First half goals give Athlone the edge over Longford Town

Athlone Town . . . 2 Longford Town . . . 1

Athlone Town won the midlands derby clash at home to Longford Town FC on Friday night with first half goals from Will Smith and Gradi Lomboto securing all three points in the crucial win that keeps their promotion play-off hopes alive.

Substitute Stefan Ugbesia scored Longford’s goal late in the game with Athlone having the head-to-head bragging rights over their near neighbours this season with two wins and a draw from their three league meetings.

Despite the defeat, Wayne Groves’ team remain in fourth place on 37 points with eighth placed Athlone closing the gap on 31 points.

The home side took the lead on fourteen minutes with their first attack of the contest at Athlone Town Stadium.

A Brian McManus shot was blocked by Longford centre-half Taylor McCarthy but the ball rebounded into the path of Smith just inside the penalty area and he struck a low diagonal shot beyond visiting keeper Kian Moore and the ball struck the left-hand post and nestled in the opposite corner of the Longford net, for Smith’s first league goal for the hosts.

Longford created two good opportunities in the space of three minutes. On twenty-eight minutes, Daragh Murtagh found striker Dean Williams inside the Athlone box ten-yards out from goal but as the ball bounced up while under pressure from an Athlone defender, the visiting forward fired just over the bar.

In the thirty-first minute, the Bishopsgate outfit should have been back on level terms when a long ball forward over the Athlone defence resulted in Williams being hauled down inside the box by defender James Crawford with referee Daryl Carolan correctly pointing to the spot, but Williams had his spot kick saved by Athlone keeper Brendan Clarke.

Athlone doubled their advantage on thirty-six minutes. Lomboto gained possession down the left and he surged forward weaving his way past three Longford defenders before firing a low diagonal shot from the left that squirmed under Longford keeper Moore into the net.

In first-half injury time, a thirty-yard dipping shot from Athlone midfielder McManus was saved by Moore in the Longford goal.

The hosts should have sealed victory on fifty-six minutes when they were awarded a penalty. A long ball over the Longford defence from Peter Grogan put Smith in on goal, but he was taken down inside the penalty area by Longford defender McCarthy for a stonewall penalty, but striker Grogan suffered the same fate as Longford’s Williams as his penalty kick was saved by Town stopper Moore.

Longford Town came close on seventy-two minutes after a good move down the right. Murtagh and Ugbesia exchanged passes with the latter directing a low cross into the path of striker Williams but his goal bound shot was blocked by Athlone centre-half Crawford.

The visitors did get back into the contest on seventy-eight minutes when a left-wing free-kick from Bailey was cleared only for the ball to be sent back into the box where Tollett’s attempted clearance resulted in Longford’s Cole Omorehiomwan getting the better of defender Evan O’Connor to tee-up substitute Ugbesia who slotted home from just inside the box.

On eighty-three minutes, an attempt from Athlone’s Tollett was blocked down by Sultan Adenekan while four minutes later, Murtagh fired into the Athlone side-netting from a tight angle on the left.

Athlone had the last chance on eighty-nine minutes but substitute Calum Cleary’s audacious thirty-yard chip just cleared the Longford bar.

Athlone Town (4-2-3-1): Clarke, Kehir, Evan O’Connor, Crawford, Kyle O’Connor, Brennan, Connolly, Smith, McManus, Lomboto, Grogan.

Substitutes: Tollett for Smith & Lyons for Grogan (both 70 minutes), Cleary for Lomboto (86 minutes)

Longford Town (4-2-3-1): Kian Moore, O’Brien, Omorehiomwan, McCarthy, Hough, McKenna, Sean Moore, Manuel, Murtagh, Paraschiv, Williams.

Substitutes: Bailey for Manuel & Ugbesia for McKenna (both 60 minutes), Dawson for Williams, Adenekan for Sean Moore, & Harris for Paraschiv (all 73 minutes).

Referee: Daryl Carolan.