St Patrick's Athletic 1 Longford Town 1: An equaliser in the fourth minute of injury time by Vinny Perth earned a point for Longford Town at Richmond Park last night. Perth rifled the ball home from the edge of the area to claim a valuable point in an entertaining match that St Patrick's looked destined to win after Colm Foley had given them a 20th-minute lead.
On balance, the result was fair, though both sides will claim they should have had a victory. While St Patrick's just shaded the game on chances, it was Longford who dominated possession, especially in the second half.
Longford were first to threaten, in the fourth minute, when Dessie Baker failed to make sufficient contact with a header from a Barry Ferguson cross after Alan Kirby's corner had only been half cleared. But it was St Patrick's who were the more constructive in the early stages and, in the 20th minute, earned a deserved lead.
A five-man move led to a corner on the right which was swung over by Keith Fahey for Foley to head powerfully into the roof of the net from six yards.
St Patrick's grew in confidence and had two gilt-edged opportunities to put the game beyond doubt just before the half-hour mark.
In the 28th minute, Aidan O'Keeffe should have scored when a Keith Dunne right-wing cross found him unmarked six yards out, but he headed straight at Stephen O'Brien.
And one minute later, Ferguson needed to clear off his own line when Tony Bird had beaten O'Brien from close range after Joseph Ndo's miss-kicked shot fell invitingly for the unmarked Welshman.
But Longford came back strongly towards half-time, with Alan Kirby heading wide and Barrett somehow failing to make contact on an inviting Alan Martin cross when unmarked six yards out.
The St Patrick's defence held firm until the final seconds of the game when Perth fired home the equaliser.
ST PATRICK'S ATHLETIC: Adamson; Quigley, Maguire, Foley, Byrne; Dunne, Fahey, Ndo, O'Keeffe (Osam, 86 mins); Bird, Jones (Rose, 70 mins).
LONGFORD TOWN: O'Brien; Dillon, McGovern, Ferguson, Prunty; Martin (Byrne, 65 mins), Perth, Fitzgerald (Francis 79 mins), Kirby; Barrett, Baker (Lavine, 65 mins).
Referee: D Hanney (Dublin).
