Battle of the Towns! Longford and Athlone deadlock in draw at Bishopsgate

Longford Town and Athlone Town shared the spoils in their Bank Holiday Monday midlands derby clash at Bishopsgate as Osaze Irhue’s stunning strike for the home side cancelled out Cillian Tollet’s lead goal for Athlone Town in the eventual draw. 

Longford Town . . . 1  Athlone Town . . . 1

A lack lustre first half produced very few chances with the best opportunity falling for the visitors when Callum Cleary’s low left-wing cross picked out the unmarked Gradi Lomboto  just ten yards out from goal, but he blazed his shot well over the Longford crossbar.

On twenty-three minutes Longford winger Stefan Ugbesia received the ball on the left and he cut inside to create space for a strike on goal only for his twenty-yard low shot to be brilliantly blocked by Athlone centre-back James Crawford.

Longford had the next real effort on goal in the thirty-seventh minute but Daragh Murtagh’s chipped cross from the left was headed wide by Francis Campbell.

Athlone took the lead just four minutes after the restart when the towering substitute Tollett rose highest to head home Kyle O’Connor’s right-wing corner.

The ‘Red & Black’ scored a merited equaliser on seventy-seven minutes with a brilliant team goal. The ball was collected by substitute Andy Paraschiv down the left and he brilliantly held the ball up before playing a cleverly disguised pass into the path of the overlapping striker Murtagh.

The striker whipped in a deep cross to the opposite side of the Athlone box where another Longford substitute Pharrell Manuel controlled the ball superbly before setting up right-back Irhue and he blasted a low twenty-five-yard strike that nestled in the bottom left corner of the Athlone net.

Two minutes later the diminutive Longford midfielder Aaron Doran whipped in a twenty-two-yard free kick that sailed just over the Athlone bar,

The visitors tested the home keeper Kian Moore on eighty-seven minutes when substitute Aderinsola Adewale hit a low shot from twenty-two-yards out that was well saved by Moore diving to his left.

Deep into stoppage time, Aaron Moloney fired a sixteen-yard shot well wide of the Longford post.

LONGFORD TOWN (4-3-2-1): Kian Moore, Irhue, Omorehiomwan, McCarthy, Hough, Adenekan,  Sean Moore, Campbell, Doran, Ugbesia, Murtagh

Substitutes: Manuel for Ugbesia, Williams for Campbell, & Paraschiv for Adenekan (all 66 minutes),  McKenna for Doran (85 minutes),Walsh for Sean Moore (90 plus 1 minute)

ATHLONE TOWN (4-3-2-1): Clarke, Considine, Evan O’Connor, Crawford, Kyle O’Connor, Moloney, Cleary, Lomboto, McManus, Lyons, Ferry.

Substitutes: Tollett for McManus (10 minutes), Aderinsola Adewale for Lyons (62 minutes), Lawless for Ferry & Kehir for Considine (both 70 minutes).

Referee: Mark Patchell.