Major disappointment for Longford Town in a damaging defeat against UCD

SSE Airtricity League First Division Play-Off Semi-Final First Leg

Longford Town . . . 0 UCD . . . 2

On a high after clinching a place in the promotion play-offs with the win over Athlone the previous weekend, Longford Town FC suffered the major disappointment of a damaging defeat against UCD at wet and windy Bishopsgate on Saturday night.

Despite the adverse weather, the official attendance reached the high figure of 1,728 which was composed almost entirely by the strong home support who came through the turnstiles in the hope of a home win (or even a draw) but a positive result unfortunately failed to materialise.

Longford are now facing a real uphill battle when they head for the UCD Bowl on Tuesday night next (kick-off 7.45pm) in their quest to overturn the 2-0 deficit in the second leg to keep the slim chance alive.

From the moment Aaron Doran shot wide when well placed to score in the 10th minute, nothing went right for the home side in front of the UCD posts and the underdogs conceded the opening goal in the 27th minute.

Hugh Smith and Ciaran Behan combined to create the opportunity for Louis Dignam who scooped the ball into the net and that was a wake up call for the Town who dominated most of the possession for the remainder of the first half.

There were half chances for James Bailey, Jake Hough and Alex O’Brien while Aaron Doran directed a shot across the face of the UCD goalmouth but nobody was there to get the vital touch in stoppage time.

While dangerous striker Charles Akinrintayo went close for the students with a blistering shot from a tight angle, Longford did not deserve to be behind at the break and almost equalised in the 54th minute when a point-blank effort from James Bailey was brilliantly saved by the opposing keeper Dara Kavanagh.

Moments later, the ball ended up in the UCD net but the goal from Pharrell Manuel was disallowed for offside to the sheer dismay of the home supporters who had little to shout about for the rest of the game.

Hugh Smith was through for UCD in the 56th minute, only to be denied by a tremendous save from the Town keeper Kian Moore who kept the midlanders in contention.

After the manager Wayne Groves made his trademark triple substitution with the introduction of Dean George, Andy Paraschiv and Stefan Ugesia and replacing key players Aaron Doran and James Bailey in the process, UCD capitalised on the panic changes to quickly score a killer second goal in the 76th minute.

A cross from the influential playmaker Michael McCullagh connected with Hugh Smith who directed a firm header into the net and Longford were rattled with no hope of salvaging the situation as their challenge ran out of steam.

LONGFORD TOWN: Kian Moore; Sultan Adenekan, Cole Omorehiomwan, Taylor McCarthy, Jake Hough; Sean Moore, Alex O’Brien; Pharrell Manuel, Aaron Doran, James Bailey; Daragh Murtagh.

Subs:- Stefan Ugbesia, Dean George and Andy Paraschiv for Bailey, Doran and Manuel (75 mins); Daniel McKenna and Matthew Harris for O’Brien and S Moore (87 mins).

UCD: Dara Kavanagh; Luca Cailloce, Carl Lennox, Harry Curtis, Sean Murphy; Michael McCullagh, Jayden Goad, Louis Dignam; Ciaran Behan; Hugh Smith, Charles Akinrintayo.

Subs:- Sam Norval for Akinrintayo (71 mins); Stephen Mohan and Thomas Morley for McCullagh and Goad (82 mins); Eoin Sheeran for Murphy (87 mins).

Referee: Declan Toland.