Preview: Waterford United vs Longford Town

• Simon Carter
• Thu, Jul 24 2008




Waterford United welcome Longford Town to the RSC on Friday night hoping to get back to winning ways having drawn the last three games in the league (kick-off 19:45). Longford Town have lost four games in a row in the league since their 2-0 win over Shelbourne.

The Blues are unbeaten in six now in the league, though they have have drawn their last three matches. Both Shelbourne and Dundalk have also slipped up over the last few games though, keeping Waterford very much in contention, but also allowing Sporting Fingal to close to within a point in fourth place.

With three home games coming up in the next four now, Gareth Cronin will be looking to quickly get back into the winning habit, starting with the Midlanders, to try to move clear of the in-form Fingal and keep pressure on the leading sides. The recent wage troubles have been dealt with, each player demonstrating yet again their commitment to the cause and with preparations back to normal and a fantastic atmosphere in the squad the Blues will be more than confident of justifying their short odds with the bookies.

Cronin may have been disappointed with the result at Ferrycarrig last Friday, but not with the performance, feeling that his side played extremely well and were unlucky not to take all three points.

"I thought our own performance was excellent. We really played some delightful football without getting any luck near goal. Karl Bermingham looked back to his best and his pace gave the Wexford defence an uneasy night. Now we need him to find the net on a regular basis"

Losing centre back Kenny Browne to a late red card was a blow, but David Breen is set to return in his place after missing that game through illness.

Matches between Waterford and Longford have historically been tight, with rarely more than a goal in them, if anything, but Vinny Sullivan has found his scoring touch again after a bit of a dry spell, and Karl Bermingham looks back to form also, giving the side plenty up front to trouble the Town defence.

The game kicks off at 19:45.