Waterford footballers look to get back to winning ways away to Longford.

Waterford Senior Footballers hopes of gaining promotion from Division four of the National Football League in 2015 took a serious dent last Saturday night when they lost a five point advantage at the break having played with a strong wind at their backs to loose by two against Carlow at Fraher Field.

Tom McGlinchey’s charges will get a chance to get back on track this weekend when they take on an unbeaten Longford side at Pearce Park, where anything but a win will mean that Waterford’s chances are all but over for another year.

The home side have collected a possible five points from a possible side in what has proven to be a positive start to the league beating Antrim and London (two sides Waterford have lost to in recent times) and drawing with Leitrim who Waterford beat last year at Fraher Field, and they will be looking to keep that great start in tact this weekend.

Under Jack Sheedy Longford have made steady progress this year and will be looking to move up a division as quickly as possible.

Offaly may we be the favourites to win this year’s Division Four section of the league. Longford however are not far behind them and the game between the two could well in the eyes of many be the game that decides who tops the group.

Waterford have already played and lost to Offaly in what proved to be somewhat of a controversial game as Shane Ahearne was ordered off after just nineteen minutes and after his sending off Waterford were playing an uphill battle.

However, should Waterford beat Longford this weekend and with Carlow who are also going well in this years league also to play both Longford and Offaly, things could get very interesting.

After loosing to both Offaly and Carlow in the last two games, there is some that would suggest that changes should be made to the team for this weekend, especially as Tony Grey, Liam Lawlor and Liam Ó Lonáin are now all back in contention, while Shane Walsh who rejoined the panel during the week could also be a surprise inclusion.  

All three are very good footballers and would be a huge addition to the team if selected, but if they were to be included, some may be wondering where they would be slotted into the team and what damage if any would it do to the confidence of the players that have come in for them while they were out of contention for a place in the team.

There are many that put down football in Waterford at every opportunity. However as those that follow the game closely will tell you, Waterford are able to hold their own with most at club level as borne out by Stradbally, Ballinacourty and The Nire in recent years in the Club Championship.

Waterford have some good footballers to pick from, and in the past when least expected, they have put up a very good showing and pulled off a result or have come very close to doing so. Who will forget how close Waterford came to beating Galway two years ago in Pearce Stadium.

Few will be expecting anything from Waterford this weekend, especially from outside the county.

With this in mind and taking into consideration that Waterford are wrote off by most, they come up with a good result and I for one will be expecting it to happen here.