100 years in existence - Longford Town start Centenary season at home to Finn Harps

The 2024 First Division season opens this weekend and Longford Town have a very tough start against Finn Harps at Bishopsgate on Saturday night, kick off 7.30pm.

 Town supporters are waiting patiently for the season to kick-off and they will be hoping that this new look team will produce the goods in the club's centenary year.

 When the fixtures were released before Christmas, most supporters were of the opinion that this is a very difficult opening fixture for manager Stephen Henderson who is starting his second season in charge. 

The pre-season Leinster Senior Cup is being run on a league basis and those three games were useful preparation for the Town despite us not getting into the knockout stages. Over the years such competitions are an ideal opportunity for managers to have a look at players. 

Longford also had four pre-season friendlies and we had mixed results and performances. 

Up to this there can be various excuses but on Saturday night the real stuff starts and we must begin with a good result against Harps, preferably a home win. 

Last season the Town made a bad start in the 3-1 home defeat against Athlone. After that defeat we had draws against Waterford, Cobh and Bray. 

Three points in four games isn't promotion form and let's get off to a flyer on Saturday next.

 Finn Harps are always so hard to beat and there is no doubt that this year will be any different. Last season the record between the two clubs was slightly better for Harps. 

The opening game between the sides at Bishopsgate ended 1-0 in favour of Harps. The only goal of the game came in the 81st minute from a controversial penalty decision. The spot kick was converted by Ryan Rainey much to the displeasure of the large home crowd. 

The second meeting of the teams took place in Finn Park at the end of April and the game ended all square, 1-1.

 Da Silva gave the home side the lead after 35 mins but the Town equalised when Aodh Dervin shot past German keeper Hiemer to earn the midlanders a deserved draw. 

The teams met again at Bishopsgate on June 9 and on that occasion the visitors took all three points in a 3-2 victory. 

Cristian Magerusan gave the Town the lead in the 38th minute but the visitors equalised in the 54th minute when O'Donnell netted and four minutes later they went in front when Ryan Flood scored. 

The Town bounced back just past the hour mark when Beineon O'Brien-Whitmarsh scored the equaliser,

Adam Duffy got the winning goal in the 80th minute as Harps collected all three valuable points. 

The final meeting between the teams last season was played in Finn Park and not for the first time Cristian Magerusan was the Town hero as he scored the only goal of the game in the 18th minute. 

It was real backs to the wall stuff for the Town for the remainder of the match as they held out for a well deserved victory against 10 man Harps who had Matthew Makinson sent-off in the 63rd minute. 

Over the years matches between the clubs have been close encounters and we expect this season to be something similar. 

Harps are a very progressive club and they will be pushing very hard this year to get out of the First Division under the guidance of new manager Darren Murphy. 

Darren has been involved with the club for many seasons and when former manager Dave Rogers departed, Finn Harps in their wisdom opted for a man with lots of experience of the local game in Donegal where the standard of the Ulster Senior League is very high. 

Harps have retained many of last season's players but have strengthened their squad considerably.

 Former Sligo Rovers player David Cawley has joined them and he will add extra experience in midfield where they also have team captain Tony McNamee.

 Rookie striker Success Edogun joined the club from Treaty United and they also have 19 year old winger Chris Lotefa who came from Bohemians.

Looking at the Harps squad one can see that they are much stronger than last season and they will be a very tough nut to crack. 

Town boss Henderson has brought in quite a few players and some are taking their time in settling in here. 

Henderson has tried many different combinations in the last month or so in the pre-season games.  

It would be hard to try and speculate on the starting team for next Saturday night's opener.

 New signing Jamie Egan has really impressed in the centre of the defence and last year's great asset Kyle O'Connor is another player for the future.

 The experience of Bastien Hery alongside Viktor Serdeniuk in the midfield sector should prove to be a vital factor but lack of penetration in attack might be a problem for manager Henderson as the Town could  struggle for goals this season. 

Other new signings, former Treaty United striker Dean George and former Bray striker Chris Lyons, will be our main threat up front but the young up and coming lads who also joined us recently could emerge as match winners this year. 

This Saturday our supporters will be able to see what our new team looks like and we hope that our loyal supporters will have something to shout about in this special season as Longford Town celebrate 100 years in existence.

Pictured (l to r) at the 2024 League of Ireland launch: Jarlath Jones (Athlone Town), Ethan Boyle (Wexford FC), Andy Spain (Kerry FC), Jack Brady (Longford Town), Ronan Finn (UCD), Greg Bolger (Cork City), Cian Browne (Cobh Ramblers), Mark Walsh (Treaty United), Killian Cantwell (Bray Wanderers) and Jamie Watson (Finn Harps) Photo: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile 

SSE Airtricity League First Division ROUND 1
Longford Town v Finn Harps
at Bishopsgate Saturday February 17
kick-off 7.30pm