Kildare County 2 - 3 Longford Town

A 92nd minute winner from late substitute Gary Curran gave Longford Town a win over a luckless Kildare County in Station Road, Newbridge last night. Kildare had been dealt a blow earlier on in the day when they received word that four of the players that were due to play had been told they were not properly registered, but they still had enough of the play, particularly in the second half, to get something out of the game.

The Thoroughbreds started the brighter of the two sides and really should have taken the lead after two minutes, but Davy Byrne headed over the bar from debutant Christy Doran’s cross. This was a massive relief to Longford, and they responded extremely positively with towering centre-half Brian McCarthy testing goalkeeper Kevin McDonnell with a close-in header of his own. They were putting immense pressure on Kildare at this point, and they were to take the lead after just seven minutes when striker Liam Lynch buried to the net after McCarthy had miscued an overhead kick from Darragh Concannon’s initial cross. This was the exact opposite to what County would have been hoping from the first 15 minutes of this bottom-of-the-table clash and, much like in their previous game against Athlone Town, they were left chasing the game at a very early stage. However, the introduction of Doran to the starting eleven, as well as fellow debutants Darren O’Brien and returning centre-forward Philip Hughes, was making a difference to Joey Somerville’s side and it was Doran who provided the spark for the equaliser after 26 minutes.

Doran had already shown after 20 minutes that he was a potential threat from set-pieces. That effort went just over, but his shot six minutes later was spilled by Longford goalkeeper Anthony Fennelly, who bravely saved the first rebound by Dean Lawrence before Dave O’Riordan made no mistake on the second attempt by slotting into an empty net from a couple of yards out. In truth Fennelly should have saved it, but Kildare deserved a bit of luck after some of the misfortune they’ve had both on and off the pitch this season.

Unfortunately for County, though, this respite didn’t last very long and Longford, who have Philip Coffey operating as caretaker manager at the moment, were back in front after 34 minutes. The impressive Jason McCartney received the ball on the left wing 35 yards out and looked to have over-hit his cross, only to see the ball dip over the head of County ‘keeper Kevin McDonnell and into the top corner.

This was a terrible way for County to go behind after all the work they had done in getting back to parity with Longford, but McDonnell really should have dealt better with the ball coming in. This left Kildare having to start from scratch again, but they should have been level going in at the break when Philip Hughes was put clean through by partner O’Riordan only to see his near-post effort hit the post, which left Kildare trailing 2-1 at the break.

Despite this, the game was still there for County as it was a very open match with both sides creating their fair share of chances. Kildare continued this trend into the second half, and they had two opportunities in the opening minute, as Hughes just failed to connect with an excellent Baba Isaaka cross, with the subsequent corner just being missed by Isaaka and Dean Lawrence. They continued to put pressure on the Longford goal after this as well, and Murray should have made Fennelly work after 57 minutes when he miss-kicked from a corner that was expertly delivered by Doran.

Just when it looked like they were going to break the Longford resistance, disaster struck when former Shelbourne star Davy Byrne was given a straight red-card for dissent after giving away a free for a foul on the ever-dangerous McCartney. This should have meant curtains for The Thoroughbreds, but instead it spurred the home side on, and the introduction of Gavin Purcell saw County switch to a 3-4-2, with Isaaka anchoring the midfield. This was a daring move by County, but they had to go hell for leather at this stage, as defeat would see an eight-point gap building up between themselves and their Midland counterparts.

The switch paid dividends immediately with a long-ball from Isaaka finding its way to O’Riordan who cheekily chipped over Fennelly’s head from a few yards out with his back to goal. Fennelly had ventured off his line in the hope that he would receive the ball, but he didn’t make it and was always in trouble after that.

This gave Kildare great hope going into the final quarter, and it looked like ending up as a draw until substitute Curran connected with Tom King’s cross two minutes into injury time to give Longford Town the precious three points.

Kildare County: Kevin McDonnell; Colin Murray, Dean Lawrence, Colin Osbourne, Baba Isaaka; Davy Byrne, Darren O’Brien (Gavin Kinsella ‘63), Cathal Brady, Christy Doran; Philip Hughes, Dave O’Riordan.
Subs not used: Alan Lynch, Paul Rigney, Stephen Dunne, Orrin Farrell.

Longford Town: Anthony Fennelly; Tom King, Stephen Gough, Brian McCarthy, Michael Lee; Carmine Russo, Colm Jinks, Darragh Concannon (Gary Curran ‘69), Jason McCartney; Derek Glynn (Adrian Murphy ‘86), Liam Lynch.
Subs not used: Ray Kenny, Brian Murtagh, Jim Sheridan.

extratime.ie Man of The Match: Christy Doran (Kildare County) - Though he ended up on the losing side, the former Kilkenny man was a threat all through, and was central to all of Kildare’s best moves.

Referee: Sean Grant (Wexford).

Attendance: 150 approx.