Longford Town take on Wexford FC in bid to boost promotion hopes

Longford Town FC will hope to continue their current good run on Saturday night when Wexford FC come to Bishopsgate, kick-off 7.30pm.

After last Saturday’s high scoring victory over Leinster Senior League side Baldoyle in the FAI Cup, it’s back to the bread and butter of league football and the opposition will be strong.

It will take a great effort to pick up three more valuable points to maintain our position in the top 5 and a place in the promotion play-offs at the end of the season.

Recent results against the top 2 in the table have been very encouraging to say the least and they no doubt give the team and the management confidence going forward.

Beating UCD at Bishopsgate and then travelling to Cork and coming away with an amazing 4-3 victory were terrific results.

After those two victories in the league we had Baldoyle United as visitors in the FAI Cup on Saturday evening last and the result was very pleasing for all concerned.

Saturday last will be a day to remember for striker Stefan Ugbesia who helped himself to 4 goals, while midfielder Pharrell Manuel scored two and Alex O’Brien who came on after half-time for Daniel McKenna also got his name on the scoresheet.

Centre half Cole Omorehiomwan scored the eighth goal in the 87th minute to give the Town a resounding victory.

Before kick-off there was a minute’s applause for Sean Moore’s mother who passed away very recently.

Baldoyle will do well in their own league but the FAI Cup may be a bit too much for them at the moment.

It was great to have them and their supporters at Bishopsgate and they seemed to be so happy to visit our grounds out on the Strokestown Road. Reflecting back to the league, the Wexford boss has assembled a strong squad of players.

Like the Town they were in action in the FAI Cup last weekend when they travelled to Inchicore to play Stephen Kenny’s St Patrick’s Athletic.

Jason McClelland gave St Pat’s the lead after 14 minutes but the very impressive Jake Doyle equalised for Wexford in the 69th minute.

It took a superb goal from Aidan Keena to put the Premier Division side through to the last 16. Saturday night’s game will be the third meeting between the clubs this season. The first first fixture took place at Bishopsgate on the 21st March and the Town won that game 2-0.

Daragh Murtagh opened the scoring in the 19th minute when he converted a Dean Williams cross. The Town were in complete control for long periods and just after the hour mark, they scored their second goal and it came from Osaze Irhue who is playing good football this season. Unfortunately he was injured against Baldoyle and he had to be replaced on 63 minutes and hopefully his injury will not keep him out of the team for long. Jonathan Adedeji replaced him and he was one of five subs used during the game.

A very interesting sub for the Town in the second half was Alex Cioch, a 19 year old Polish player who replaced the impressive Taylor McCarthy on 74 minutes.

Young Mark Canavan also came on in the 74th minute when he replaced captain Pharrell Manuel who scored the Town’s two opening goals after 6 and 10 minutes.

Saturday’s Cup win will not tell the Town manager Wayne Groves any startling news but when you are playing in Cup games anything can happen. Kerry FC caused the surprise of the round when they beat Premier Division side Shelbourne on penalties after extra-time.

The star of the show was former Town keeper Harry Halwax who saved the penalty in the shoot out to put Kerry through to the next round.

Last season Longford Town and Wexford played each other on four occasions in the league. The Town had the bragging rights with two wins, a draw and a defeat.

Longford Town lost the first meeting away on a 3-1 scoreline and the teams met soon afterwards at Bishopsgate with the Town winning 2-1.

Daragh Murtagh and Emmanuel James were the scorers on that occasion.

The Town were away to Wexford in the next round and a fine individual goal from Emre Topcu secured all three points.

The final meeting between the clubs was at Bishopsgate and the game ended 2-2.

At the moment the clubs are very close in the table. The Town are in fourth position on 31 points and Wexford are in sixth place on 28 points.

The Wexford squad is strong and in keeper Paul Martin they have one of the best in the league this season. The defence is very good with Max Murphy, Robbie McCourt and Dylan Hand, who came on against St Pat’s at the weekend, are all very good defenders.

Kian Dignam and Ryan Butler are also good defenders. Town supporters will remember Dylan Hand from his time here. Evan Osam is another player who has played with Wexford also.

Adam Verdon is a very good midfield player. Zak O’Sullivan is another useful midfielder.

Striker Jake Doyle is a player that needs to be closely watched for the full 90 minutes as he is very dangerous around the penalty area as is the very experienced Mikie Rowe who is so hard to handle when he is on form.

The Town know that they have the squad to win this game and continue their move up the table but that won’t happen if we let our standards drop.

The crowd at the Cup game on Saturday last was very disappointing and maybe the early kick-off or the good weather might have been the reasons. We need support on Saturday night next so no excuses and we ask supporters to be there.

SSE Airtricity League First Division

Longford Town v Wexford FC

At Bishopsgate: Saturday 25 July

Kick off 7.30pm

Town v Bohs in FAI Cup clash at Dalymount Park

Longford Town are facing a tough task against Bohemians, currently second in the Premier Division, in Round 3 of the Club Orange FAI Cup.

The attractive last 16 clash is scheduled to be played at Dalymount Park on the week ending Sunday August 16 with Friday night the probable date for the match.

The complete Round 3 draw in the FAI Cup is as follows:

Bohemians v Longford Town

College Corinthians v Drogheda United

Galway United v Bray Wanderers

Dundalk v Castlebar Celtic

UCD v Derry City

Waterford v Athlone Town

Sligo Rovers v Kerry

St. Patrick's Athletic v Shamrock Rovers