Terrific Longford Town spring a shock as stunned Galway United suffer first defeat

Longford Town . . . 1    Galway United . . . 0

After winning all of their previous 11 games this season, Galway were left in a stunned state after suffering their first defeat in the league and particularly outstanding for the gutsy home side was keeper Jack Brady who produced a string of fine saves.

From the moment Brady kept out a point blank shot from David Hurley in the early stages of the game, the Longford shot stopper was heroic in keeping his net intact but was almost beaten when former Town player Stephen Walsh struck a spectacular bicycle kick against the crossbar in the 71st minute.

Galway were becoming increasingly frustrated as the resilient Town defended their slender lead and it was a fine finish by Boudiaf who directed the ball past opposing defender Colm Horgan into the corner of the net beyond the stranded opposing keeper Brendan Clarke.

Brady made a terrific reflex save to deflect a header from Robert Slevin just over the bar in the 13th minute and while Galway were dominant in possession they lacked a real cutting edge in attack. 

The 11/1 outsiders Longford were under a lot of pressure in the early stages of the second half as John Caulfield’s vastly experienced full-time outfit forced no less than five successive corners in their frantic search for the equaliser which failed to materialise, much to the sheer delight of the home supporters. 

The Town went close to snatching a second goal on the counter-attack with Aodh Dervin just failing to get a vital touch to a right wing cross from Jamil Ibrahim in the 68th minute and while Galway created a couple of other good chances, substitute Mikie Rowe was denied by another excellent Jack Brady save in the 79th minute. 

Walsh was then narrowly off target from a free-kick in the 83rd minute and it was just not meant to be for Galway who should have conceded another goal deep into the six minutes of additional time.  Ibrahim was clean through but his shot was brilliantly saved by the Galway keeper Clarke.

On the evidence of this great result, Longford are clearly capable of improving their lowly position in the league table and will be confident of taking another step in the right direction when they travel to Tralee on Friday to take on bottom of the table Kerry FC at Mounthawk Park, kick-off 7.45pm.  

Another pleasing aspect of the win over Galway was the introduction of Longford youngster Emmanuel James late in the game while another promising local to graduate from the Town U-19 side is Cian Clancy from Clondra who was also listed on the substitutes bench on Monday night.  

LONGFORD TOWN: Jack Brady; Shane Elworthy, Viktor Serdeniuk, Cian Byrne, Kyle O’Connor; Gary Armstrong, Adam Verdon; Mohammed Boudiaf, Aodh Dervin, Jamal Ibrahim; Stephen Meaney.

Subs:- Joshua Giurgi for Boudiaf (injured, 24 mins); Emmanuel James and Evan Farrell for Meaney and Armstrong (both in the 76 minute).

Not used:- Thomas Bourke (GK), Ross Fay, Ciaran Hodanu, Cian Clancy and Darragh Lynch.

GALWAY UNITED: Brendan Clarke; Maurice Nugent, Robert Slevin, Killian Brouder, Colm Horgan; Edward McCarthy, Conor McCormack, Vincent Borden, David Hurley, Francely Lomboto; Stephen Walsh. 

Subs:- Conor O’Keeffe for Horgan (37 mins); Ibrahim Keita for Lomboto (half-time); Mikie Rowe and Darren Clarke for Borden and McCormack (both in the 67th minute); Rob Manley for McCarthy (80 mins).

Referee: Declan Toland.