League of Ireland Premier Division/ Galway Utd 1 Longford Town 1:An expectant Terryland Park audience demanded a home victory and Galway United came within a whisker of obliging, but Longford Town ambled away with a scarcely merited draw.
Galway's previous encounters had only yielded a solitary point, and their hard luck story continues as Alan Murphy missed a last-gasp penalty in a dramatic climax.
Both sides fashioned opportunities during a lively opening period. Galway's innovative 3-5-2 approach was troubling the visitors and chances fell to Murphy and Ciaran Foley, who both tested goalkeeper Shay Kelly.
Longford improved as the contest progressed with Daire Doyle prominent in the centre of the park. David Freeman forced a sublime save from Gary Rogers, but the teams were level at the interval.
Galway grabbed the lead 11 minutes after the restart when Stephen O'Flynn climbed highest in a densely populated area to steer Murphy's corner home.
Eight minutes from time, on a rare foray into enemy territory, Dave Mooney notched an opportunistic equaliser after Damien Brennan's header was cleared off the line. Galway were afforded a glorious opportunity deep into stoppage time, but Murphy's penalty was expertly saved by Kelly.
GALWAY UNITED: Rogers; James, Nootimer, Charles; O'Brien, Foley, Lester (Russell, 58 mins), Murphy, Daveron (Glynn, 58 mins); O'Flynn, Moran.
LONGFORD TOWN: Kelly; Sullivan, Doherty (R Martin, 14 mins), Brennan, Prunty; Deegan, J Martin (Reilly, 81 mins), Doyle, Rutherford; Freeman, Mooney.
Referee: R Winter(Wicklow).
