'It's something that he dreamed of since he was a boy' - Longford boss Daire Doyle praises stand-in captain Aodh Dervin

Longford Town boss Daire Doyle heaped praised on Aodh Dervin after the Longford native captained the Red and Black for the first time on Saturday evening.

In the absence of Dean Zambra through injury and Lee Steacy who was on the bench – Doyle selected Dervin as his skipper – and he explained that it was a just reward for the 21-year-old.

“He’s come through from the underage and has now captained the club,” Doyle told extratime.com.

“For Aodh to do that in the Premier Division is a brilliant achievement for him. He works so hard and is so committed to this club.

“I’m really happy that he was able to captain his club at Tallaght Stadium because it’s something that he has dreamed of doing since he was a young boy.

“From Aodh’s point of view I’m really happy that he was able to captain the team.”

Saturday’s defeat also saw Doyle hand a first start of the season to goalkeeper Michael Kelly – who came in for Steacy.

And the Longford boss said that he is happy with his goalkeeping options this season as Kelly and Steacy look primed to battle it out for the number one jersey at Bishopsgate.

“I know at a lot of clubs there tends to be less changes on the goalkeeping front and it was one we felt we would make for this game.

“I think Mick had a really strong performance along with all the other lads that came in were the same.”



On Saturday’s game against the Hoops – Doyle added that he was slightly disappointed at a number of officiating decisions made by referee Rob Hennessy, explaining that he felt Shamrock Rovers could have been easily down to nine-men as early as the first-half.

The incident in questioned referred to when Hennessy opted not to give Daniel Mandroiu a second booking after he hacked down Aaron Bolger near the Longford dugout.

“It was one of them decisions where he’s on a yellow card and Aaron Bolger goes by him by our side. He (Mandroiu) tackles him near knee height, and he doesn’t get a second yellow.

“I think they’re the calls that do go the big team’s way. On another night that could have been 9 men because of the penalty was before that (with Lopes on Dobbs).

“We can’t complain about it too much because what’s important is next week and we need to be ready for it.”

Next up for Longford is a home game versus Finn Harps on Tuesday evening – and Doyle has belief in the fitness levels of his groups to deliver a similar type of performance midweek despite being a part-time outfit.



“Our lads looked really fit,” he added. “Towards the end of last season, it wasn’t a problem and I think despite being part-time, that we are one of the fittest teams in the league.

“It’s something that we pride ourselves on. We face a different challenge against Finn Harps. There may be some personnel changes going into that game – but we’ll make a call on that beforehand.

“It’s a challenge that awaits us with the midweek games and I feel it’s something we’re ready to deal with.”

And in light of the situation that unfolded at Cabinteely during the past fortnight with Covid-19 cases within the camp – Doyle stressed that he is wary of the challenges a similar event may pose his side this season.

“Cabinteely have a big squad and we’ve got a squad of 27 players so if a Covid case comes in and effects a number of our players we’d be struggling,” he finished.

“We do have to be very careful and mindful of the protocols in place and it is something that we follow carefully.

“We just have to put ourselves in the least risk as possible to avoid something like that happening because we don’t want to be going into any games with players missing through Covid and our lack of following protocol.”