Wexford Youths -v- Longford Town

• Conor Meagher
• Thu, Sep 17 2009


The second lowest scorers in the First Division welcome the side second from bottom this Friday as Wexford Youths play host to Longford Town (kick-off 7.30). The home side have double the 18 points of their opponents and sit a heady six places above them in fifth, although the sides had closely contested a run of three games against each other in all competitions just after manager Gareth Cronin came on board. A win a piece and a draw made Longford look to be resurgent, yet their form has stalled since those June encounters.

The Warrior Youths have struggled at home lately but their strong away form recently has seen them avoid slipping down the table. A few weeks ago defeat at home to the Magic Mons narrowed the gap between the sides to three points with a game in hand to Monaghan. A win away to table-topping Shels and a Packie Holden inspired draw at home to Waterford should carry the Slaneysiders into Fridays’ match brimming with confidence.

Mick Wallace said “In terms of the Longford game, we know how difficult a task it’s going to be. Their League position doesn't reflect the quality of the team as we know from a couple of months ago when we played them three times over a short period of time. They were extremely tough games and this one will be no different”

Wexford will be without season long injuries David Miller and Paul Doyle while Anto Russell is suspended. Garet McCurtain will look to strenghten his claim for the left-back position after some grwowing performances from the converted midfielder. Longford’s last game was away to Bray in the FAI Cup as they were narrowly beaten 2-1 at the Carlise grounds after a stalemate in the original match on Saturday, so Cronin’s side may feel a little tired coming into their third game in less than a week. On-loan from Bohs centre-half and an impressive player in a leaky defence Brian McCarthy spoke recently to extratime.ie of the need to change their form and live up to expectations and experience. “It has been disappointing, We have players who have played in the Premier Division and could play in the Premier and we’ve good young players, but we’ve only had a couple of wins. We just need to pick ourselves up.”

With just five wins all season in the league Longford must hope to catch the home version of Mick Wallace’s charges that have an almost reversed mirror image of their away form in four wins, one draw and seven losses at home compared to seven wins, two draws and three losses away.

Extratime.ie Prediction: 3-1. The home side will be looking to drum up some home support with attendances on the wane the last few weeks and should put in a winning performance.