Treaty winless run grows to five after Longford stalemate

Treaty United 0-0 Longford Town 

An underwhelming scoreless draw was on offer in Limerick as play-off hopefuls Treaty United and Longford Town shared a second stalemate of the season.

The Markets Field was sparsely populated for this re-fixed contest, with Treaty struggling to find the form that served them so well at times last season.

The gap between the sides remains seven points, as Longford further cement their place in the top four, with Treaty leading the race for fifth, despite failing to win in five First Division contests. It has been a tricky month for Tommy Barrett’s charges, who’ve been hampered by injuries this season.

Both teams struggled to get near their best in a forgettable opening period. One player who did look likely to create something for Longford was Matthew O’Brien, the attacker had an opening on 21 minutes, as he volleyed goalward from eight yards only for Jack Brady to push it behind for a corner kick.

Gary Cronin’s side forced six corners in the opening half and despite trying a number of training ground routines, they were unable to break the deadlock.

Shane Elworthy hit the crossbar within 60 seconds of the restart, but that was as close as either side would come.

There were chances late on for subs Joel Coustrain and Joe Doyle, at either end, while United captain, Marc Ludden was denied by a fine Luke Dennison save.

Treaty United: Brady; Fleming, Guerins, Gorman, Ludden; Keane, Melody (Coustrain 78), Collins, Devitt, McNamara; George.

Longford Town: Dennison; Elworthy, Lynch, Barnett, Dunne; Graydon (Power 59), McMenamy, Robinson, Molloy (Joe Doyle 72); O’Brien; Verdon.

Referee: Rob Dowling