Dundalk 4-3 Longford Town
Ciaran Kilduff’s stoppage-time header put the cap on an unforgettable game at Oriel Park as Dundalk opened up a nine-point lead at the top of the table with a thrilling 4-3 victory over struggling Longford Town.
It looked like the champions had blown their chances of ramping up the pressure on the chasing pack when Rhys Gorman’s 74th-minute equaliser cancelled out David McMillan’s second hat-trick in the space of four days.
However, substitute Kilduff had the final say, heading a Daryl Horgan cross into the top corner of Paul Skinner’s net in the first minute of injury-time to break Longford Town - and also Cork City - hearts.
Faced with a blanket defence, an early goal is just what Dundalk would have wanted to try and open the game up, and it arrived after 11 minutes.
Patrick McEleney’s pinpoint delivery to the back post found McMillan and he headed back across goal to find Paul Skinner’s far corner.
The home side continued to apply the pressure with McMillan going close again after a neat move on the right involving Sean Gannon and Ronan Finn, but this time the Lilywhites hitman drove his half-volley off target.
It looked like it was only a matter of time before a second would arrive, but the visitors stunned the home support by drawing level with their first attempt on goal in the 35th minute.
Kealan Dillon’s corner found Lee Duffy at the near post and his flick whistled past Gary Rogers to send the teams in all-square at the break.
It looked like normal service had been resumed after just four minutes of the second half as Dundalk edged in front.
Again, the midlanders were undone by a cross from wide. This time it was Sean Gannon who provided the ammunition from the right, McMillan meeting it with a brilliant glancing header that left Skinner with absolutely no chance.
Tony Cousins’ side, though, had no intentions of lying down and they drew level for the second time in the 55th minute.
Dillon was the provider again, his corner from the left taking a slight flick off a white shirt and landing kindly for Noel Haverty to fire home and make it 2-2.
McMillan looked odds on to restore Dundalk’s lead two minutes later when he met another Gannon cross but Haverty’s presence was enough to force him into heading over the top.
The 27-year-old would not be denied, however, and he took his tally to 12 goals in just 13 league starts in the 63rd minute, anticipating another McEleney cross to head past Skinner for the third time.
Dundalk looked like they had no intentions of letting the lead slip again and Skinner’s fingertip save denied McEleney from making it 4-2 in the 68th minute before Andy Boyle thumped a free header from a Darren Meenan corner over the top four minutes later.
Naive defending at the other end, however, came back to haunt Dundalk again and when Boyle and Rogers made a complete mess of dealing with another Kealan Dillon set-piece in the 74th minute, Gorman was on hand to prod home.
The Oriel Park faithful were celebrating again in the 82nd minute when McMillan hit the net for a fourth time but the assistant’s flag went up for offside and it looked like Longford would leave with a deserved share of the spoils until the Lilywhites number 16 delivered the killer blow right at the death.
Dundalk: Gary Rogers; Sean Gannon, Brian Gartland, Andy Boyle, Dane Massey; Ronan Finn, Stephen O’Donnell; John Mountney (Darren Meenan 60), Patrick McEleney (Ciaran Kilduff 79), Daryl Horgan; David McMillan (Chris Shields 90)
Longford Town: Paul Skinner; Kealan Dillon, Rhys Gorman, Noel Haverty, Daniel O’Reilly, Conor Powell; Peter McGlynn (Kevin O’Connor 66), Philip Gannon, Mark Hughes; Lee Duffy (David O’Sullivan 63), Kaleem Simon
Referee: Dave McKeon
