No home comfort as Longford Town crash to disappointing defeat against UCD

Longford Town . . . 1     UCD . . . 2

Already rooted at the bottom of the table, Longford Town have yet to collect a point at Bishopsgate this season as their home woe in the Airtricity League First Division continued in the disappointing defeat against UCD on Good Friday. 

Letting a badly needed victory slip from their grasp in the previous away fixtures against Athlone and Bray was hard to take but the manager Stephen Henderson can make no excuses for the latest setback as the students were clearly the superior side.

After Jake Doyle smacked a shot against the crossbar in the 42nd minute with the rebound from Ciaran Behan cleared off the line by Town centre half Oisin Hand, the deadlock was broken moments later when slack defending was punished by Michael Raggett who finished the ball to the net from close range.  

While Longford almost equalised when a Conor Crowley free-kick was deflected against the bar in the early stages of the second half, UCD delivered a killer blow when their impressive number 7 Michael McCullagh created the opportunity for the dangerous Doyle to hit the target from a clinical strike in the 59th minute. 

The Town were given a late glimmer of hope when a corner from substitute Guilherme Rego Priosti yielded a headed goal from another replacement Emmanuel James in the 87th minute - two young players who have graduated to the senior squad from the club’s academy.

Some late pressure was applied by the home side but the UCD defence stood firm to consolidate the slender lead and the students are shaping up as serious promotion contenders.

Without injured striker Chris Lyons with Victor Serdeniuk also on the current casualty list along with the unfortunate Dean George (long term), Longford Town badly need a first win to kick start their centenary season and are quickly back in action away against Cobh Ramblers on Easter Monday, kick-off 3pm.  

LONGFORD TOWN: Jack Brady; Shane Elworthy, Jamie Egan, Oisin Hand, Kyle O’Connor; Vasyl Tropanets, Bastien Hery, Conor Crowley, Adam Wixted, Karl Chambers; Luke Wade Slater.

Subs:- Guilherme Rego Priosti for Tropanets (40 mins); Emmanuel James for Chambers and Dean O’Shea for Egan (injured, 60 mins); Jordan Tallon for Hery and Ross Fay for Crowley (76 mins). 

UCD: Kian Moore; Alex Dunne, Harvey O’Brien, Niall Holohan, Adam Wells; Ciaran Behan, Sean Brennan, Donal Higgins, Jake Doyle, Michael McCullagh; Michael Raggett.

Sub:- Hugh Parker for Raggett (85 mins).

Referee: Mark Moynihan.