No joy for Longford Town as promotion bid is ended by UCD

UCD . . . 2 Longford Town . . . 0

UCD win 4-0 on aggregate

By Eanna Mackey

It was a long night for Wayne Groves and his Longford Town FC charges as UCD eased to a 2-0 victory at the Belfield Bowl on Tuesday, securing a 4-0 aggregate win to bring the midlanders’ promotion play-off campaign to an end.

It was a disappointing conclusion to what has otherwise been a very encouraging year for Longford, who finished fifth in the SSE Airtricity League First Division and reached the last 16 of the Club Orange FAI Cup.

However, the Students were full value for their victory over the two legs. Goals from Hugh Louis Dignam and Hugh Smith in Bishopsgate on Saturday evening had given UCD a commanding position ahead of the second leg.

Further strikes either side of half-time from Mikey McCullagh and Smith extinguished any hopes of a dramatic Longford comeback and UCD will now face Bray Wanderers in Sunday’s First Division promotion play-off final.

Longford made a quick start, registering their first effort on goal in the eighth minute. Aaron Doran slipped Daragh Murtagh through following a rapid breakaway, but the striker’s first-time effort took a deflection and narrowly missed the target, skimming into the side netting.

Four minutes later, Murtagh threatened again, flashing an effort from the edge of the box narrowly over the crossbar as the visitors looked to make an early impression.

However, in the 20th minute, Longford’s hopes of an immediate fightback were effectively ended when Mikey McCullagh gave the Students a 3-0 aggregate advantage.

A lofted ball from Sean Murphy found McCullagh in space on the edge of the Longford box, and the UCD dangerman unleashed a rasping first-time effort with his left foot, leaving Town keeper Kian Moore helpless.

The Students subsequently settled into a low block, sitting back to protect their advantage as Groves’ side struggled to create the opportunities needed to get back into the tie.

Instead, it was the hosts who came close to adding to their tally just before the break. Hugh Smith and McCullagh combined well, allowing the goalscorer to force an excellent save from Moore and leave the midlanders facing an uphill battle in the second half.

Smith almost put the contest beyond doubt immediately after the restart. Played through behind the Longford defence by Harry Curtis, the powerful striker rattled his effort off the crossbar as the visitors narrowly escaped further punishment.

Moments later, McCullagh’s curling effort flashed agonisingly wide of the upright as the Students continued to dominate.

At the other end, a superb solo run from Pharrell Manuel created an opportunity for the Longford winger to drill a shot through a sea of bodies, but UCD keeper Dara Kavanagh was well positioned to deal with the effort.

In the 56th minute, however, UCD finally put the tie beyond doubt. With Longford committing bodies forward, Smith gathered possession and launched a rapid counter-attack before calmly slotting his shot into the bottom-right corner to put the Students out of sight.

Longford went close to grabbing a consolation goal on the stroke of full-time. A long ball from Jamie Egan was brought under control by Alex O’Brien but he was unable to test Kavanagh with his subsequent effort.

At the other end, Moore produced another fine save to prevent Sam Norval’s rasping strike from finding the top corner. It proved to be little more than a footnote, however, as UCD comfortably saw out the contest with a second win over Longford in the space of four days as the midlanders season came to a conclusion.

UCD: Dara Kavanagh; Sean Murphy (Adam Wells 73), Luca Cailloce, Carl Lennox, Ciaran Behan (Charles Akinrintayo 73); Mikey McCullagh (Matthew Alonge 78), Louis Dignam, Jayden Goad (Thomas Morley 68), Harry Curtis, Sam Norval; Hugh Smith (Stephen Mohan 68).

LONGFORD TOWN: Kian Moore; Sultan Adenekan, Cole Omorehiomwan (Daniel McKenna 78), Taylor McCarthy, Jake Hough; Sean Moore (Scott Brady 67), Alex O’Brien, Andy Paraschiv (Dean George 67), Aaron Doran, Pharrell Manuel (Jamie Egan 67); Daragh Murtagh.

Referee: Oliver Moran.