Longford Town 4
Derry City 2
LONGFORD PUT A cap on their impressive late-season form with another three points to claim a mid-table finish and make the relegation threat feel an awful long time ago.
A penalty from David O’Sullivan got Town’s noses ahead on the stroke of half-time after Rob Cornwall was adjudged to have handled in the area.
With Derry also safe in seventh place, there was little sign of the tide turning against the hosts after the break and the Candystripes shipped three goals in 12 second half minutes to make it a joyful night at Flancare.
Mark Rossiter doubled the lead with a speculative effort from distance. It pinged in off the post, but goalkeeper Shaun Patton appeared to lose the trajectory of the shot in the floodlights.
A header from Gary Shaw put the result beyond all doubt and made this the third game in succession that Longford managed three goals in a game. The icing on Longford’s survival cake came in the form of Pat Sullivan’s 68th minute penalty.
Derry secured two consolation goal to put a shine on the big prize of staying in the Premier Division through Ronan Curtis’ 76th minute header and Cornwall’s late tap-in.
