[ad_1]
Longford Town have advanced to an SSE Airtricity League promotion / relegation play-off final after a well deserved win over Galway United in cold Belfield.
Karl Chambers took advantage of a careless Galway mistake just before half-time and standout Aodh Dervin nearly secured the win with a fine second-half goal, though Killian Brouder gave Galway hope with a late header.
Longford was smart on the street here and will be full of confidence with whoever he plays in the play-off final, with Finn Harps boss Ollie Horgan in the crowd, but hoping it’s someone else who. face the midlanders.
Daire Doyle, who replaced Neale Fenn late last season, has done a good job at Town and they are one game away from the promised land.
Galway was poor in the first half but still looked like they would get away with it.
Michael Schlingermann was forced to stop in the eighth minute when the always dangerous Rob Manley struck on goal.
At 15 minutes, a magnificent play by Dylan Grimes earned a goal. Picking up the ball from about 30 yards, he got closer to goal before engineering a world-class shot that deflected from Schlingermann, but somehow came off the crossbar and post angle, a real relief for United.
The impressive Dervin, long a firm favorite among Longford fans, landed a good shot just as Town pressed, but United would at least start canceling them thereafter.
In fact, they designed their first shot shortly after, a Mikey Place header that went nowhere. Little happened until the opening goal and it was a serendipitous one, but Longford still deserved it.
Aaron McNally’s center took a crucial deflection that left Schlingermann in trouble and was only able to stop when Chambers was hooked on the back post.
Between the break and 10 minutes into the second half, John Caulfield had replaced three of his offensive players with Conor Barry, Wilson Waweru and Carlton Ubaezuonu entering.
Rob Manley ran straight into the United defense 11 minutes after the break and deftly passed the ball to McNally, who skied on the edge of the area.
Longford, who lost 6-2 to Galway the last time they met after going up 2-0, was much smarter defensively here and tribe members struggled to create something remarkable, though an evil center from Ubaezuonu caused some heartbreak in the middle of the middle. .
Sam Warde, one of Galway’s best players, stepped in when United upped the ante.
Dervin dictated much of the game and, one of the few hosts who has played regularly for Longford Town, scored a brilliant second with nine minutes to go.
Galway has gotten used to late goals and a clearance by Shane Duggan in the box resulted in center-back Brouder giving them hope with two minutes to go, the ball deflected from his head and in.
However, it would not be enough and it is Longford who advances.
City of Longford: Steacy, McDonnell, Gorman, Manley; Elworthy, Zambra, Dervin, McNally (Barnes 86); Chambers (O’Brien 73), Manley, Grimes (Hand 86).
Galway United: Schlingermann; Lynch, Brouder, Nugent, Ludden; Warde (Faherty 85), Molloy (Barry 46), Duggan; Place (Ubaezuonu 54), Curran (Waweru 46), Doherty (Lomboto 79).
Referee: Mark Moynihan.
[ad_2]