Match Report: Longford Town 1-4 City

Cork City enjoyed a comfortable win over a struggling Longford side in Bishopsgate on Saturday night as City’s set-piece prowess proved too much to handle for De Town.

City boss Tim Clancy made three changes to his Cork City side after they were held to a stalemate last week at UCD, with last week’s starters Cian Bargary and Cathal O’Sullivan on the bench, and loanees Sean Murray and Nathan Wood promoted to the starting eleven. City’s top goalscorer Jack Doherty was absent from the match squad, with Jaden Umeh taking his starting place.

Longford Town’s last outing was a 2–2 draw away to Wexford which saw a 97th minute equaliser from Longford to rescue a point, and interim manager Wayne Groves made five changes to their starting team. Jack McCarthy lined up in goal, and Jordon Tallon took the captain’s armband after Shane Elworthy picked up a knock last time out. New signing Jordan Adeyemo was handed his first start of the season after his injury time equaliser in Ferrycarrig, and Samuel Clarke and Mohammed Boudiaf also started for De Town.

The fixture was originally down to be held at Turner’s Cross, but upon the closure of the ground the decision was made to instead host the game at Longford Town’s home stadium.

The sun was shining down in County Longford as the game kicked off on a magnificent evening for football.

As the game began, City were absolutely stunned inside only two minutes of play, after a scrappy moment in the box, Sam Clarke played a short ball to Jordan Adeyemo, who slotted past Bradley Wade from close-range to give Longford a very early lead.

Adeyemo’s goal marked only the third goal Cork City have conceded in eleven league games.

City seemed unaffected by the early goal, and began to settle into their style and put pressure on Longford as the game continued.

As a result, Longford Town’s surprise lead didn’t last long, as in the 17th minute Greg Bolger’s delivery from a corner found the head of Charlie Lyons at the back post who rifled his header into the back of the net to level the game for Cork City and score his second goal of the season.

Longford’s heads seemed to drop immediately after City’s equaliser, and after two great chances on goal were squandered, they inevitably found a second goal in the 22nd minute.

The goal came from yet another set-piece, as a free-kick on the right-hand side by Evan McLaughlin found a completely unmarked Cian Coleman, who had nothing else to do but calmly head the ball into the bottom of the goal to hand City the lead.

A minute after the goal City man Jaden Umeh was the first entry into the referee’s notebook, as he mistimed a slide tackle on Longford’s Kyle O’Connor in the center circle and was shown a yellow card.

The Leesiders settled and took control of the fixture after their second goal, and managed to keep Longford’s attack quiet enough for the rest of the half.

The first substitution of the night was an unexpected one, as on the half-hour mark Tim Clancy elected to introduce Cian Bargary to the game in place of Cian Murphy.

The scoreline stayed at 2–1 into half-time, and two more City substitutes were made. Barry Coffey was taken off and replaced by Cathal O’Sullivan, and Joshua Fitzpatrick entered in place of Jaden Umeh.

Whatever was said in the Cork City dressing room at the break seemed to majorly motivate the team, as they brought huge momentum into the second half.

In the 46th minute City found another goal, but this time it was ruled out. Greg Bolger’s corner was cleared as far as Harry Nevin, who gave the ball to Cian Coleman on the edge of the box, to which the centre-back flicked the ball over his head to Charlie Lyons who calmly tapped a finish past keeper Jack McCarthy. The linesman raised his flag, and the goal was disallowed.

City weren’t deterred by the linesman’s decision and continued piling pressure on Longford.

A huge chance befell Sean Murray in the 51st minute, as Joshua Fitzpatrick made a brilliant run with the ball down the left wing from his own half and gave a low cross into Murray in the box, but his first-time shot was straight into the keeper’s hands, which should’ve been finished by the midfielder.

In the 55th minute, City scored once again from a corner, as a brilliant delivery to the back post was headed across goal by Cian Coleman, and an unmarked Charlie Lyons directed a strong header into the top corner to score his second of the night and put the game beyond all doubt for Cork City.

Longford never troubled City for the remainder of the game, and goalscorer Jordan Adeyemo was isolated up top and had a very quiet game after his early goal.

Cork City did their bit to take any last bit of sting out of the fixture by retaining the ball and keeping possession.

Two more substitutions were made in the second half for the visiting City side, as Darragh Crowley made his first appearance of the season since returning from injury, replacing Harry Nevin at the back. Greg Bolger was swapped out for Niall Brookwell, the latter earning himself a yellow card after a very late challenge on a Longford player in the 84th minute.

There would be one last show of set-piece brilliance from Cork City in the game, as a very poor act of defence by Longford allowed Cian Coleman to easily tap the ball into the net at the back post from a corner, to round off a great night for City.

That was all from Bishopsgate, as City’s four set-piece goals were enough to give them their highest scoring game of the season so far. All four of City’s goals came from the centre-backs, as duo Cian Coleman and Charlie Lyons walked away with a brace each, the latter of which could’ve had a hat-trick if the linesman’s flag stayed down.

Looking ahead to the next round of fixtures, Cork City are on the road once again as the team make the long trip to Ballybofey to face Finn Harps on Friday the 26th , and Longford Town are at home next and will face Wexford FC on Saturday the 27th.