Aodh Dervin is back as Longford Town start new season at home to Athlone

In a big boost for the new manager Stephen Henderson, the return of Aodh Dervin to his home town club in a loan deal from Shelbourne is great news and the local star is set to start in the opening First Division fixture.  

Athlone will come to Longford in a confident mood after finishing last season in great form and they were so hard to beat and that comes from the fact that they have a very tight squad and they are not the pushovers as in previous seasons. 

Athlone are managed by Dermot Lennon who previously played with the two midland clubs and he has given Athlone back respectability after quite a few seasons struggling to get a stable side which was capable of competing at a higher level.

 Lennon has given Athlone Town self belief and that alone has improved their performances and they had a good pre-season and this will be confident of doing well in the 2023 league campaign, starting on Saturday night. 

Dermot Lennon's son Adam has a habit of scoring against us and we will have to keep a close eye on him for the full 90 minutes on Saturday. 

Last season the results were very close between the clubs. The first meeting at Bishopsgate ended in a 2-0 victory for Longford, which was played in mid April. 

A month later the teams met again in Athlone and the Town won 2-1. 

The next meeting between the clubs was in Bishopsgate on July 22 as Athlone walked away with a 3-1 victory, the first time in 20 games that they got a win against us. Thomas Oluwa scored that spectacular overhead kick and Adam Lennon also got his name on the scoresheet. The final game between the clubs was in October and the teams shared four goals (2-2) in a good game. 

The Town manager Stephen Henderson, who is working from almost a whole new squad, will be hoping for a good start in the opening game.

 Jack Brady is an excellent keeper who is starting his second stint with the club and he is a great shot stopper. Shane Elworthy thankfully decided to stay on as many of his former team mates decided to move elsewhere and there is no doubt he is one of the best defenders in the League - Premier or First Division. 

The experienced Derek Daly more than likely will man the left full spot. Derek will be playing against his former club and he also played with Bray, Waterford, Chesterfield and most recently Crumlin United. 

Centre-half Evan Farrell played with UCD for quite a few years and the club announced the signing of 18 year old Ciaran Hodanu who is on loan from Cork City and he is also a central defender. 

Another defender Aaron Walsh, who previously played with Shels under 17s/19s, joined the club after playing for Loughgall in the Irish League. Defender Oisin Hand has joined the club from Shamrock Rovers. 

Viktor Serdeniuk is a very exciting player who has joined the club from Shamrock Rovers. The Ukrainian has really impressed in all the pre-season games and by all accounts and will be expected to make a big impact in the First Division.

James Doona, who previously played with Shamrock Rovers, St Patrick’s Athletic and more recently with Cork City last season is an experienced midfielder who is only 24 years old.

 Ross Fay, ex St Pat’s; Kyle O'Connor, ex Shels and Adam Verdon will be all fighting for a starting spot against Athlone on Saturday.

 Sam Verdon, Cristian Magerusan, ex Bray striker Darragh Lynch, Jamal Ibrahim ex Shels, Stephen Meaney ex Bray/Drogheda, Francis Campbell ex Shels are all in contention to start against Athlone. 

The Town played their final pre-season friend;y on Saturday last in the AUL and lost 1-0 to a strong Bohemians team.

Now it's down to the real stuff and hopefully a winning start will be made against Athlone Town. 

From the start we should have a very competitive division with quite a few teams chasing the one automatic promotion spot and then the four play-off places.

The fact that we now have a ten team division after the farcical situation last season when there was only nine thus meaning that there was a free weekend for each team during the league. 

The good news is the arrival of the league's newest team Kerry FC. There is no doubt that this new club will be a massive boost to the First Division and they showed they mean business recently when they sold out their season tickets for the lovely stand they have at Mounthawk Park. 

Kerry are managed by Billy Dennehy and he has assembled a very good squad with some excellent young players making the squad.

The second youngest team in the First Division, Treaty United, who have done marvellously well since entering the League  a few seasons ago and they got a play off spot for the last two seasons. 

Ian Ryan's Bray Wanderers have been busy signing players in the off season and by all accounts a few of the Town's 2022 squad will be lining out for them this year.

Last season Bray were third from bottom and knowing manager Ryan they will be looking for a play off spot at least and the new manager would be looking to push his team up the table. 

Recently relegated Finn Harps kick off the new season with a very tough game against a team who might believe they have a big chance of making a return to the Premier Division, we are talking about John Caulfield's Galway United. 

Galway will be looking to get back to the Premier Division and have strengthened their squad again. Darren Clarke who was one of the stars for the Town last season has joined them and there is no doubt that he will be a big star for them.

 Finn Harps are now being managed by Dave Rogers and we can expect the former Shelbourne player to have a big influence on where the silverware goes at the end of the season. 

Former Town assistant manager James Keddy is the new Wexford boss and he has signed several of the players who played with Longford Town last season. 

 Waterford United were favourites last season to win the First Division title and automatic promotion but had to settle for second best behind Cork City.  

The fact that Wateford have a tie up with Fleetwood Town gives them a big advantage over the rest of the League as they can bring players over to strengthen their squad. 

Last season they had a fantastic player in Phoenix Patterson.The goal scoring winger is a very special player and he has now joined parent club Fleetwood Town and is doing so well for them. 

One new face in their squad is striker Thomas Oluwa who was a striking star for Athlone Town last season Dean McMenamy, who was on loan at Bishopsgate last season, is also in the Waterford squad for the upcoming season. 

This Waterford team should be good enough to go all the way to promotion and to get back into the Premier Division which would be a big boost for their cross channel investors.

FIRST PHASE FIXTURES

Round 1

Saturday 18 February

Longford Town v Athlone Town, Bishopsgate, 7.30pm

Round 2

Friday 24 February: Waterford FC v Longford Town, Regional Sports Centre, 7.45pm 

Round 3

Saturday 4 March: Longford Town v Cobh Ramblers, Bishopsgate, 7.30pm  

Round 4

Friday 10 March: Bray Wanderers v Longford Town, Carlisle Grounds, 7.45pm 

Round 5

Saturday 18 March: Longford Town v Finn Harps, Bishopsgate, 7.30pm

Round 6

Friday 24 March: Galway United v Longford Town, Eamonn Deacy Park, 7.45pm

Round 7

Saturday 1 April: Longford Town v Kerry FC, Bishopsgate, 7.30pm 

Round 8

Friday 7 April: Treaty United v Longford Town, Markets Field, 7.45pm 

Round 9

Saturday 15 April: Longford Town v Wexford FC, Bishopsgate, 7.30pm

The teams in the 2023 SSE Airtricity League First Division will play each other four times, meaning a total of 36 fixtures to determine the title winners with the clubs finishing in the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th positions making it through to the promotion play-offs