SSE Airtricity First Division
Waterford FC -v- Longford Town
Friday, 7th July 2023
Kick-Off: 7.45pm
Referee: Daniel Murphy
Waterford FC welcome Longford Town to the RSC on Friday night looking to make it five successive home wins in the row.
The Blues come into the game on the back of an excellent 6-1 win over Finn Harps last weekend at the RSC. Conor Parsons (2), Ronan Coughlan (2), Eddie Nolan and Roland Idowu made sure of the win and three points for Keith Long’s side in what was a dominant performance over the Donegal outfit.
The visitors Longford travel to the RSC after a 2-1 win over Wexford FC last weekend. Goals from Cristian Magerusan and Beineon O’Brien Whitmarsh were enough for Longford despite Danny Furlong’s equaliser just before half time.
Longford make the trip to the Southeast for the second time this season having already held the Blues to a 1-1 draw back in February. A Darragh Lynch own goal after six minutes had given the Blues the lead, but a second half goal from Mohamed Boudiaf earned the midlanders a point. The sides last meeting came in May when the Blues were held to a 0-0 draw in Strokestown Road venue.
The visitors come into the game in 8th place, 24 points behind the Blues in second place.
From The Dugout: Speaking ahead of Friday’s match against Longford Town, head coach Keith Long said:
“We’ve drawn against Longford Town twice this year already so at home this time we’ll be looking to win the game this time out.
“As a team we need to be as positive as we possible can from the start and the lads know that we have to put in a good performance if we want a positive result tomorrow.
“We were able to leave out some players on Tuesday [v Fleetwood] from the squad that played against Finn Harps on Friday and our focus is now fully on Friday night.”
Team News: Dean McMenamy continues to miss out through injury, while new signings Drew Baker, Sam Perry, Christie Pattisson and Serge Atakayi could make league debuts, pending international clearance.
