Longford Town away to UCD and at home to Athlone

Longford Town face two very tough games this weekend when they travel to Belfield on Friday night (kick-off 7.45pm) to play UCD and on Bank Holiday Monday it’s the big midlands derby at Bishopsgate when Athlone Town come to the Strokestown Road venue (kick-off 5pm).  

Last weekend the Town played Kerry at Bishopsgate and an excellent Aaron Doran strike on 24 minutes gave Wayne Groves side all three points and they had their third clean sheet in a row following the games against Cobh and Bray. 

The game on Saturday night was a tough one for our young side who battled gamely for the full 90 minutes against a really strong and physical Kerry side. 

Town supporters were expecting to see Harry Halwax in goal for Kerry but the former Town keeper missed the game through injury and his replacement was a very young Harvey Mangan who is third choice with the club and unfortunately we didn’t test him enough as he seemed to be shaky on crosses and high balls. 

Saying that the rookie made a few outstanding saves in both halves especially after our goal. 

The Town fielded the same eleven that started the previous game against Cobh but manager Groves had central defender Cole Omorehiomwan on the bench after injury and he came on for the final ten minutes of the game which is great news for the club with the double header coming up this weekend. 

Last Saturday night’s win plus the win and the draw in the previous two games means that the Town are now only two points away from the promotion play-off positions.

One has to compliment the team and management on their recent form, especially the fact that we are missing quite a few players through recent injuries and others with long term injuries. 

With a small panel of players the Town can’t be without players for any period and it’s a tribute to all our younger players that we are competing well and are now chasing a place in the play-offs.

Bray in 5th place are on 16 points and the Town are now in 7th place on 14 points. Over the weekend we play UCD who are in second place on 21 points and we play near neighbours Athlone Town who are in fourth place on 19 points. 

As everybody knows this is a very competitive league and every point is hard earned but our lads are really up for the battle.

UCD are 6 points behind leaders Cork City who were held to a draw at the weekend by Bray. The league leaders also have a game in hand v Treaty United to come also.

On Friday we travel to Belfield to play a very good UCD side who are managed by William O’Connor. UCD have the impressive Ciaran Behan but they also have Mikey Raggett and Mikey McCullagh. 

Eanna Clancy, who comes from County Leitrim, is a very good centre half and they also have a top keeper in Dara Kavanagh. 

Last season UCD had the bragging rights as they won three games and drew one against us. 

One thing about UCD is that they always try to play good football and I think that will suit our team who try most times to take down the ball and play good football. The fact that the Town have conceded no goals in the last three games must be very pleasing to the management but at the other end of the pitch it’s a bit worrying. 

It’s lovely winning games by a goal but it’s hard on the supporters' hearts as we seem to be very shot shy in front of goal.

 If we had a player to score over 10 goals and not relying on Aaron Doran we could push opposing teams and defences much more in games. 

Aaron Doran’s goal against Kerry was a gem but we needed more to really put the visitors out of the game.

Home to Athlone on Bank Holiday Monday

 On Bank holiday Monday we have Athlone Town at Bishopsgate (kick-off 5pm) and this is a game that we need to win after the humiliating defeat we suffered on our visit to Athlone last month on Easter Monday.

 There is no doubt that we will play much better on Monday next than we did on that visit to Athlone, losing 2-0 and also having a player sent off. 

Midfielder Sean Moore was sent off early in the second half for a second yellow card which really killed off the game as a contest.

 After last weekend’s games Athlone are in fourth place alongside Wexford (3rd) on 19 points which is only two points behind UCD. 

Athlone, who struggled last season, have a much stronger squad this season and manager Ian Ryan seems to have instilled lots of confidence in his new look team. 

Last season we held the upper hand against them in the four league games played against them with two wins and two draws. 

The return to fitness of Aaron Doran and Cole Omorehiomwan will be a huge boost to the Town in this double fixture weekend. 

We need to pick up more points in the two games and hopefully get up to 5th in the table soon. It’s great to see the supporters having to book a bigger bus for Friday’s visit to Belfield and hopefully they will have a happy journey home with a positive result against UCD. 

Great support at Kerry game

A big thank you to all who supported our game on Saturday night last against Kerry. Your support at the game and the buzz around the ground undoubtedly gets the players motivated and we should have similar crowds at our games going forward. 

It’s great to have supporters coming from Leitrim, Cavan, Roscommon, Galway, Westmeath and Dublin coming regularly. 

Thanks also to businesses and individuals who sponsor prizes for the half-time draw at all home games. Anyone interested in sponsoring a player for the season can contact Andy Dardis.

SSE Airtricity League

First Division

Longford Town v Athlone Town

At Bishopsgate

Bank Holiday Monday 4th May

Kick-off 5pm

Car Boot Sale

At Bishopsgate 

On the Strokestown Road

Gates open at 5am

Please come early