Longford Town -v– Athlone Town
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The first midlands derby of the season takes place at Flancare Park on Saturday night when Athlone Town travel take on Longford Town (kick-off 7.30pm).
Manager's view Both sides go into the game on the back of losses. Longford have won just once this season and last time out ended up on the wrong side of a 1-0 scoreline against Waterford United. Alan Gough, though, remains upbeat. He said: “While we were poor in the first half I thought we improved greatly after the break. It's never good to concede a goal at any time, but particularly early on. Waterford started much better than us and deservedly went ahead. At that point our performance was still where it was for the Wexford Youths game so we deserved to be behind at half time even though Derek Glynn hit the post.”
Gough is used to derby games, and knows what it means to the fans. “I've played in a lot of big derbies over the years – Shels against Bohs, Glentoran against Linfield – so I'm really looking forward to this one. I know what it means to the supporters,” he said.
Athlone go to Longford in search of their first win in three. Having started the season with six points from six, Brendan Place’s lads have only gained one more point from the last nine. Something which has left him disappointed, “The last two results against Waterford United and Wexford Youths were disappointing as we should have got something from both games but there is no better match than Athlone versus Longford to get back to winning ways. Even though it is just worth three points on the table having played for both teams I fully understand the importance of this fixture to the club, supporters and players alike,” he said.
Double dosage Both sides will meet again in the EA Sports Cup on Tuesday night at Lissywoollen, while Athlone will also travel to Ballybofey next week.
Team news Place has a full squad to choose from for the trip and will need Emeka Unwubiko and Noel McGee both to be on top of their game; both players have scored all of Athlone’s goals this season.
Jim Sheridan, Jason McCartney, Adrian Murphy, Colm Jinks and Brian McCarthy should all feature for Longford against their former club, while John McGuinness and Damien Rushe are former Longford player’s lining out for Athlone.
Alan Gough looks unlikely to be putting on the goalkeeping gloves again this weekend as former Bohs’ man, Chris Konopka looks set to line out for the derby tie. “We're well down the road with Chris,” Gough revealed. “He's going to be living in Longford and training with us three times a week. Bohemians have been good enough to allow him train with them for the last week when he wasn't working with our goalkeeping coach and we hope to have the paperwork sorted by the weekend.”
Extratime.ie prediction: Derby games are usually tense and scrappy affairs due to the added pressure, however, with both side looking to get a much needed win under their belts, this game should be entertaining from the off. 3-1 to the home team.
Manager's view Both sides go into the game on the back of losses. Longford have won just once this season and last time out ended up on the wrong side of a 1-0 scoreline against Waterford United. Alan Gough, though, remains upbeat. He said: “While we were poor in the first half I thought we improved greatly after the break. It's never good to concede a goal at any time, but particularly early on. Waterford started much better than us and deservedly went ahead. At that point our performance was still where it was for the Wexford Youths game so we deserved to be behind at half time even though Derek Glynn hit the post.”
Gough is used to derby games, and knows what it means to the fans. “I've played in a lot of big derbies over the years – Shels against Bohs, Glentoran against Linfield – so I'm really looking forward to this one. I know what it means to the supporters,” he said.
Athlone go to Longford in search of their first win in three. Having started the season with six points from six, Brendan Place’s lads have only gained one more point from the last nine. Something which has left him disappointed, “The last two results against Waterford United and Wexford Youths were disappointing as we should have got something from both games but there is no better match than Athlone versus Longford to get back to winning ways. Even though it is just worth three points on the table having played for both teams I fully understand the importance of this fixture to the club, supporters and players alike,” he said.
Double dosage Both sides will meet again in the EA Sports Cup on Tuesday night at Lissywoollen, while Athlone will also travel to Ballybofey next week.
Team news Place has a full squad to choose from for the trip and will need Emeka Unwubiko and Noel McGee both to be on top of their game; both players have scored all of Athlone’s goals this season.
Jim Sheridan, Jason McCartney, Adrian Murphy, Colm Jinks and Brian McCarthy should all feature for Longford against their former club, while John McGuinness and Damien Rushe are former Longford player’s lining out for Athlone.
Alan Gough looks unlikely to be putting on the goalkeeping gloves again this weekend as former Bohs’ man, Chris Konopka looks set to line out for the derby tie. “We're well down the road with Chris,” Gough revealed. “He's going to be living in Longford and training with us three times a week. Bohemians have been good enough to allow him train with them for the last week when he wasn't working with our goalkeeping coach and we hope to have the paperwork sorted by the weekend.”
Extratime.ie prediction: Derby games are usually tense and scrappy affairs due to the added pressure, however, with both side looking to get a much needed win under their belts, this game should be entertaining from the off. 3-1 to the home team.
About Alan Smith
Alan Smith works as a sub-editor for the Guardian newspaper in London. Originally from Cork, he freelances for several other newspapers and websites. Follow him on twitter @alansmith90. View Full Profile