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Longford Town has been promoted to the Premier Division after a four-year absence when they defeated Shelbourne in a playoff at Richmond Park.
Rob Manley’s goal early in the second half resolved a difficult game in which the Reds played the majority with ten men following the ejection of captain Luke Byrne.
Longford’s leading scorer finished from close range to resolve a moody game they had controlled while struggling to create clear opportunities.
The injured Shelbourne will regret a passive performance during the first hour that it gave up momentum to the First Division side and only began to threaten as full time approached.
The tone was set early on when Aodh Dervin received a yellow card on the second card when he caught Shelbourne’s Shane Farrell with a reckless elbow.
Referee Neil Doyle was surrounded by a crowd of angry Shels demanding more severe action, but he stood his ground, although it would not be his final contentious decision.
Luke Byrne was booked for a reckless tackle on Karl Chambers midway through the half and within three minutes he was shown a second to drop Manley as he prepared to shoot.
It was the first quality moment of any team when Chambers made a beautiful diagonal pass to free Manley, and the forward fell as his legs tangled with Byrne’s.
Manley stepped forward to pitch himself, but fired over the bar, while the unfortunate Farrell gave way to a replacement defender, Dan Byrne.
Shels, who had prepared to hold back, sat deeper and deeper with ten men, and Longford found it difficult to find space between two rows of four.
That changed in the second half as Longford came out stronger in his stride and began poking holes in Shelbourne’s rear.
They found advancement seven minutes into the half when a sustained period of pressure ended with former Red Dylan Grimes finding Manley to force the ball past Jack Brady.
Ian Morris featured Ryan Brennan, Aaron Dobbs, Jaze Kabia, and Brian McManus and they made an immediate impact by getting Shels onto the field, but they struggled to create.
Kabia had two chances in the final ten minutes, one hooked over the ball from the ground and another cleared off the line by a host of Longford defenders.
And Brennan forced Lee Steacy to make his first significant save from close angle, but no one anticipated the follow-up.
The opportunity was gone, and with it, Shels’ top-tier status.
Shelbourne: Jack Brady; Aidan Friel, Oscar Brennan, Luke Byrne, Alex O’Hanlon; Sean Quinn, Shane Farrell (Dan Byrne 28), Mark Byrne (Ryan Brennan 58); Karl Sheppard (Aaron Dobbs 58), Dayle Rooney (Brian McManus 58), Ciaran Kilduff (Jaze Kabia 73).
City of Longford: Lee Steacy; Joe Gorman, Joe Manley, Michael McDonnell; Shane Elworthy, Dean Zambra, Aodh Dervin, Aaron McNally; Karl Chambers (Dean Byrne 69), Dylan Grimes, Rob Manley (Callum Warfield 88).
Referee: Neil Doyle.
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