Longford Town 1
Limerick 0
LONGFORD TOWN DEFEATED a competitive Limerick thanks to a first-half goal from Mark Salmon, despite an early onslaught from the visitors.
The opening 25 minutes saw the guests dominate the majority of possession and were unfortunate not to open the scoring when Sean Russell’s powerful shot from just inside the area was blocked at the crucial moment by Mark Rossiter.
But the away side were made pay for their lack of composure in front of goal and found themselves behind when Salmon broke free and coolly slotted home to put Longford ahead.
After going in front, the hosts grew with confidence and nearly doubled their advantage when Gary Shaw saw his close-range header saved by Tommy Holland.
The Town raced out of the blocks in the second-half with Ben Mohamed going close on two separate occasions. Firstly, he fired wide after a good counter-attack and then, moments later, his low drive tested Holland once more.
As the game ebbed towards conclusion, Limerick found the rhythm that they so quickly lost early on and went close to a leveller when Robbie Williams connected with a pin-point cross but headed wide from ten yards.
The Blues made changes as they desperately pressed for an equaliser but an assured Longford held on and claimed the three points.
The home team now push themselves further up the league with Limerick still rooted to the bottom.
Longford Town: Skinner, Deady, Rice, Salmon (C), Shaw, O’Connor, Sullivan, Ben Mohamed, Simon, Rossiter, Gorman
Limerick: Holland, Whitehead, O’Connor, Williams, Tracy, Turner, O’Conor, Duggan (C), Russell, Rainsford, Clarke
Referee: Dave McKeon
Man of the match: Ben Mohamed
