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Athlone Town -v- Longford Town
- Deniese O'Flaherty
- Sat, Jun 18 2011
Athlone Town will be hoping it’s third time lucky when they welcome local rivals Longford Town to Lisseywollen on Saturday evening for the Irish El Clasico (kick-off 7.30pm)
The sides have met twice already this season; in the EA Sports Cup and the league with Longford Town emerging victorious on both occasions.
That league meeting back in early April marked former Northern Ireland international Keith Gillespie’s debut for Longford Town. Athlone Town made a few signings during the week but there certainly won’t be the same furore or media interest in those new recruits.
Some of the players that manager Mike Kerley has signed are famiiar to Athlone Town supporters; Wayne Colbert, Jason Hughes and Peter Sherlock all return to the club along with Conor Kavanagh and Dave Ryan. Athlone hope to have their registrations complete in time for the Longford game.
Instead of adding to his squad Longford Town manager Tony Cousins keeps losing players each week to injury and he must wonder when his injury problems will improve. Striker Don Cowan is definitely out of the midlands derby after suffering a recurrence of a groin injury in last week’s home defeat to Limerick while Cathal Brady also misses out with the hamstring problem that has plagued him in the last few weeks.
Some good news for Longford Town fans is that striker Austin Skelly returned to training on Thursday night after missing the Limerick game with a groin injury and is fit to face his former club. Jack Morley and Graham Dowling have returned to training and should be in the squad for the trip to Athlone.
Longford Town have been struggling to replicate their early season form and have lost their last two league games. They’ll be hoping to get back to winning ways against their rivals. Their manager knows how important the game is. “It’s a big game. We’ll definitely be up for it. It’s a derby and form goes out the window for both clubs. It’s three points that we are looking at and hopefully we’ll get them.”
Athlone Town
Injured: Brendan Daly, Gary Higgins.
Doubtful: None
Suspended: Paul Danaher, Kevin Williamson.
Longford Town
Injured: Don Cowan, Cathal Brady, Michael Lee.
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Referee: John Grimes.
Paddy Power Odds: Home 3/1 Draw 12/5 Away 3/4.
Extratime prediction: Longford Town to sneak a win.
About Deniese O'Flaherty
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