Longford Town and UCD finish scoreless in scrappy encounter

Longford Town had to settle for a point in a scoreless scrappy encounter that developed into a frustrating experience for the home supporters who braved the cold weather at Bishopsgate on Saturday night to watch this war of attrition.  

Longford Town . . . 0      UCD . . . 0

Apart from a number of hopeful set pieces with UCD going the closest when a close range shot was cleared off the line in a last ditch escape with 32 minutes gone on the clock, this was a drab affair but at least Longford got something out of the match.

There was a strong claim for a Town penalty midway through the second half for what appeared to be a handball in the box by a UCD player but there was no whistle from the referee!

Three draws from the first four fixtures is a satisfactory return but it does not get any easier with a torrid trip to Turners Cross to play the league leaders Cork City on Friday night next for the understrength Town who were again without their most creative player Aaron Doran.

It might have been a different story had Daragh Murtagh managed to hit the target in the 3rd minute from a cracking strike that nestled into the sidenetting after only 3 minutes and the big central defender Cole Omorehionwan then had a header saved by the UCD keeper Dara Kavanagh, 

In this same attack Stefan Ugbesia directed a header straight at Kavanagh and that was really as good as it got for the home side as the technically superior students gradually began to make their presence felt.  

UCD enjoyed a period of dominance in early stages of the second half but were denied by three smart saves by Kian Moore, the last of which was particularly vital as the agile Town keeper stopped a low drive from Stephen Mohan that was heading for the corner of the net.  

Although they continued to create corner kicks, Longford were unable to find a way past the opposing keeper and there was one last opportunity from a long range shot in the 89th minute that drifted wide of the post but a draw was probably the fairest result. 

A second half substitute for UCD was their new signing from Shamrock Rovers, Longford’s Goodness Ogbonna, who played for the Republic of Ireland in the U-17 World Cup last season. 

LONGFORD TOWN: Kian Moore; Osaze Irhue, Cole Omorehionwan, Taylor McCarthy, Conor Errity; Alex O’Brien; Pharrell Manuel, Sean Moore Luke O’Brien; Stefan Ugbesia,  Daragh Murtagh.

Subs:- Dean Williams and Andy Paraschiv for Murtagh and Ugbesia (both in the 69th minute); Daniel McKenna and Jake Hough for Irhue (injured) and O’Brien (both in the 77th minute); Kyle Robinson for Manuel (88 mins). 

UCD: Dara Kavanagh; Luke O’Regan, Sean Murphy, Eanna Clancy, Luca Cailloce; Michael McCullagh, Colin Belton, Adam Wells, Ciaran Behan; Michael Raggett, Stephen Mohan.

Subs:- Louis Dignam and Hugh Smith for Bolton and Raggett (both in the 57th minute); Goodness Ogbonna and Matthew Alonge for McCullagh and Mohan (both in the 80th minute). 

Referee: Mark Houlihan.