Limerick FC 1 - 4 Longford Town

• Deniese O'Flaherty
• Sat, Aug 22 2009


Liam Lynch was the hat-trick hero as Longford Town recorded their third away win in four outings with a facile 4-1 victory over Limerick at Jackman Park on Friday night. Lynch, who was the club's cup king last week, ended a three-game losing streak in the league for the midlanders with a wonderful second-half performance as he added to Adrian Murphy's opener to inflict a second straight 4-1 home defeat on the Shannonsiders.

Just seven days earlier, Lynch scored the all-important goal as Longford booked their place in the quarter-finals of the cup at the expense of Premier Division outfit Galway United. And this time around, the tireless striker's contribution was even greater as he claimed the match ball with a well deserved and clinical hat-trick. The win came despite Limerick's early dominance as Gareth Cronin's troops took control after breaking the deadlock nine minutes before the break.

That opening goal came through Murphy, who connected with Tom King’s low shot to shoot home from close range. Early in the second half, Lynch extended Longford's lead when he superbly lobbed the ball over Limerick 'keeper Dave Ryan, and Lynch doubled his own tally on 76 minutes when he headed home a corner, and six minutes later he completed his hat-trick with another header. The only thing that soured a great night for the visitors was a nasty tackle on Carmine Russo in the 86th minute that went unpunished by the referee. Cronin was sent to the stands for remonstrating with the officials, although it wasn't the last action of the game as Conor Molan got a late consolation for Limerick.

The game started with Limerick holding all of the possession, and they carved out a number of early chances as they looked to build on their last outing, a 2-1 win at Finn Harps, and secure their first back-to-back wins since last October. Indeed, they could have been ahead inside the opening sixty seconds when Stephen O’Flynn got on the end of a free-kick and fired goal-wards only for his effort to crash back of the crossbar. On 11 minutes, Dave Ryan also had an opening but he somehow missed the target. Ryan again had an effort before the midway point of the half but again he was wayward with his finishing.

Longford failed to make any inroads in attack in the opening half-hour, with Tom King's 27th-minute drive from the right their only sight of goal. At the other end, the hosts were continuing their search for the lead goal and visiting defender Kevin Cronin had to be alert to deny Robbie Kelleher when the striker almost broke through on goal. However, for all their possession, Limerick were not testing 'keeper Danny O'Leary, and Longford hit the front against the run of play on 36 minutes. Pat Purcell’s clearance from Cronin’s long throw-in fell to King who drilled a shot into the box where Murphy was on hand to shoot home from close range.

That left the midlanders ahead at the interval, and five minutes after the restart, they doubled their advantage when Lynch executed brilliantly, deftly lobbing Ryan. In stark contrast to the first half, Limerick were unable to hold on to the ball or create anything in attack, with O'Leary rarely troubled, and Longford made the game safe in the final quarter-of-an-hour. Firstly, Lynch grabbed his second of the evening when Ryan spilled a rasping shot from King, the ball falling kindly to the midfielder who made no mistake. Lynch then completed his hat-trick on 82 minutes with a fine header. There was still time for another goal before the end, and this time it went to the hosts, but Molan's strike will be little consolation to Pat Scully.

Limerick: Dave Ryan, Fian Storan, Martin Deady, Conor Molan, Pat Purcell (Michael Sheehan HT), Jason Hughes, Dave Ryan (Dave McGrath 65), Daryl Kavanagh, Stephen O’Flynn, Robbie Kelleher (Thomas Lyons 51), Shane Treacy.
Booked: D Kavanagh.
Unused Subs: Tommy Barrett, Brian Conroy.

Longford Town: Danny O’Leary, Carmine Russo (Mick Foley 87), Neal McKenna (Colm Jinks 82), Jason McCartney, Kevin Cronin, Jordan McMillan, Stephen Gough, Adrian Murphy (Darren McKenna 73), Gary Curran, Liam Lynch, Tom King.
Booked: T King.
Unused Subs: Derek Glynn, Aaron Shanahan

Referee: John McLoughlin (Westmeath).

Attendance: 322.

Man of the Match: Liam Lynch (Longford Town): Several contenders for the award. Tom King and Jordan McMillan were excellent but the Ballinasloe man worked tirelessly throughout and his hat-trick was well deserved.