A red mist descended on the midlands as Longford Town fell to Athlone Town in El Classico writes Tony Ghee.
Frantz Pierrot scored the only goal that sealed all three points for the hosts in a game that produced four red cards.
Longford Town finished the game with nine players and Athlone Town ended the contest with 10-men at the Athlone Town Stadium.
Athlone dominated proceedings in the first-half and deserved their one-nil interval lead.
In the third minute, tricky winger Jamar Campion-Hinds collected the ball just inside the Longford half. Gliding past defender Evan Farrell and racing into the box evading two more Longford challenges.
The winger rifled a 16-yard shot from the left, Longford stopper Jack Brady, brilliantly tipping the ball over the bar.
The hosts missed a great chance on 14 minutes; striker Frantz Pierrot got ahead of Longford centre-back Viktor Serdeniuk. Brady was at his best to stops Pierrot's toe-poked shot.
Athlone took the lead two minutes when later. Serdeniuk completely missed, Campion-Hinds right-wing low curling ball,. Pierrot pounced on the error to rattle the net from close range.
Athlone almost doubled their advantage two minutes later. Pierrot slipped the ball through to Aaron Connolly, whose weak effort was saved by Brady.
Longford’s only chance in the opening half came from an excellent passing move 21 minutes. Aodh Dervin, Cian Byrne and Adam Verdon where all involved. Verdon turned his marker and knocked the ball wide to Jamal Ibrahim on the left. Ibrahim cut inside the box, but saw his shot saved by Athlone keeper Vladi Velikin.
Longford almost equalised six minutes after the restart. A Dervin corner found Byrne at the back post. However, Eli deflected the header out for a corner.
Red Cards Produced
Longford's chances of getting back into the contest suffered a huge blow on 63 minutes, when Dervin received his marching orders for a second yellow-card after handling the ball on the ground.
Neither side created any clear-cut chances after Dervin’s dismissal, but there was plenty of drama in the closing stages.
Whereas, referee Marc Lynch produced three more red cards from the 89th minute.
As full-time approached, Athlone keeper Velikin was shown a straight red-card for an altercation with Longford’s Cian Byrne on the goal-line after a Longford corner.
However stoppage time saw further drama. Longford full-back Kyle O’Connor was shown a straight red-card after a tussle with Campion-Hinds.
Finally, Longford manager Stephen Henderson was dismissed for his protests, 60 seconds later.
Athlone Town (4-1-4-1): Velikin, Duffy (Kavanagh 44), Rodriguez, Van Geenen, Abdikadir, Hickey, Campion-Hinds, Connolly, Leal (McGlone 64(Minogue 90)), Lennon (Dolia 64), Pierrot.
Longford Town (4-4-1-1): Brady, Farrell (Lynch 70), Serdeniuk, Byrne, O’Connor, Giurgi, Verdon, Fay (Priosti 85), Ibrahim, Dervin, James (Magerusan 70).
Elsewhere, Bray Wanderers held leaders Galway United to a 1-1 draw. Second placed Waterford smashed Treaty United 7-0, Wexford scored a 2-1 win over Cobh Ramblers. While Finn Harps drew nil-all with Kerry.
Therefore, the result leaves Longford Town eighth in the first division table, five points off the play-off places.
