Monaghan United 2-2 Longford Town

• Deniese O'Flaherty
• Fri, Mar 12 2010


Two goals in three minutes helped Longford Town salvage a somewhat undeserved point against Monaghan United at Century Homes Park.

As the game entered its final ten minutes it looked as if the home side had done enough to claim all three points with a brace from Philip Hughes but Town substitute Fiachra McArdle had other ideas.

In the 83rd minute he brought the game back to 2-1 when he curled a free past Mons keeper Darren Kelly. Three minutes later Derek Glynn made it all square.

Both sides were forced into making changes for this game. Mons were without the services of Barry Clancy after he was sent off against Shels in their last outing and striker Karl Bermingham, who scored in that game, was out through injury. For the visitors captain Philip Byrne was injured while Chris Deans and John Lester were suspended.

Monaghan made a poor start to their campaign last year and only really hit form after the half-way point. This season Mick Cooke’s men are determined to hit the ground running and they certainly looked like they meant business in the opening half of this game.

The opening 20 minutes of this game were the most entertaining; there was a goal, several goal chances and two substitutions and they were all for the home side. The Town rarely threatened, such was the home side’s dominance.

Was it that Monaghan were so good or the Town were so bad? In the first quarter of the game it was all Monaghan as they completely tore open their opponents. And for the rest of the half they were in complete control.

The Town in truth were absolutely shocking in the first half. They started slow against Finn Harps but carved out chances in the opening half but tonight they created nothing.

The game had just entered its second minute when Mons broke the deadlock; Sean Brennan found Philip Hughes with a throw-in from the left and the striker hit a superb half-volley that lobbed over the head of Town keeper Aaron Shanahan.

They had a chance to double their advantage in the 6th minute; Cathal O’Connor played the ball into Hughes but his shot was deflected out for a corner.

O’Connor was involved in yet another move in the 13th minute that should’ve yielded a goal. The nifty winger found Hughes who in turn played the ball into Darragh Hannaphy but his finishing left a lot to be desired firing over from about eight yards out.

The first save Mons keeper Darren Kelly had to make wasn’t until the 42nd minute and even then he didn’t have to exert himself too much; Derek Glynn beat defender Brian Gartland to the ball, found himself through on goal but instead of lifting his shot over Kelly’s head he decided to hit it low and the net minder was able to get down and gather. That miss was to prove very costly because a minute later the home side went 2-0 up.

Referee Rob Rogers awarded a spot-kick for something that only he appeared to have seen. To everyone else in the ground it looked as if Mons striker Philip Donnelly had handled the ball & the whistle had been blown for a free out. Up stepped Hughes and he made no mistake beating Shanahan for the second time.

It could’ve been worse for the visitors three minutes after the restart; Town defender Derek Tyrell nearly beat his own keeper with a header.

Longford saw more of the ball in the second half but failed to create many decent scoring opportunities. Peter Hynes had a half-chance in the 51st minute but his header lacked power and it was cleared away by the Mons defence.

But Monaghan always looked dangerous on the break and in the 68th minute Sean Brennan had a great opportunity to put the game beyond the Town but he blasted his shot over with the goal at his mercy.

Hughes had a chance to claim a hat-trick in the 80th minute but Town keeper Shanahan pulled off a fantastic save to tip the striker’s effort over the bar.

Monaghan were made to rue those chances because in the space of three minutes the Town were back in the game. In the 83rd minute they were awarded a free-kick after Derek Glynn was fouled, up stepped Fiachra McArdle who curled his kick past Kelly. It was all square three minutes later when Glynn netted.

Monaghan United: Darren Kelly, Conor McMahon, Anthony Costigan, Aidan Lynch, Brian Gartland, Don Tierney, Cathal O’Connor, Stephen McCrossan, Darragh Hanaphy, Philip Hughes, Sean Brennan.
Subs used: Alan Byrne for McCrossan 13mins, Philip Donnelly for Hannaphy 19mins, Stefan McKevitt for Tierney 50mins.
Not used: Niall Flynn, Gabriel Sava.

Longford Town: Aaron Shanahan, Derek Tyrell, Gary Cronin, Victor Ekanem, Kevin Cronin, Cathal Brady, Ryan McEvoy, Mark Salmon, JP McDonagh, Peter Hynes, Derek Glynn.
Sub used: Fiachra McArdle for Brady 36mins, Craig Mooney for K Cronin 63mins, Thomas Hyland for McDonagh 75mins
Not used: Dave Freeman, Stephen Conlon.

Referee: Rob Rogers (Dublin)

Attendance: 160 approx

Extratime Man of the match: Fiachra McArdle (Longford Town) His goal brough Longford back into the game