A sense of deja vu on Saturday night for Wexford FC as we were beaten 3-0 at the City Calling Stadium for the second time this year. In many ways the game was a repeat of the encounter back in March. A strong first half performance but the hosts clinical in the second. Sean Kelly and Mikey Byrne were the only players starting at the weekend who appeared in the first meeting and of course it was the first match without Damian Locke on the sidelines.

Adham Masood received his first start for the senior side (after sub appearances at St Pats and U.C.D) while new signing Paddy Cahill saw his Wexford debut with a starting place in central defence. Emmet Nugent started upfront for the first time since his debut as a sub against Cabinteely while on the bench it was great to see Sean Smithers from our U17 squad get the call up to the senior side sitting alongside U19 call up Craig O'Reilly.

With all the new players and new coaching set up of Seanie O'Shea, James Quinn and Billy Molloy who only had days to prepare the squad for the first time it was encouraging to see how disciplined Wexford were in the first 45, Longford restricted to long range efforts. There was an element of frustration among the home crowd as the half time whistle blew when the sides went in even.

It was inevitable that the Town were going to come out strong after the break and vital that Wexford kept things tight so it was tough to take when there was an element of good fortune for the home teams opener in the very first minute, Dylan McGlades strike with a deflection that gave Corey Chambers no chance. This gave encouragement to the home team and Wexford were under severe pressure from then on. A second goal on the hour from Daniel O'Reilly put them in control. There were a couple of efforts from Dean George and John Morgan that Michael Kelly kept out before McGlade added his second and Longfords third in the 66th minute to guarantee the three points for the home team.

Some positives from the game, Sean Smithers came on for the last half hour and had no hesitation in taking players on, Craig O'Reilly also appearing for the last quarter and Mahsood getting another 90 minutes of invaluable experience at this level.

Wexford FC : Corey Chambers, Liam McCartan, Sean Kelly (Craig O'Reilly 76), Paddy Cahill, John Morgan, Mikey Byrne (c), Conor Sutton, Aaron O'Connor (Sean Smithers 60), Dean George, Emmet Nugent and Adham Masood.  Subs Not Used: Colum Feeney and Ross Kenny.

Longford Town : Michael Kelly, Shane Elworthy, Tristan Noack Hoffman, Daniel O'Reilly, Sam Verdon, Dean Dillon (Jamie Doyle 64), Michael McDonnell, Aodh Dervin, Jamie Hollywood, Karl Chambers (Jackson Ryan 70) and Dylan McGlade.  Subs Not Used: Ben Kelly, Evan O'Connor, Dean Zambra, Darren Meenan and Warren Mitchell.

Check out the highlights below:

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