Cork game was that Aaron Doran was on the bench after being out injured for some weeks previously. 

To have a player of the calibre of Doran coming back into the squad had to be a big bonus for manager Groves.

 Dean George, Jamie Egan and Aaron Walsh are still out of contention due to injury and let’s hope that those three players return to the squad in the coming weeks. 

Keeper Kian Moore once again had a good game in goal and he saved a penalty from Seani Maguire in the final minutes of the game but unfortunately we weren’t alert enough to clear our lines and Cork slotted home the rebound to clinch a hard earned win.

Stefan Ugbesia replaced Daragh Murtagh on 75 mins and the in-form striker equalised Seani Maguire’s goal a few minutes later.

There is no doubt we need more fire power in front of goal at this stage and let’s hope that this area will be strengthened soon.

After Saturday night’s game v Wexford we are at home again on Saturday week when we play Finn Harps at Bishopsgate and after that is a trip to Limerick to play Treaty United. 

Support

We are at a stage in the season that we rely on support through the turnstiles. Our support over the years has been magnificent and it’s like having an extra man on the field. Keep up the good work and bring out a friend or two for next Saturday’s game against Wexford.  

Sponsor a player for the season

If you are interested in sponsoring a player for this season you can contact any member of the Town committee. Your help will be greatly appreciated.

SSE Airtricity League First Division

Longford Town v Wexford FC

At Bishopsgate: Saturday 21 March: Kick-off 7.30pm