Galway United 0 - 1 Longford Town

• Alan Dooley
• Fri, Aug 14 2009


Longford Town's Liam Lynch stunned the majority of those present at Terryland Park with the winning goal of a drab FAI fourth round tie tonight. Seven minutes remained when Lynch capitalised on some sloppy defending to coolly beat Barry Ryan from close range after his side had played for an hour with ten men.

Second favourites once Neil McKenna had been sent off, Longford defended valiantly but Galway have only themselves to blame for not turning mountains of possession into tangible reward. Without strikers who can put in the ball in the net you will not win many football games and this is the most worrying problem Galway have at present. Dave Cooke's last minute sending off only added to the sense of despair that three minutes of injury time and some heart-stopping misses couldn't change.

A damp night in the West and neither side made the blistering start to enliven the crowd who had braved the elements to enjoy/suffer this tie. Longford set out their stall in search of a replay from the first minute, employing Liam Lynch as a lone striker with Tom King and Adrian Murphy on either flank. Former Galway United striker Derek Glynn had to make do with a place on a rain-soaked bench. Derek O'Brien returned to the starting line-up for Galway and saw a lot of the ball in the first half but, repeatedly, his end product left a lot to be desired.

It took 20 minutes for a chance of note to present itself, when Vinny Faherty's shot was blocked but ricocheted into the path of John Russell, another to return to the United midfield, but he rocketed a volley over from close range under pressure. Russell provided some much needed spark in the centre for Galway, but there was little craft visible among those alongside him.

Longford's best attack in the opening quarter saw Gary Curran head Tom King's cross wide, although Murphy was perhaps better placed behind him to make more of the chance. With Galway beginning to come to life, Longford's Neil McKenna got a rush of blood to the head and flew in on Russell on the left touchline, eliciting an immediate response from the nearby bench. Richie Winter dashed over and quickly flashed a red card in the midfielder's face, enraging Ray Kenny amongst others.

Now facing a 4-4-1 formation, Galway began to take advantage of the extra spaces but failed to trouble Danny O'Leary in the Longford goal, thanks to some hearty defending by Brian McCarthy and Kevin Cronin and the abject failure of the Galway wingers and full backs to get decent balls into the box. The closest Ian Foster's side came to opening the scoring was when O'Brien's cross-shot flashed across goal but Faherty was a yard away from providing the close-range finish.

A telling off from Foster and a brisk start to the second half was envisaged, but never materialised, and it was Longford who could well have taken a shock lead when Shane Guthrie's back pass left Barry Ryan in trouble. Ryan scampered out to cut off Liam Lynch but the striker got there just before the 'keeper and was unlucky to see his effort drop short and Garry Breen cleared.

Guthrie redeemed himself somewhat with a through ball for Russell on 57 minutes, who shot straight at O'Leary. O'Brien's final ball improved on 61 but again Faherty was unable to reach the cross. A double substitution followed as Dave Cooke and Jason Moloy came on; Sean Kelly and Alan Murphy both disappointed to be taken off.

By this stage Gareth Cronin's side were just content to clear their lines and re-set for the next wave of attack. A canny ploy given Galway's struggles in front of goal. Russell, who else, brought the first meaningful save from O'Leary on 68, with Breen heading the resulting corner wide.

Adrian Murphy then almost sensationally gave the Midlanders the lead with a stunning shot from distance that had Barry Ryan beaten but dropped onto the top of the net to the home fans' relief. A flurry of shots followed from Cooke, O'Brien, Faherty, and Russell, but they were rendered irrelevant by Lynch's cool finish which thrust the First Division side into the quarter finals.

Galway United: Barry Ryan; Seamus Conneely, Shane Guthrie, Garry Breen, Mark O'Toole (Shane Fitzgerald, 76); Derek O'Brien, John Russell, Sean Kelly (Dave Cooke, 61), Iarfhlaith Davoren; Alan Murphy (Jason Molloy, 61), Vinny Faherty.
Subs not Used: Ger Hanley, Paul Sinnott, Cian McBrien.

Longford Town: Danny O'Leary; Ray Kenny, Kevin Cronin, Brian McCarthy, Tom King; Neil McKenna, Gary Curran (Carmine Russo, 68), Stephen Gough, Jason McCartney; Adrian Murphy, Liam Lynch (Derek Glynn, 90).
Subs not used: Colm Jinks, Niall Stack, Philip Coffey, Kevin Boland, Davy McDonald.


extratime.ie Man of the Match: Liam Lynch.

Attendance: 509.

Referee: Richie Winter.