Must Win

[DOC1982]

If there was every a massive three point needed, it must be on Saturday night. Bray will be difficult but as Da town have shown ,especially against Bohs, they can put it up to the best of them at home. Hopefully there will be a bigger crowd than normal out at the CCS to help the lads over the line. With a favourable draw in the cup, it would be great to get the points on the board in order to concentrate on the cup at the later end of the season.

[Martinho II]

is the rumours true that Pat Flynn is out for the rest of the season? We need him so badly. Can see why Havo was brought in if it is true!

[outspoken]

If there was every a massive three point needed, it must be on Saturday night. Bray will be difficult but as Da town have shown ,especially against Bohs, they can put it up to the best of them at home. Hopefully there will be a bigger crowd than normal out at the CCS to help the lads over the line. With a favourable draw in the cup, it would be great to get the points on the board in order to concentrate on the cup at the later end of the season.

I've given up of hoping for big crowds only a cup final will bring the bandwagoners of Longford out. I'm not confident at all for Saturday but that's usual a good thing. The fact we didn't look outstanding against a pub team in Cockhill has drained the little confidence I have left

[Darklordsbane]

I would take a draw right now,
we need Limerick to beat Drogheda will I believe will happen but a draw would be better,
Cork to beat Galway which should happen,
and St Pat's to get something from Derry which will be dodgy
Cousin's is a luck manager so it may well happen, as long as we are no worse off points wise with those under us I don't care but would obviously love it if we could somehow win

[outspoken]

If we can't beat bray at home we may as well give up because there's not many games left that we can win if that's the case. You can say bray are a form side right now but we've beaten them twice this season (different circumstances each time I know) so we should be aiming to go out all guns blazing and make it 3 wins this season. If we play well and draw that's a different story but a bore draw or lucky point is no good to us we need to stop the rot quickly

[Acornvilla]

Bray will likely be set up with some sort of game plan they can execute and get a manky 1-0 win out of. We'll go out and play ball, defend badly, maybe nick a goal or two but with no discernible game plan bar hit diagonals at Shaw, as usual, so I'm not overly confident.

Yes they are the form side, they've shown they can win matches, something TC has not done with our lads in quite a while, outside a cup game v amateurs. You don't need to have better players to be the better team, Cooke generally does well no matter what hand he's given, his track record outside of the Athlone debacle is very good. Turgid but result driven. When it comes to teams best 11's I'd say we are the 6th best in the league, maybe even could be better than Bohs, but not on recent form and not with the manager we have, that's for sure.

Would take a draw as long as other results are similar to what Darklordsbane suggests. Although you'd hope Pats will win, Derry are crap most of the time but occasionally surprise. Would also like a Limerick win to really drag Drogheda in to it.

If we do manage a win, it'll be massive, as regards how the rest of the season pans out, lose and we're in all sorts of bother. I predicted we'd come 8th at the start of the year, I'd certainly take that now.

[Acornvilla]

On an aside, both clubs recent league form, there's a pattern emerging.

Bray: W L W L W
Town: D L D L D

Something has to give, right :P

[outspoken]

On an aside, both clubs recent league form, there's a pattern emerging.

Bray: W L W L W
Town: D L D L D

Something has to give, right :P

We're both going to lose we are that bad

[Acornvilla]

We've gone with a 4-4-2, This I like, if it works of course!

[Mister X]

crap game...great goal... 3 points...

[Darklordsbane]

I thought it was an ok performance until we started hoofing it again but who give a damn we won and got 3 very valuable points 28 points from 26 games I reckon another 5 and we'll be safe

[outspoken]

He's back

[Martinho II]

delighted for sully! contender for goal of the season! wots story with Gary Shaw does anyone know? he was in the stand and talk before the game was that he is off to a cross channel club! discuss...

[outspoken]

delighted for sully! contender for goal of the season! wots story with Gary Shaw does anyone know? he was in the stand and talk before the game was that he is off to a cross channel club! discuss...


Yeah he's signing for Southend through the Dave Mooney connection.

[Darklordsbane]

Cousin interview on Shannonside said Shaw had a hamstring and was hopeful he'd be back next week

[Acornvilla]

Delighted we won, Shaw being injured was probably a good thing, forced us to approach the game differently, great for Sully to get a goal, and Kelly to get more game time. Galway match is huge, win that and we're safe, I've my own vested interests in seeing Limerick do well, so yeknow, It'd be good for everyone really..

Can turn attention to Sheriff then, and who knows.

[outspoken]

Delighted we won, Shaw being injured was probably a good thing, forced us to approach the game differently, great for Sully to get a goal, and Kelly to get more game time. Galway match is huge, win that and we're safe, I've my own vested interests in seeing Limerick do well, so yeknow, It'd be good for everyone really..

