League Preview: St. Patrick's Athletic –v- Longford Town

• Aaron Gallagher
• Thu, Jun 25 2015




 

 ST. PATRICK'S ATHLETIC 

 

The Saints are back in action this Friday night as they return to League of Ireland football against Longford Town on the back of a successful end to the first half of the 2015 season.

 

St. Pat’s came into the mid-season break with three wins in a row and will be looking to close the gap on third placed Shamrock Rovers over the coming weeks, starting with Friday's game against Tony Cousins' Longford Town side.

 

With the announcement of European fixtures taking centre stage this week, all eyes turned to see Liam Buckley's side drawn against Latvian club Skonto Riga, with the first leg of the Europa League first qualifying round tie taking place in Riga on July 2nd.

 

On the tie St. Pat’s goalkeeper Brendan Clarke recalled memories of European games gone by, stressing the importance of the “Richmond factor”, as the return leg is set to take place at the Saints home turf in Inchicore.

 

“Any time you get to play in your home ground, it's always an advantage. The atmosphere for European games though in particular cannot be replicated," Clarke told stpatsfc.com.

 

“I remember that win over in Riga well,” he said speaking about the 1-0 St. Pat’s win over JFK Olimps in 2008. “It was a strange one for me as I was an unused sub that day, and the next day I agreed to join Sporting Fingal who were then managed by Liam Buckley at the time.”

 

European adventures aside, Clarke insists all attention is now directed towards Friday's game as St. Pat’s look to make a mark on their return to SSE Airtricity League action.

 

“It's really important that we play well on Friday and get the three points. We went into the break off the back of three good wins, so we've got to try now and pick up where we left off.

 

“We all had a few days off there so it was nice to re-charge the batteries, but we're all back into the routine now so we're focused on the game and getting the win.”

 

Liam Buckley will have the bulk of his squad available to him for Friday's game, with the only exceptions being midfielder Conan Byrne who recently returned to training following a month's absence. Also, Killian Brennan, who suffered an injury in the Saints last outing against Limerick two weeks ago, like Byrne will face a late fitness test.

 

 

LONGFORD TOWN

Longford Town have had an exceptional start to life back in the Premier Division with the first half of their 2015 campaign yielding 19 points from their opening 16 games, leaving them comfortably mid-table in sixth spot.

 

Tony Cousins’ side went into the break on a sour note however, as a 1-0 defeat at home to Galway United put a stain on previous results having beaten Limerick, Bray 1-0 at the Carlisle Grounds and progressing to the next round of the FAI Cup at the expense of Finn Harps on penalties following a replay.

 

The Town will know Friday's opponents all too well following the sides last meeting at City Calling Stadium at the beginning of April.

 

Longford went into an astonishing 2-0 lead after sixteen minutes with goals from Kevin O'Connor and Mark Salmon, but could not see the game out as goals from Chris Forrester and Conan Byrne ensured St. Pat’s ran away with a point.

 

Longford will be without defenders Willie Tyrell and Pat Sullivan for Friday's game with both players suffering suspensions before the break that rules them out of contention.

 

Referee: Paul Tuite.

 

 

MATCH STATS

St. Pat’s striker Christy Fagan has scored three goals in his last two appearances having returned from injury last month. The forward scored 20 goals in the league last season.

 

St. Pat’s have scored eleven goals in their last four games, an average of 2.7 goals per game.

 

Longford have kept four clean sheets in their last five games in all competitions.

 

 

BETTING

St. Patrick's Athletic 3/10; Draw 15/4; Longford Town 10/1

 

PREDICTION

St. Patrick's Athletic 2-0 Longford Town

 

 

St. Patrick's Athletic

Injured: None.

Doubtful: Conan Byrne (hamstring), Killian Brennan (knee).

Suspended: None.

 

Longford Town

Injured: Unavailable.

Doubtful: Unavailable.

Suspended: Willie Tyrell and Pat Sullivan.

 

Don't forget this week's Extratime.ie Sportscast, featuring Liam Kearney, Simon Madden, Richie Towell and Collie O'Neill, is available here. You can also listen to the Extratime.ie Sportscast European Special here.