Longford Town (1) - St Patrick's Athletic (2)

Match Report

Longford Town 1 - St Patrick's Athletic 2

A late Chris Forrester penalty was needed to book St Patrick's Athletic's passage through to the second round of the Sports Direct FAI Cup.

But the side sitting second in the Premier Division table were pushed all the way by First Division Longford Town, who finished with nine men at Bishopsgate.

Despite languishing third from bottom in the second tier, Longford have hit a run of form, taking seven points from their last three league games.

And Stephen Henderson's midlanders started brightly, spurning a real chance on four minutes when St Pat's goalkeeper Dean Lyness had to be sharply off his line to save at the feet of Cristian Magerusan.

Longford goalkeeper Jack Brady bettered that with the save of the first half on 26 minutes, brilliantly turning a Mark Doyle shot around a post.

The real action was reserved for the second half ,with St Pat's breaking the deadlock on 63 minutes.

The overworked Brady initially did well to push away an angled drive from Conor Carty. The Saints striker put the ball back low across the area for 18-year-old Adam Murphy to stab home for his second goal in a week.

Longford didn't wilt, though, and Lyness had to make a fine save to deny Magerason an equaliser before the home side did level on 77 minutes in a frantic finish to the game.

Dylan Hand's long throw was cleared to the edge of the area, where substitute Mohammed Boudiaf found the net through a forest of legs.

Having got themselves back into the game, Longford conceded a penalty on 80 minutes when Aaron Walsh tripped substitute Tommy Lonergan.

Skipper Forrester drilled the spot-kick to the bottom corner despite Brady diving the right way.

Longford were then reduced to 10 men within two minutes when defender Hand was harshly sent off for a bodycheck on Sam Curtis.

Despite a terrific display between the posts, which included a stunning save from Forrester minutes earlier, Brady was then also dismissed right on 90 minutes for a last-man challenge on Curtis.

© rte.ie

Match Info

Date: 23/07/2023
Competition: FAI Cup
Round: FirstRound
Venue: Bishopsgate

Home Team

Jack Brady; Shane Elworthy, Derek Daly, Aaron Walsh, Kyle O'Connor; Josh Giurgi (Jack Harrington 90+2), Gary Armstrong, Viktor Serdeniuk (Olajuwon Adeyemo 72), Derek Daly (Jordan Adeyemo 72), James Doona (Mohammed Boudiaf 72); Cristian Magerusan (Lewis Temple 72).

Away Team

Dean Lyness; Sam Curtis, David Norman, Jay McGrath, Anto Breslin; Adam Murphy (Joe Redmond 78), Jamie Lennon; Jay McClelland (Jake Mulraney 56), Chris Forrester, Mark Doyle (TOmmy Lonergan 78); Conor Carty (Alex Nolan 90+3).

Officials

Referee: Rob Hennessy (Clare)

Goalscorers

Yellow Cards

Red Cards

St Patrick's Athletic FC

Founded in 1929 the 'Saints' are the current FAI Cup holders and play in the Premier Division of the SSE Airtricity League at Richmond Park, in Inchicore Dublin 8, Ireland.

Useful Links

Contact Us

125 Emmet Road, Inchicore, Dublin 8, D08 E0Y7, Ireland

(+353) 1 454 6332
(+353) 1 454 6211

info@stpatsfc.com
www.stpatsfc.com

Match Report