Can turn attention to Sheriff then, and who knows.

Beat Galway and don't lose in Drogs second last game and we are safe. That win the other night allows us to breath again but a defeat Saturday and we are back panicking

[hollocaine]

Whilst it’s important not to slip up in Galway, I don’t think we should be too defensive either. Galway’s goals conceded record shows that they can be got at (although we looked clueless against them in June).

They'll have some key players back which will be a boost for them. If we stick with 4-4-2, move Salmon into the middle and put Shaw (if fit) up front with Sully, we can get a result

[Martinho II]

Whilst it’s important not to slip up in Galway, I don’t think we should be too defensive either. Galway’s goals conceded record shows that they can be got at (although we looked clueless against them in June).

They'll have some key players back which will be a boost for them. If we stick with 4-4-2, move Salmon into the middle and put Shaw (if fit) up front with Sully, we can get a result

our away record over the last few years since 2009 has bein superb! I would fancy us strongly!

[Darklordsbane]

maybe Havo back at centre half with Rhys as a sweeping holding midfielder in front of the back 4

[L.T.F.C.]

Is Havo fit? And when did he play last?

[Darklordsbane]

I don't know about how fit Havo is, but Cousins was on the radio last week saying he wanted to play him in the Leinster senior cup so he must be reasonably fit although not match sharp
It was just an idea, we will need a bit of youth in the middle to stop Galway, maybe Gannon will come into his own tonight,

[Olander]

Longford's record at Terryland has been excellent. You have beaten us in every game in Galway last season and this season - 1-0, 3-0, and 2-1. Funnily enough, we have not lost at Flancare Park in that period either.

I think it's definitely fair to say that a draw would suit Longford more, it's basically a do not lose for you, a win would probably nearly guarantee your safety the way we and Drogheda are going. Galway on the other hand desperately need a win. We do have some players back from injury but they have been out for a number of weeks and they will be seriously lacking match sharpness. Coupled with this, our home form has been truly dreadful this season.

2-2 draw or a narrow Longford win my prediction

[hollocaine]

Fu(k sake

[Acornvilla]

After tonight, only Bray upwards are safe. 6 points between us in 7th and Limerick in last.

God blessus, a 4-1 loss to anyone in this league isn't good enough, let alone a direct rival.

edit: 4-2 now, yay...

[Darklordsbane]

Absolute rubbish worse than Sligo

[Martinho II]

we are in serious trouble now. Why Ben Mohamed is on the bench is beyond me. It only changed when he came on. All of a sudden we started attacking for fun and Galway had no answer. Galway were impressive. having Connolly and Keegan on the same pitch will make a difference for the rest of the season and they will stay up.
Rossiter was disappointing yet again for us. For at least two goals Galway could break through our defence easily. If Rice keeps his mouth shut we should stay up but to be honest I am extremely disappointed over last night .There was no leaders on the pitch and it looked like the players didnt give a damn. I for one didnt have the energy to applaud them as I thought they were a disgrace. I think maybe that Sheriff will be better off knocking us out of the cup so that we can focus on staying up!

[hollocaine]

Might aswell keep this thread going as all these games are must wins.
Not surprisingly we're making things hard for ourselves being unable to get 3 points against the only team in the division with nothing to play for (and with them down a man).
I think Sully had to come on. Kelly doesn't look fully fit and didn't look like a guy out to prove a point against his old club.
That's 27 games without a goal for Gary Shaw. Incredible stuff and gone beyond a joke now.
If we can stay in the Premier Division with Shannon playing for us, I think that'll be more of a reflection on the league than ourselves.
And, Stephen Rice ran around alot.

[L.T.F.C.]

Might aswell keep this thread going as all these games are must wins.
Not surprisingly we're making things hard for ourselves being unable to get 3 points against the only team in the division with nothing to play for (and with them down a man).
I think Sully had to come on. Kelly doesn't look fully fit and didn't look like a guy out to prove a point against his old club.
That's 27 games without a goal for Gary Shaw. Incredible stuff and gone beyond a joke now.
If we can stay in the Premier Division with Shannon playing for us, I think that'll be more of a reflection on the league than ourselves.
And, Stephen Rice ran around alot.
That is an incredible statistic for Shaw. More everything needed.

[outspoken]

Might aswell keep this thread going as all these games are must wins.
Not surprisingly we're making things hard for ourselves being unable to get 3 points against the only team in the division with nothing to play for (and with them down a man).
I think Sully had to come on. Kelly doesn't look fully fit and didn't look like a guy out to prove a point against his old club.
That's 27 games without a goal for Gary Shaw. Incredible stuff and gone beyond a joke now.
If we can stay in the Premier Division with Shannon playing for us, I think that'll be more of a reflection on the league than ourselves.
And, Stephen Rice ran around alot.

