Longford Town take on the title favourites Cork City at Bishopsgate

Second in the table and unbeaten Cork City come to Bishopsgate this Saturday night for the First Division league clash against Longford Town, kick-off 7.30pm. 

With attendances reaching an all time high this season one can expect a big crowd for the visit of the team that are favourites to make a return to the Premier Division after being relegated last year.

Cork dropped back down to the League of Ireland second tier after losing a play-off to Munster rivals Waterford FC.

The new Cork City supremo is Tim Clancy who previously managed Drogheda United and St Patrick's Athletic. 

As a player he played in both England and Scotland and he played with Shamrock Rovers, Sligo Rovers and Bray Wanderers. 

Most punters would agree that Cork City are the  favourites to go back to the Premier Division at the end of the season as they have a strong squad who are capable of beating the best teams in the league,  especially when they are the only full time squad in the First Division. 

To date Cork have played three games and their record is two wins and a draw. They played relegated UCD last weekend in Turners Cross and beat the Dublin club 1-0 with the only goal of the game coming from Cian Coleman in the 44th minute. 

On the opening day of the season there was a full house for the visit of league newcomers Kerry and two goals from former Town player Jack Doherty in the 14th and 26th minutes gave City an ideal start. 

On Friday week Cork travelled to Finn Park to play Finn Harps and Jack Doherty was on the mark again,  scoring an equaliser in the 70th minute after Success Edogun gave Harps the lead after only 16 minutes. Doherty will be well known to the Town supporters but the very experienced Greg Bolger is undoubtedly their most experienced and most decorated as he has many winning medals from his time at Dundalk, St Patrick Athletic, Shamrock Rovers and most recently Sligo Rovers where he spent the last three seasons. He also played previously with Cork City. 

Sean Murray is also a very experienced player who spent many years cross channel with Wigan, Swindon and Colchester before returning to Ireland to play for Dundalk. He signed for Glentoran in the Irish League and has since joined Cork on loan. 

The former Republic of Ireland player at underage level is a very experienced player and he will cause problems for most opposition clubs in the crucial midfield area. Keeper Bradley Wade is only 23 having played with Rochdale and he has shown he is good enough having only conceded one goal to date. 

The rest of their squad is a bit inexperienced but full back Harry Nevin (19 year old) has been with Preston North End and he looks a great prospect. Evan McLaughlin (21) has joined the club from Derry City. Charlie Lyons has previously played for Cobh and Galway United and he is another player who needs to be closely watched. 

There is no doubt that the current Cork City side will be hard to beat and they are capable of bringing in extra players when required. The Cork squad has to be the strongest in the league and the fact that they are full time gives them a distinct advantage. 

Over the years the Town liked to be the underdogs and it pushed them forward in games and they were capable of getting positive results. 

The game in Bray on Friday night had to be called off due to the state of the pitch and that puts a lot of pressure on the team's management as we require two re-fixtures and as a part time club it will put a lot of pressure on players who may have to get time off work. With the game called off against Bray,  the Town management may have an injury free squad to pick from for the clash against Cork. 

No matches for two weeks should help the Town management get players carrying injuries back to full fitness in their bid to register a win on Saturday night.

SSE Airtricity League First Division

Longford Town v Cork City 

At Bishopsgate this Saturday March 9

kick-off 7.30pm