U17 League Report: Dundalk U17 3 - 1 Longford Town U17

Dundalk Under 17s recorded a solid 3-1 victory over Longford Town at Oriel Park in the SSE Airtricity Under 17 North Division following a brace from Jordan Kelly and a single strike courtesy of Jack O’Keefe. Both players started in attacking positions for Liam Burns’ men as they looked to recover from a difficult weekend in Inchicore last week.

The team selected was composed of Abraham Dixon between the posts and a back four of Daniel Corcoran, Gavin Smith, Andrew Mooney and James Prendergast- all of whom have played at centre back at different stages throughout the season. The midfield was composed of summer signing Adam Kirwan and Thomas Martin with fellow recent addition Luke Byrne partnering Luke Gorham on the wings.

The first half began with several chances for the home side and Murphy- Monaghan had to save well from both Jordan Kelly and Jack O’Keefe within the first ten minutes in an ominous sign of what was to come as the duo caused problems for the midlanders’ defence throughout the game. Efforts continued to rain in on the away goal and Coughlan had to be quick to clear a lobbed Gorham effort off the line.

However, the siege was lifted around the half hour mark as Glancy fired a long range effort which Dixon dealt with comfortably. The half drew to a close with Jordan Kelly shooting just over following some superb build up play involving James Prendergast and Luke Byrne down the left wing.

There was an explosive start to the second half as, once more, the Longford Town goalkeeper excelled by saving from Jack O’Keefe and Luke Byrne’s subsequent rebound. Dundalk were not to be denied for long however, and a slide rule cross from Luke Gorham down the right wing was converted masterfully by the onrushing Jack O’Keefe to open the scoring.

And it wasn’t long until a second arrived courtesy of Jordan Kelly. The striker took a ball into his stride, swivelled and rolled the ball home from 6 yards following a quickly taken free kick from Thomas Martin in midfield. Two nil within the first eight minutes of the second half. It was almost three less than ten minutes later as Kelly was denied from close range by a sprawling Murphy-Monaghan.

The away side had their chances following their early setbacks and Proudfoot scooped a 25 yard effort over before a flurry of substitutions between the sixtieth and seventieth minute. Indeed, at the end of this period, Dundalk almost had their lead halved as Mc Tiernan broke through but he was closed down by the onrushing Dixon as he bore down on goal inside the penalty area. Dundalk took advantage of this reprieve and added to their lead in the next attack as a sumptuous Jack O’Keefe backheel on the edge of the penalty area was rifled to the net by Jordan Kelly. 

They almost added to their lead on a number of occasions but couldn’t force the ball home and they found their three goal cushion reduced to two when Carey found the ball at his feet in the box following a deflection off the wall from Murphy’s free kick. The substitute made no mistake as he found the net to set up an exciting finish. However, it was merely a consolation goal in the end as the game scrappily drew to a close.

Dundalk FC: Abraham Dixon, Daniel Corcoran, Gavin Smith, Andrew Mooney,  James Prendergast,  Adam Kirwan Thomas Martin, Luke Gorham , Luke Byrne, Jack O’Keefe , Jordan Kelly (Capt)

Subs Used: Shane Gregory, Kevin Kelly, Mark Kilgallon

Subs Not Used: Jack Mc Kenna , Liam Jackson

Longford Town: Rhys Murphy-Monaghan, Mark Diffly, Jason Coughlan, Sam Nolan, Owen Bayliss, Joe O’Connor, Ben Murphy, Oisín Proudfoot (Capt) , Dylan Glancy, Gustavo Rodrigous, Aaron Mc Tiernan.

Subs Used: Jack Cullinan, Darell Gaughan, James Carey, Farand Mohammed