I thought Kelly was our best attacking threat, had 1 shot just wide and another off the cross bar, maybe he was carrying a knock but to leave Shaw on was absolute madness from Tony, he wouldn't finish his dinner at the moment. Sully was no better when he came on his touch was awful and our other sub Kaleem was useless as well, it just goes to show the squad isn't strong enough really and tony should have been able to see that during the transfer window. Our best player on the night was Rhys yet again.

Can't see us staying up the way we are performing.

[Darklordsbane]

Our best player on the night was Rhys yet again.

have to agree with you there auld son, he was in the suns team of the week last week as well,
if he keeps this up he has to be a serious contender for player of the year not just the young player of the year

[outspoken]

Our best player on the night was Rhys yet again.

have to agree with you there auld son, he was in the suns team of the week last week as well,
if he keeps this up he has to be a serious contender for player of the year not just the young player of the year

Totally agree, a real genuine lad too. Hel be getting my vote anyway

[Darklordsbane]

may as well chat in this thread as they are all must win or at least some of them are
Any thoughts on the Sligo match,
I thought last time we thought we only had to turn up to get the 3 points and we certainly played like it absolute rubbish performance and we still could have nicked a draw
I don't think it will be like that this time I hoping for a good performance or at least ALL the players challenging for ever ball, not just playing for 15 minutes disappear for 10 play for ten disappear for 15 etc

I wonder will Skinner be in goal I thought he did well in Oriel

[outspoken]

Personally think it's very harsh to drop hunt who's had a good season, why can we never seem to go a full season without changing the number 1 half way through the campaign. Personally I've no confidence ahead of Saturday and think Sligo will hammer us. Hope I'm wrong

[Martinho II]

Personally think it's very harsh to drop hunt who's had a good season, why can we never seem to go a full season without changing the number 1 half way through the campaign. Personally I've no confidence ahead of Saturday and think Sligo will hammer us. Hope I'm wrong

since TC took charge this is one of his bad habits! when he first took charge from 2010 to 2011 it was at least two goalies a season! 2012 Craig Hyland and 2013 Chris Bennion had the position outright. for the last two seasons it has returned to square one! why?at least its not as bad as 2009 when we had four goalies that season!
I would give Skinner a chance now as we need to do somethin different. Huntys confidence wasnt the best against Pats and I dont think he will return to his high levels in Oriel a few months back. TC has a big decision to make in goals.

[Martinho II]

just seen on the SSE website that Rice is suspended for Saturday! delighted as he has being crap the last few weeks. in fact since the cockhill celtic game he has retreated into his shell massively after his disgraceful rant against Kaleem Simon and TC substituted him! I think he is finished with us and I rather have in midfield Lorcan Shannon and Aymen Ben Mohamed on one side and in centre midfield Salmo and Kev O Connor. I think this is more effective. I would also like to see Dean Kelly and Davy O Sullivan given their opportunity up front. In defence I would have Havo, Gorman, Powell and Sullivan(even though I hate the man).I would get rid of 4-5-1 and go back to what we do best 4-4-2. Ben Mohamed bein fit is key for us!

[chickennuggets]

Ben Mohammed is still nursing an injury. Hopefully he makes it back in time for Saturday. Could really do with him

[outspoken]

Is Ben back for us though? No word as usual on injuries.

[Martinho II]

Is Ben back for us though? No word as usual on injuries.

no word as of yet.

[RonnieB]

Massive game. Vital to take at least a point. It is getting all too close for comfort.

[Martinho II]

Massive game. Vital to take at least a point. It is getting all too close for comfort.

Shocking handling from Skinner tonight. Hunty should come back in for the last three games. All Sligo did for their equaliser was hoof the ball high and Skinner just lost his head. Him and Elding went to it and Skinner mispunched it into his own net. He could have caught it. But we didnt deserve to win we were way too slow in our passing. It was scrambled effort from Kaleem which crept over the line.

We are sort of lucky that we have three games to go and are still three ahead of Sligo. Galway are leaking goals loads and Sligo werent great at all. I think Sligo will go down now and Galway in playoff spot. We have enough points on the board and I do think we will get something from cork next week as Cork are hit and miss at the moment but still yet again the disappointment and annoyance coming out of the ground is too much of a regular occurrence.

By the way shame on the Longford public for not supporting us. We were outnumbered four to one and I dont know what more can be done. At times I am ashamed to be a town fan when people come out of the woodwork for the Dundalk game and not come out tonight. Shame on them.

Also I dont think it was wise to bring flares to Dundalk. I know that other clubs bring them but they get better crowds and can afford to pay it. We cant afford it. I got the face eat out of me tonight so I would expect the club to be fined and I get the impression that the club will want Section O to pay it. I know that this will make me unpopular but I am gone beyond caring at the moment as it is destroying the good name of Section O and it hurts me.

