Bohemians 1
Longford Town 1
ANY POINT WILL do for Tony Cousins whose Longford Town team edge a small bit away from the drop zone but he will probably the unhappier manager, having watched his team come from behind thanks to a Noel Haverty equaliser and then fail to find a winner during an entire half against ten men.
It was Keith Buckley who went for the early bath after a harsh second yellow card in the first half but the silver lining came from Paddy Kavangh who scored a wonder goal to put his team in front minutes later.
The home team had the better of the opening exchanges with Kavanagh looking like the biggest threat working down the right flank.
That said, they failed to cause goalkeeper Paul Hunt too much concern with a Roberto Lopes shot and headers from Dave Mulcahy and Derek Prendergast all off target.
Longford were having similar issues with their rare forays into the host’s half as Kevin O’Connor skewed one wide while Dean Kelly’s 25th minute free also flew the wrong side of the post.
The only time Hunt had to stop a shot was a pretty tame effort in the 32nd minute from Akinade who awoke from his slumber just after the half hour mark.
His 34th minute header from a corner was directed at the turf but flew back up towards the top corner where Pat Sullivan’s head managed to prevent a certain goal.
All the while, midfielder Buckley looked to have ants in his pants and nothing seemed to be going right for him all night and while his second yellow may have been harsh, the red was coming.
The livewire midfielder put in a late tackle on Sullivan in the 37th minute and while he did catch the Longford defender’s shin, it was minimal but the referee flashed the red immediately.
The home players rallied after watching their team mate exit down the tunnel and just three minutes later their anger turned to joy after a piece of Kavanagh magic.
The winger dribbled inside off the wing past three Longford players, the first man slipped, and fired a beautiful left-footed shot from the edge of the box which curled inside the post.
The visitors pressed after conceding and their were warning signs for Keith Long’s men with Lorcan Shannon causing problems with his crosses from the right wing.
One was headed wide by Gary Shaw in a very dangerous position in the box while the other, which looked to be dipping under the crossbar, was slapped away by Dean Delany.
The resulting corner was flicked backwards by Stephen Best who rose highest but it dropped to an unmarked Noel Haverty and he smashed it right under the post past Delany.
Longford looked threatening after the restart and were celebrating a 47th minute lead but it was cut short.
Shannon got on the end of a cross right in front of goal and bundled it in but as he wheeled away he spotted the assistant referee with his flag raised for offside.
Kelly was played in after 56 minutes and hit a cracking shot from 20 yards but the ball smacked off the corner of the upright and post.
The best Bohs could muster in the second-half was a reaction shot from Kavanagh which went wide after a determined Akinade cut the ball back at the end of a run across the bye line.
Bohemians: Delany, Fitzgerald, Lopes, Prendergast, Moore (Kelly 64), Buckley, Kavanagh, Hayes, Best, Akinade, Mulcahy (Wearen 87). Substitutes: Byrne, Byrne, Dillon, Creevy, Steacy.
Longford Town: Hunt, Deady, Haverty, Rice, Shannon (Simon 73), Shaw, O’Connor, Sullivan, Ben Mohamed, Gorman, Kelly (O’Sullivan 65). Substitutes: Skinner, Mulhall, Salmon, O’Sullivan, Simon, Gannon, Rossiter.