Longford Town v St. Kevins’ Boys preview

Tuesday night marks the very first Cup game at the newly named City Calling Stadium as St.Kevin's Boys come to town for a Leinster Senior Cup tie. Ahead of the match, LTFC.ie reporter, Kieran Burke (@burko77_) previews the game while he also talks to former St.Kevin’s striker Josh O'Hanlon.

Tuesday night sees Longford Town return to Cup action after their heroics in Cobh only three days ago. Tony Cousins men were 2-0 and 3-1 down away to the Cork side only for two late late goals to grab a glorious 3-4 win at St.Colmans Park.

The Midlanders will now have to bring themselves back down to earth for a Leinster Senior Cup tie with Dublin based side St.Kevin’s Boys. Despite the fact many people look at the LSC as a less glamorous or prestigious competition there is no doubt Tony Cousins will want to avoid an upset.

While many may be unaware of St.Kevin’s Boys and their history, they are one of the country’s finest non-league clubs with a rich history of producing not just top Irish talent but world class talent most notably the likes of Damian Duff, Liam Brady, Ian Harte, Stephen Carr, Alan Maybury, while more recently Robbie Brady and Jeff Hendrick have gone onto make it at full international level for the Republic of Ireland.

Looking even closer to home, St.Kevin’s Boys is of course the club our very own Josh O’Hanlon signed from with “Joshey” going onto score on his debut for “De Town” against Salthill Devon while he also notched his first Town cup goal in the local derby against Athlone recently.

While Longford are only entering the competition at this stage, St.Kevin’s Boys have had to earn the right to face an Airtricity League side with an impressive win against; Athlone based side, Willow Park in the last round. The fact Willow are recognised as one of the top junior sides around is a true testament to the danger of St.Kevin’s boys when they visit City Calling Stadium on Tuesday night.

Ahead of Tueasday’s encounter against his old side, Josh O’Hanlon had this to say on facing his old side: “The game against Kevin's is definitely one I'm looking forward to, it will be good to play against my old club so soon after leaving them”.

“I know that this is a game that the team will want to win in order to progress into the next round and it’s certainly a cup that we will be looking to do well in, if not win!”

“I know Kevin's will definitely be up for the game and they won't give us an easy game. Kevin's have recently been eliminated from the Leinster Junior cup, so they will definitely be looking to stay in the Leinster senior cup”.

“Saturdays 4-3 win over Cobh shows the type of character we have in the team and Kevin's can certainly expect a tough game on Tuesday night at City Calling Stadium”.

Kick-off at City Calling Stadium is 7-45pm on Tuesday 2nd April and we would like to see as many people as possible in attendance to not only thank the lads for their efforts in Cobh but to help them over the line in this possible banana-skin cup tie.