[Longfordian]

Shocking from Skinner. The hard work was done they were just resorting to desperation stuff at that stage. I thought we played ok in the second half but the delivery from wide areas was chronic and we were up against ten men. Also don't know why Davy wasn't brought on a lot earlier or even started. Kelly did feck all. Thought Gannon was good as was Rhys.

[Martinho II]

very impressed with Gannon tonight. he was very calm in his passing. We were way too predictable. Kelly was a disappointment tonight. Nows the time to go hell for leather and play Davy from the start. He showed more imagination than Shaw and Kelly put together. Rhys has being the unsung hero in defence this season and its not his position!

[Mister X]

We have enough points on the board

We are 4 points from the bottom and 2 points off the play off spot with 9 points left to play for!

[Cabs88]

Also I dont think it was wise to bring flares to Dundalk. I know that other clubs bring them but they get better crowds and can afford to pay it. We cant afford it. I got the face eat out of me tonight so I would expect the club to be fined and I get the impression that the club will want Section O to pay it. I know that this will make me unpopular but I am gone beyond caring at the moment as it is destroying the good name of Section O and it hurts me.

Firstly, it is regrettable that you should have bore the brunt of any face eating as you had no part to play in it.

Secondly it's disappointing that you should say it is 'destroying the good name of section o'. Fans (yourself included) have travelled up and down the country, bringing colour, noise and atmosphere to games, and in doing so, behaving themselves impeccably the majority of the time.

The 'group' have received plaudits on various news platforms for bringing away atmosphere to games, and in general represented themselves, Section O and the club excellently.

Yes, there has been some notable exceptions, with some actions that were nonsensical and not advisable, but for the most part, the tradition you and your generation started, and did so well to get off the ground, has been continued, increased and ultimately prospered.

For that, you should be proud, and not lose sight of.

We've 3 big games left, we need a vocal Section O (and all other town fans) to get behind the team and push us over the line.

[outspoken]

Firstly, it is regrettable that you should have bore the brunt of any face eating as you had no part to play in it.

Secondly it's disappointing that you should say it is 'destroying the good name of section o'. Fans (yourself included) have travelled up and down the country, bringing colour, noise and atmosphere to games, and in doing so, behaving themselves impeccably the majority of the time.

The 'group' have received plaudits on various news platforms for bringing away atmosphere to games, and in general represented themselves, Section O and the club excellently.

Yes, there has been some notable exceptions, with some actions that were nonsensical and not advisable, but for the most part, the tradition you and your generation started, and did so well to get off the ground, has been continued, increased and ultimately prospered.

For that, you should be proud, and not lose sight of.

We've 3 big games left, we need a vocal Section O (and all other town fans) to get behind the team and push us over the line.

The voice of reason as always cabs, excellent post. I felt last night was a real turning point for Section O as a group as the numbers were the best we've had this season and noise was excellent let's keep that going and get safety

[chickennuggets]

Very disappointing to concede so late last night and in that manner. It's getting increasingly difficult to predict the last three rounds of fixtures but I still think three points should see us to safety. Hopefully Derry are safe by the time they come to Longford on the 30th

[Darklordsbane]

Lets face it guys we haven't been great by any stretch of any ones imagination for the whole season, yeah there were a few flashes here and there, but we have been fairly average at best, and yet we still have it in our own hands to stay up
let's leave all the blaming and stuff until the season is over, we need to get buzzing about trying to beat Cork, they have nothing to play for, they will have their minds on the cup final and if we can catch them on the hop we might just nick 3 points
Huge ask I know, but at least we need it more than them, not like the Drogheda and Derry matches which we may well lose,
we need every player fighting for each other, the supporters and their club,

[Martinho II]

with Drogheda drawin in Turners Cross it may give us a bit of hope. I meant to say in my previous post what a great job Burko and Fitzy did in stirring the support last nite. this may be the turning point in Section O. Great to see a few of the oldies return and a few newbies!

I am just afraid that with the game against Derry flares will go off again! thats the problem when you are one of the elder statesmen and people will come out of the woodwork and we get the brunt again. There has to be a way of tellin the younger lads not to bring flares to games as the club gets into trouble! That is the only negative thing comin out of Section O these days but its a hell of a lot better than a few weeks ago! lets keep the good work goin and get across the line safely!

[Macy]

There's so much negativity around the style of play and commitment of players from those that do go, it's hardly going to encourage others to get out, if all they're hearing and reading is how crap we're playing!

And I didn't think we brought a great crowd to Dundalk for the semi, so it's not like the bandwagon was rolling then either.