Longford Town 2 - 1 Waterford United

• Simon O'Gorman
• Sun, May 02 2010


Longford Town staged a thrilling comeback at Flancare Park on Saturday night when a John Lester penalty handed Waterford United only their second defeat of the season.

Longford would have anticipated a difficult evening when the First Division leaders came to town and sure enough, a defence that was strongly criticised by manager Tony Cousins following last weekend’s defeat to Athlone Town, endured a nervy opening few minutes.

But for the majority of a scoreless first half it was Longford who looked the more dangerous. Ryan McEvoy and Cathal Brady showed invention on the wings and with a solid midfield axis of Craig Mooney and Mark Salmon they put the Blues defence under some pressure.

After 12 minutes a McEvoy corner found Philip Byrne at the back post and his firm header seemed destined for the net until the diving, peroxide head of Liam Kearney came to the rescue.

Longford were looking confident and with Byrne and John Lester defending with authority they maintained the pressure, forcing a series of corners and worrying Waterford ‘keeper Chris Konopka with a number of high balls.

Waterford’s somewhat makeshift defence suffered a big blow when John Hayes went over on his ankle after 18 minutes. The defender struggled on but ten minutes before the break he was replaced by James O’Sullivan.

This signalled a period of Waterford dominance but the only tangible result was a 20 yard free kick from George O’Callaghan that Conlon tipped superbly onto the crossbar and over.

Stephen Henderson can’t have been pleased with his side at half time and only two minutes after the restart Waterford took the lead. Liam Kearney sent in deep cross from the left and, while the Longford defence froze; George O’Callaghan guided his header past Conlon and into the net.

Longford, to their credit, responded with determination. Peter Hynes picked up a ball in the centre and fired a missile of a shot towards the top left corner of Konopka’s net. But the Waterford ‘keeper dived full length to tip over spectacularly.

For a while Longford looked lost. Ambitious balls forward became merely hopeful, but they continued to battle hard. On 57 minutes Longford’s Craig Mooney stepped over the line, scything down Dunphy and receiving his second yellow card of the evening.

If anything, Mooney’s dismissal rejuvenated the home side. Fiachra McArdle came on for Cathal Brady and moments later they were gifted a crucial breakthrough.

Peter Hynes won possession and slid a through ball towards David Freeman. It could and should have been cleared by John Kearney but he, inexplicably, miscued the ball and Freeman was through on goal. He made no mistake, burying his shot under the dive of the despairing ‘keeper.

Worse was to follow for the Blues. Chris Konopka tried to find Liam Kearney with a throw out but instead delivered the ball to substitute McArdle. As he drove into the box, John Kearney bundled him over and referee Keith Callanan pointed to the spot. John Lester put away the penalty and Longford had the lead.

Just three minutes later Waterford should have been back on level terms. O’Callaghan, now pulling all the strings in the visitor’s midfield, played a through ball for Grincell whose shot ploughed through a thicket of Longford shirts and landed at the back post in front of Timmy Purcell. Unbelievably, with the goal at his mercy, he blasted his shot high over the bar.

Byrne and Lester were heroic at the heart of the Town’s defence as Waterford piled forwards in search of an equaliser. O’Callaghan and Carey had found their range and crosses started to rain on the Longford box. Byrne denied Sullivan with a saving tackle and then, from a Carey cross, Sullivan beat Conlon with a perfectly weighted header. But the linesman’s flag went up and the goal was disallowed.

Gary Dunphy hit a rising shot from distance that cleared the bar and Sullivan again got on the end of a Carey cross but desperation was mounting and chances were snatched at rather than dispatched.

Added time arrived and O’Callaghan generated one final chance, poking a shot through a crowd of defenders which bumped against the post and wide.

The home crowd of no more than 100 people rose to their feet as the final whistle blew. It was three invaluable points for Longford and a long trip home for the Blues.

Longford Town: Conlon; O’Rielly, K Cronin, Mooney, Byrne; Lester, Brady (McArdle, 59), Salmon, McEvoy; Hynes (Glynn, 73), Freeman.
Subs not used: Ekanem, Shanahan

Yellow Cards: Mooney (30), Byrne (44)

Red Cards: Mooney (57)

Waterford United: Konopko; A Carey, Hayes (J O’Sullivan, 36), J Kearney, Dunphy; Purcell (Kiely, 73), O’Callaghan, McCarthey, L Kearney; Grincell, V Sullivan.
Subs not used: P Carey, Keane, Burns

Extratime Man of the Match: Philip Byrne (Longford Town)

Referee: K Callanan

Attendance: 100 (estimate).