Dundalk 0-0 Longford Town
Goalkeeper Paul Hunt was the Longford Town hero as the ten-man Midlanders produced a fantastic defensive performance to hold champions Dundalk to a 0-0 draw at Oriel Park.
The result breathes new life into the Airtricity League title race. Stephen Kenny’s men are now seven points clear at the summit but Cork City can close that gap to four if they overcome Sligo Rovers on Saturday evening.
The visitors were left with an uphill task when skipper Mark Salmon was harshly sent off by referee Tomas Connolly three minutes before half time.
But, to their credit, Tony Cousins’s side dug in and frustrated Dundalk in the second half with goalkeeper Hunt making a host of fantastic saves to keep the champions out.
The visitors came into the game looking to arrest a slide of three defeats in their previous four outings and they were happy to let the champions dictate the play in the early stages.
However Dundalk lacked fluency and needlessly squandered possession on a number of occasions, much to the frustration of the home support.
Their best passage of play almost led to the first goal after nine minutes. Andy Boyle’s raking pass found Sean Gannon raiding on the right but his cross was just too high for the unmarked Daryl Horgan in the middle.
If that was a half chance, then a real opening arrived in the 18th minute. Daryl Horgan picked out David McMillan on the inside left but his shot was wayward.
Longford grew into the game towards the end of the first half and alarm bells were ringing in the Dundalk penalty area in the 36th minute when Shaw met Pat Sullivan’s corner but Gary Rogers made a fine save to keep the game scoreless.
Their momentum was disrupted six minutes later, however, as referee Tomas Connolly took centre stage. McMillan’s heavy touch outside the penalty area saw the ball roll at pace towards Hunt.
A collision with Salmon ensued with Connolly deeming the Longford captain of denying a goalscoring opportunity. A red card was produced, leading to disbelief and protests in the Longford camp.
The frustration levels grew in the second half as Dundalk struggled to break down the two banks of four erected in front of Hunt’s goal.
Kenny turned to the ammunition on his bench and Sean Maguire almost made a dream start to his Dundalk career, heading a Sean Gannon cross just over the top just seconds after being introduced.
The former West Ham United striker was involved again soon after, Rhys Gorman having to make a brilliant clearance to deny Maguire a tap in from Ciaran Kilduff’s knock down.
The Oriel Park faithful thought the breakthrough had finally arrived in the 83rd minute. Brian Gartland’s flick found Maguire lurking at the back post again but Hunt made a fabulous save.
Dundalk kept pushing and another golden opportunity was squandered in the 89th minute when Gartland, completely unmarked just yards out, headed a Horgan corner straight into the arms of Hunt.
The Longford goalkeeper then secured his man-of-the-match status in injury time when he pushed a Ronan Finn effort around the post.
Dundalk: Gary Rogers; Sean Gannon, Brian Gartland, Andy Boyle, Dane Massey; Richie Towell, Stephen O’Donnell (John Mountney 75); Darren Meenan (Ciaran Kilduff 60), Ronan Finn, Daryl Horgan; David McMillan (Sean Maguire 66).
Longford Town: Paul Hunt; Pat Sullivan, Conor Powell, Rhys Gorman, Martin Deady; Lorcan Shannon (Don Cowan 72), Mark Salmon, Kevin O’Connor, Stephen Rice, Aymen Ben Mohamed (Kaleem Simon 78); Gary Shaw.
Referee: Tomas Connolly.
