Longford Town exit the Leinster Senior Cup

Maynooth University Town . . . 1  Longford Town . . . 0 

 Longford Town are out of the Leinster Senior Cup after a much changed side lost to Maynooth University Town at the college astro turf pitch on Monday night.  

The only goal of the game came in the 81st minute when it looked as if the Group Stage Round 3 fixture was going to be a 0-0 stalemate. 

Previously Maynooth were by all accounts so unlucky to lose 3-2 against Athlone in the new look Leinster Senior Cup.  

Over the years the Town have lost to Leinster Senior League sides in this competition as the club management opted to experiment with the squad. 

The main priority for Longford is the preparation for the start of the 2024 First Division league campaign which kicks-off against Finn Harps at Bishopsgate on Saturday night week, February 17.  

Longford Town starting team v Maynooth: Jack Harrington, Karl Chambers (c) Jamie Egan, Kyle O'Connor, Oisin Hand, Adam Wixted, Conor Crowley, Mohammed Boudiaf, Sami Clarke, Ross Fay, Callum Bonner.

 Subs:- Jack Brady, Shane Elworthy, Vasyl Tropanets, Dean George, Francis Campbell, Guilherme Rego Priosti.

Final friendly against Shels on Friday night

Longford Town play their final pre-season friendly on Friday night when they travel to Tolka Park to take on Shelbourne, kick-off 7pm. 

Last Saturday night the Town played Galway United at Bishopsgate and despite the gulf of experience between the two teams the locals gave a good account of themselves against the full time squad. 

This game was a good runout for manager Stephen Henderson's new look Town side with the first eleven on Saturday night possibly very close to that which will start the league campaign at home against Finn Harps on Saturday week, February  17th, at Bishopsgate. 

Jack Brady was back in goal after Jack Harrington had played in the 1-0 win over Athlone in the Leinster Senior Cup the previous Tuesday night. 

It was great to see captain Shane Elworthy back at right full while Oisin Hand played at left full. New signing Jamie Egan slotted into the centre of the defence and he looked very solid on his debut. 

Older Town supporters would remember his father Seanie who played for us some years ago and he was a very accomplished left full. 

Kyle O'Connor, who is our established left ,filled in alongside Jamie and they did well together in the centre of the defence. 

The Town's midfield sector had Bastien Hery and Viktor Serdeniuk with Karl Chambers and Fran Campbell playing out wide. 

Up front Chris Lyons and Dean George also made their home debuts after signing from Bray Wanderers and Treaty United respectively.

 The game was a good work out for the Town as the manager tries to find out his best team for the league's opener against Finn Harps. 

Some supporters are wondering where our four strikers from last season are as we seem to be very light up front. 

Chris Lyons has a proven track record over the years but we need to give him and his strike partner a better supply of ball in the danger area. 

Both Lyons and Dean George are goalscorers but maybe not as prolific as we need if we are to harbour ideas of being in the top half of the table which we missed out on at the end of last season.

One has to say that the Galway goal was rarely threatened during Saturday night's game and one wonders where the all important goals will come from. 

Conor Crowley, the former Bray player, was introduced in the second half and he went close to opening our account with a blockbuster of a free- kick, following his winning goal in the Leinster Senior Cup game against Athlone Town last week. 

Mohammed Boudiaf, Sami Clarke, Ross Fay, Vasyl Tropanets, Guilherme Priosti and Callum Bonner were on the bench and all got a run during the second half while missing from the squad were Dean O'Shea, Adam Wixted, Luke Wade-Slater and Aaron Walsh. 

In the team sheet for the game on Saturday Galway had 10 trialists which seems a lot just two weeks before the league commences. 

While we didn't put too much pressure on the Galway defence on Saturday night we expect our new look side to be much more clinical in front of goal when the league commences. We need to get the ball forward much faster in games and put the opposition under pressure. 

Looking at our play out of defence isn't going to put pressure on opposing teams and we need more urgency in the middle of the park going forward.

 It was scoreless at half-time on Saturday night and that was down to keeper Jack Brady who had a super first half but he, like the defence, wouldn't be too happy with our second half performance. 

Galway’s first goal came from some poor defending and back passing our team into trouble and giving the visitors a helping hand. 

Galway introduced seven or eight subs in the second half and were that bit too strong for our lads. 

Following the friendly against Shels on Friday night in Tolka Park, it is the real thing when new look Finn Harps come to Bishopsgate on Saturday week (February 17) when our centenary season kicks-off.