Joe Gorman says Longford must 'earn respect' this season

Saturday’s impressive 2-0 victory over Derry City at Bishopsgate Stadium will have certainly made some doubters sit up and take stock of the midlands club.

It was a thoroughly deserved win to mark their first return to top flight football since 2016 but Gorman, who netted the insurance goal against the Candy Stripes, claims his team must reproduce the same energetic performance week-in, week-out if they’re to stay in the division.

“It’s a good start. I thought every single one of us, from one to 11, even the players who came off the bench did pretty well. Look, we’re just hard to beat, that’s the name of the game. A clean sheet is the key.

“You have to earn the right to play. Earn respect and that’s what we’re trying to do every single game. Treat it like a cup final and look what happened tonight, we earned a 2-0 victory.

“It will be a big game next week against Bohs. We’ll take it as another cup final.”

Was he surprised at how easily they rolled over the Candy Stripes on the night?

“Derry have been in the league years and you’ve got to respect them like every team. It’s key that we earn the right to play, run ourselves into the ground and then you never know what can happen.”

Gorman did superbly to marshall David Parkhouse during the 90 minutes but it was at the other end he proved most effective when firing into the net from close range after Aodh Dervin’s free-kick was parried clear.

“I seem to be on a good run of late. I would’ve taken a 1-0 win but I’m glad to be on the scoresheet. Aodh hits that type of free-kick, a Ronaldo-like free-kick which makes it hard for keepers to catch cleanly. He’s been catching them in training to be fair to him and if you don’t follow in you don’t score.”