A sublime goal deep into extra time from Sean Dillon maintained Longford Town's hold on the FAI Cup as they went through from this epic replay to defend their trophy in the final against Waterford United at Lansdowne Road on October 24th.

Having scored their winner on a recent league visit to United Park, Dillon popped up again with a far better, and ultimately more important, goal with 114 minutes up on referee Alan Kelly's stopwatch.

With the game having failed to raise above the ordinary since Drogheda's equaliser in the 49th minute, thankfully the next decent passage of play was well worth the wait.

Alan Murphy, guilty of giving the ball away for Drogheda's goal, freed Dean Fitzgerald down the right. And though his cross was headed clear, it fell for Dillon, now at left-back having started the match on the opposite flank. He took a touch before curling a delightful, right-foot shot to the far top corner of Gary Rogers' net from 25 yards.

Drogheda started positively, with Sean McClare forcing a corner inside a minute before slicing wide when he ought to have had the first shot on target minutes later.

Longford soon settled, though, winning two corners of their own, with Shane Barrett firing marginally over the bar before 10 minutes had elapsed.

A short lull in a frantic cup tie ended with Drogheda's Andy Myler putting the ball into the Longford net, but Kelly had already blown for a push on visiting captain Barry Ferguson.

It was a let off Longford heeded as they took the lead with a sublime piece of football on 32 minutes. Paul Keegan won a clean header to direct the ball out wide to Barrett. His exquisite, waist-high cross, with the outside of his right foot, was presented on a plate for the inrushing John Martin at the back post to side-foot past Rogers for an advantage Longford fully deserved.

A response was needed from a Drogheda side generally struggling to find the initiative. Some Andy Myler ingenuity almost brought it, but his looping header over Stephen O'Brien from a John Lester free-kick was cleared a yard from the goal line by Ferguson.

Drogheda came within inches of having a mountain to climb a minute after the restart and the game twisted and turned inside four minutes when Dessie Baker's audacious lob came back off the crossbar with Rogers beaten.

Drogheda's undesirable record of having failed to score against Longford in their previous four meetings had to come to an end. It duly did in the 49th minute with the added irony of it stemming from a mistake by Murphy, the Drogheda man in the Longford midfield.

Murphy lost possession, Molloy threaded the ball through for the run of Declan O'Brien who clipped it over his namesake to equalise.

DROGHEDA UNITED: Rogers; Flanagan, O'Connor, Gray, Sandvliet; McClare (Freeman, 112 mins), Molloy, Lester, Cronin; O'Brien, Myler (Rooney, 78 mins)

LONGFORD TOWN: O'Brien; Dillon, Ferguson, Gartland, Prunty (Perth, 98 mins); Martin (Lavine, 85 mins), Murphy, Fitzgerald, Barrett; Baker, Keegan.

Referee: A Kelly (Cork).