Longford Town and St Patrick’s Athletic clash in the FAI Cup

The Inchicore team, now under new manager Jon Daly, are flying at the moment in the Premier Division sitting in second place on goal difference ahead of Derry City with both four points behind the reigning champions Shamrock Rovers.

 Before St Pat's come to Bishopsgate they have a major  European game at Inchicore this Thursday night when they play Luxembourg side F91 Dudelange who come here with a 2-1 lead but with a bumper crowd behind them the home side stand a strong chance of getting through to the next round. 

It looked bad at one stage for Jon Daly's side as they trailed 2-0 but Mark Doyle's goal in stoppage time has given St Pat’s a great opportunity of making further progress in Europe.

 Another big plus for St Patrick's is the fact that they are well into the second half of the season while the visitors are in pre-season. 

Any team who have won a domestic league on 16 occasions have to be respected and no doubt manager Daly and his backroom staff will have their homework done on the Luxembourg opposition. 

Extra-time on Thursday in Inchicore would be good news for the Town but there is always a shock or two in the Cup and why not Longford!

Longford Town supporters have amazing memories from some amazing cup runs over the years. Current Republic of Ireland manager Stephen Kenny brought us to our first final when we lost 1-0 to league champions Bohemians and that meant that the club would make their debut in Europe. 

Roll on to 2003 and 2004 when the Town under manager Alan Matthews won back to back FAI Cups and then in 2007 we were defeated in the final by Cork City. The club also won the League Cup in 2004 and also won the under 20 Cup when a certain Andy Moran won a medal with the Town.

 Looking back on those really exciting days the Longford supporters will be looking for a shock result on Sunday evening but it will take a very good display to get anything out of this game. 

Two wins and a draw in the last three league games would suggest that the manager is beginning to get his team sorted. 

In recent weeks Stephen Henderson has strengthened his squad considerably but if you look at the rest of the teams in the First Division they have also brought in new players. 

The Town lost the services of Cian Byrne who has returned from his loan here and he was on the bench for Bohs v Shels at the weekend. We also lost Aodh Dervin who has now joined First Division champions elect Galway United and it's hard to replace such good players.

Looking at last Saturday night's team one has to say it was one of the youngest starting teams for a long time. Aaron Walsh, Dylan Hand and Lewis Temple all looked well in a 3 man central defence while team captain Shane Elworthy and Kyle O'Connor did so well when pushing forward. 

Viktor Serdeniuk is doing superbly well in the middle and recent signing Adam Wixted is proving to be a very shrewd signing by manager Henderson. 

Jordan Adeyemo is showing the form that he had when he was here last year but he still needs a few weeks to get back to full fitness. 

Beineon O'Brien-Whitmarsh is proving to be an excellent signing as he has given the team an extra bite up front while Gary Armstrong is also proving to be a great asset in the midfield sector. 

Armstrong’s two long range goals in the last two games were top drawer scores against Waterford and Kerry. The pleasing thing that has emerged in the recent weeks is that we have a very strong bench which is a pleasant situation for manager Henderson as he chases more league points in the coming weeks.

When you have Cristian Magerusan on the bench and he comes on to score the winner against a fast improving Kerry FC along with Derek Daly, James Doona and Josh Giurgi and recent signing Bastien Hery shows the abundance of experienced players that the manager can call on gives him a selection headache The St Patrick's come to Town with a full time squad and a lot of money in the bank if they can overcome the Luxembourg opposition. 

New manager Jon Daly is doing very well with them since he took over a few months ago.

 Star of the game in Luxembourg was their new goalkeeper Dean Lyness who recently signed from a Scottish second division team. He made some excellent saves to keep his team in the game. 

Former Town player Anto Breslin is playing very well at left full while Sam Curtis is doing well in defence. Chris Forrester is one of the best midfielders in the Premier Division and he will need to be closely watched as he is capable of scoring if given even a half chance. 

Jake Mulraney is an excellent player and when you look at the subs who came on in the European game you can see the strength of their squad. 

St Patrick's are second in the Premier Division as they are one of the top teams in the league and it will take a great performance from the Town if they are to get anything out of the game. 

New signing Bastien Hery will miss the game because of the red card he received against Kerry on Saturday last and a big attendance is expected for the eagerly awaited FAI Cup clash against St Pat’s at Bishopsgate on Sunday next. 

 Sports Direct FAI Cup First round

Longford Town v St Patrick's Athletic

at Bishopsgate on Sunday July 23

Kick-off 6pm