Longford Town’s winless run extended to four matches following a 3-2 defeat at the hands of Treaty United at Bishopsgate.
Stephen Henderson’s men are now eight points adrift of the play-off places. Qualification would be nothing short of miraculous at this stage.
Treaty showed more urgency inside the opening ten minutes. Adam Lennon and Dean George both had chances but neither managed to hit the target.
Town struggled to break down the visitors, their first meaningful chance arrived on 16 minutes.
Treaty goalkeeper Corey Chambers parried Kyle O’Connor’s cross towards Cristian Magerusan. However, the town striker couldn’t direct his effort on target.
A mixture of good defending and inaccurate shooting maintained parity on 36 minutes.
Firstly, Town's Gavin O'Brien blocked Conor Barry’s initial attempt, the rebound fell to Devitt who missed the target completely from 20-yards.
Town fell behind on 55 minutes. Success Edogun might be Treaty’s second-highest scorer of the campaign but turned provider.
Edogun dispossessed Lewis Temple before his subsequent shot deflected off Gavin O’Brien’s heel. The rebound was calmly slotted home by Conor Barry.
Town pulled one back on the hour mark. The goal resulted from a corner, awarded after Adam Wixted’s initial delivery was deflected out of play.
Dylan Hand connected with James Doona’s delivery but saw his shot blocked by Willie Armshaw.
Longford claimed a handball by Armshaw, but play continued and Hand fired home the rebound from inside the box.
Treaty resurgence
Treaty restored their lead on 63 minutes. Dean George’s miscued effort was headed in by Adam Lennon at the far post.
Lennon turned provider for the third goal which resulted from sloppy defending by the hosts.
The Treaty midfielder collected Temple’s aimless clearance, teeing up Barry who fired home from inside the box.
📽️ | For the second time in the game, Treaty United and Conor Barry were on hand to take full advantage of Longford Town defensive errors.
Is that game, set and match? #LOI | #LONTRE pic.twitter.com/i57KyXFKwb
— League of Ireland (@LeagueofIreland) September 30, 2023
Derek Daly almost scored for Town on 83 minutes. His 20-yard effort crashing off the crossbar. Cristian Magerusan collected the rebound and set-up Jordan Adayemo. Only, for the Longford substitute to also hit the woodwork.
Daly pulled another one back for Town seven minutes from time. Rifling a 20-yard free-kick to the net having been fouled by Marc Ludden.
Longford almost equalised three minutes into injury time. Jordan Adayemo connected with Daly’s teasing pass but his header forced a fine save from Chambers.
Treaty held on for a 3-2 victory. The result leaves Tommy Barret’s men five points adrift of the play-off places. Whereas, Longford need three wins from their final three games and other results to go their way.
Treaty United: Corey Chambers, Ben O’Riordan, Sean Guerins, Mark Walsh, Marc Ludden, Adam Lennon (Willie Armshaw 74), Lee Devitt, Conor Barry (Colin Conroy 74), Stephen Christopher (Dean O’Shea 82), Success Edogun, Dean George (Darren Nwankwo 82)
Longford Town: Jack Brady, Gavin O’Brien (Mohammed Boudiaf 79), Lewis Temple, Dylan Hand, Kyle O’Connor, Bastien Hery, James Doona (Jordan Adayemo 72), Ross Fay (Gary Armstrong 72), Adam Wixted (Derek Daly 74), Beineon O’Brien Whitmarsh, Cristian Magerusan.
