Longford Town 1 Dundalk 0

Deniese O’Flaherty reports from from Bishopsgate

IT WAS A long time coming.

26 league games to be precise as Longford Town picked up their second win of the season and it was well earned. They were under pressure for most of the second half as they held on to a 1-0 lead, the goal scored by Aaron O’Driscoll just before the break.

Town ended the game with nine men (Aaron Robinson on second yellow with Rob Manley walking on a straight red) while Jeongwoo Han was sent off for Dundalk in stoppage time.

Town keeper Lee Steacy deserves plaudits for this result as his save from Sam Stanton in the fourth minute of stoppage time came in goal intact. Centre-halves Joe Manley and Aaron O’Driscoll were also immense.

Dundalk bossed the early stages and created two good scoring chances. Patrick Hoban headed over a Will Patching free in the fourth minute and then one minute later Sam Stanton missed a chance at the far post when it was easier to score.

After weathering the early storm the home side came into the game. Darragh Nugent had their first chance on goal in the 18th minute but his low drive went wide. He was called into action down the other end in the 31st minute when he blocked Greg Sloggett’s effort.

Andy Boyle did well to charge down Aaron Robinson’s shot in the 33rd minute. It was all go and in the 40th minute Hoban was denied by an excellent stop from Town keeper Lee Steacy. Sloggett got to the endline and played the ball across to Hoban, he controlled the ball well before taking a shot but was thwarted by a point blank save from Steacy.

That save proved crucial because five minutes later the home side took the lead. A free from the left by Dylan Grimes was headed home by Aaron O’Driscoll.

Just like the first half Dundalk bossed the early exchanges in the second. Daniel Cleary should’ve done better with his header in the 49th minute. In the 58th minute Town were reduced to 10 players when Aaron Robinson was sent off for a second yellow. From the resulting Will Patching free Hoban flicked the ball into the path of Andy Boyle and he hit the post.

Dundalk had half chances but Town stood firm and were resilient. Town substitute Aaron Dobbs had a chance just after he was introduced in the 78th minute but he blasted the ball over the bar.

Town were down to nine men in the 83rd minute when Rob Manley was harshly shown a straight red for a trip on Jeongwoo Han. Minutes later Han was sent off for a tackle on Joe Manley when a yellow would have sufficed.

Steacy pulled off an incredible save in stoppage time tipping over Stanton’s effort as Town held on for a memorable win.

Longford Town: Lee Steacy; Shane Elworthy, Joe Manley, Aaron O’Driscoll, Dean Zambra (Aodh Dervin, ‘63); Aaron Robinson, Darragh Nugent; Rob Manley, Dylan Grimes (Aaron Dobbs, ‘77), Dean Byrne (Aaron McNally, ‘57); Dean Williams (Callum Warfield, ‘77).

Dundalk: Cameron Yates; Daniel Cleary, Andy Boyle, Sonni Nattestad (Mark Hanratty, ‘ht), Cameron Dummigan (Michael Duffy, 63); Sam Stanton, Gregg Sloggett (Jeongwoo Han, ‘83), Will Patching; Sami Ben-Amar (Ryan O’Kane, ‘69); Patrick Hoban.

Referee: Derek Tomney (Dublin)

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