Examiner piece on Last night's game

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14/01/03
Smooth ride for Longford after early Francis goal


Longford Town 1 Cork City 0
By Bill George
THE satisfaction of a job well done was as tangible as the raw weather conditions at Flancare Park last night where Longford Town ensured that Cork City’s dreadful run of form away from home was extended.


Longford defended a goal from Sean Francis with a degree of comfort for 88 minutes and would not have been flattered had the scoreline reflected a more generous winning margin. Their superiority was beyond question.

Full credit to Longford, with little more than pride to motivate them. There was the outside risk of being sucked into relegation trouble had they lost but Cork appeared to have



the more substantial incentive.

Any point gained would have edged Cork above Shamrock Rovers in the race to finish third. But Longford showed an appetite for hard work and for coping with the challenging conditions of a heavy pitch, strong wind and sleeting rain that Cork failed to match.

As a result Longford are now fifth and secure against any threat to their Premiership status. Meanwhile, Cork are level on points with Rovers with two games remaining for both.

More significant is the fact that once again they failed to perform away from home.

Their inability to invest their game with any degree of energy or determination that is regularly displayed at home cannot have left Cork with anything but a feeling of failure.

“It was very disappointing,” was the low key response of manager Liam Murphy, who must have been left bemused by the contrast between the form shown by Cork last night and that which so illuminated the climax to their game with Shamrock Rovers a few days earlier.

Nothing illustrated the difference between the teams more than the explosive start that established Longford’s superiority within two minutes of kick-off.

Avery John found Brian Byrne wide on the left. He skipped over the lunging tackle of Greg O’Halloran and fired across a centre which found Sean Francis in behind the centre-backs to steer the ball in with his instep.

“We started badly and it was always going to be difficult for us once we gave a team fighting the threat of relegation like Longford the benefit of an early goal,” said Murphy.

Such an early success must have given Longford’s confidence a huge boost and they dominated Cork thereafter.

Cork won a lot of possession but it was concentrated in midfield. They lost every contest when the ball was delivered to the penalty area.

Longford’s ability to win every contest in the air in midfield and in defence was remarkable.

They maintained a firm grip in the middle where Daragh Sheridan and Vinny Perth were in control and their back four was supreme. They scarcely allowed Cork one clear-cut opportunity and might have snatched another goal or two themselves.

Sheridan somehow contrived to head wide from six yards in the second half when a free from the excellent Alan Kirby released him and earlier Francis had the ball in the net a second time only to have the goal ruled out for pushing.

Longford were defiant in the face of Cork’s late bout of pressure and the great satisfaction their win engendered among the 1,500 attendance was reflected in the reception Avery John was accorded after a spirited 40 yards run past two Cork defenders from deep defence late in the game. He was cheered to the echo as Longford cancelled out the effects of the difficult conditions by the emotion and spirit of their play.

LONGFORD TOWN (4-4-2): O’Brien; Dillon, Silke, Ferguson, John; Kirby (Murphy 88), Sheridan, Perth, Byrne; Lavine, Francis.

CORK CITY (4-4-2): Devine; O’Halloran, Bennett, Murray, Horgan; CT O’Brien (Carey 46), Reynolds (CP O’Brien 78), O’Grady, Woods; O’Callaghan, O’Flynn.

Referee: Mr. D. McKeon (Dublin)