Jubilant Longford shock Shels to seal Premier Division return

Longford players celebrate after the game

League of Ireland playoff: Shelbourne 0-1 Longford Town

Longford Town are back in the Premier Division after a four-year absence as they stunned Shelbourne in their promotion/relegation play-off at Richmond Park.

Rob Manley’s tenth goal of the season early in the second half proved to be the winner as the First Division side outplayed their more celebrated opponents and fully deserved victory.

The Reds, for their part, had to play more than an hour with ten men after losing captain Luke Byrne for a second yellow card in the concession of a penalty.

Ian Morris’ side can have no complaints as they were second best from the first whistle and didn’t threaten the Longford goal until the final ten minutes.

They were aggrieved that Longford weren’t also reduced to ten men early on when Aodh Dervin caught Shane Farrell with a stray elbow, but referee Neil Doyle produced just a yellow.

The all-action Dervin starred in a Longford midfield that played all the football for the first hour and Shels will regret the passive manner in which they started.

There was little doubt that Byrne deserved to see red for taking down last man Manley after having earlier been booked for a rash tackle on Karl Chambers.

Manley let Shels off the hook from 12 yards as he leant back and fired the ball high over the bar, but with Shels reduced to ten the chances would come.

The decisive moment arrived seven minutes after the break as Longford’s slick passing finally unpicked a well-drilled Shels defence.

Joe Manley found Dylan Grimes, who found the defender’s twin Rob and his shot was deflected by Oscar Brennan and looped past Jack Brady in the Reds’ goal.

Shelbourne threw on Ryan Brennan, Aaron Dobbs, and Jaze Kabia to add much-needed zip to their attack but they struggled to make any reasonable chances.

Kabia had a late shot cleared off the line and Brennan forced Lee Steacy into his first meaningful save two minutes from time as the Reds meekly surrendered their hard-earned Premier status.

“We’ve achieved a special promotion,” Longford Town manager Daire Doyle said as he took in the scale of their feat.

“The feeling in this group after what’s happened and how we’ve got it – the dramatic stuff in UCD, the controlled performance against Galway.

“We’ve come here today against a Shelbourne side and I thought we played all the football but one huge thing we had was how much they were prepared to work for each other.

“How much they were prepared to help each other and fight for each other – that’s what’s won us the game today.

“It’s a weird one – what do you do now (to celebrate) with Covid and lockdown? We’ll get in and have a chat – it’s just a great feeling.” 

SHELBOURNE: Jack Brady; Aidan Friel, Oscar Brennan, Luke Byrne, Alex O’Hanlon; Sean Quinn, Shane Farrell (Dan Byrne 28), Mark Byrne (Ryan Brennan 58); Karl Sheppard (Aaron Dobbs 58), Dayle Rooney (Brian McManus 58), Ciaran Kilduff (Jaze Kabia 73).

LONGFORD TOWN: Lee Steacy; Joe Gorman, Joe Manley, Michael McDonnell; Shane Elworthy, Dean Zambra, Aodh Dervin, Aaron McNally; Karl Chambers (Dean Byrne 69), Dylan Grimes, Rob Manley (Callum Warfield 88).

Referee: Neil Doyle.