WHAT LOOKED TO be an assured three points from Waterford was undone by a second-half header from Mohamed Boudiaf that snatched a point for Longford Town at the RSC on Friday evening.
This made up for an early Darragh Lynch own goal that set up the Blues for a dominant performance in front of a home crowd consisting of 2836 spectators.
Waterford went ahead with just six minutes on the clock, with the own goal coming from a Barry Baggley corner.
Longford arrived looking to put an end to a miserable week that saw them lose to Athlone in the league and Crumlin United in the Leinster Senior Cup. They firstly tried to respond with Lynch breaking down the right wing. His cross was intended for Aodh Dervin but it ended up at the feet of Baggley who easily dealt with it.
Their first shot on target was from the right boot of Kyle O’Connor and Paul Martin picked this up at the near post.
The Blues shrugged off Longford’s enthusiasm and saw out the rest of the first half with a dogged showing that was unlucky not to get a goal.
Connor Parsons left the pitch the most frustrated as a cross from Roland Idowu came off Jack Brady and landed at the feet of the midfielder. His first time shot was well saved by a diving Longford goalkeeper and the kick-out put the ball onto the feet of a blue jersey. A sequence of passing then led to a driven attempt from Christopher Conn-Clarke that went inches high of the target.
Waterford’s stride was totally knocked off its course 10 minutes into the second half when Shane Elworthy crossed to the back post and Boudiaf nodded the ball down and over the line.
They settled themselves, however, and regained their shape to halt Longford’s momentum. Ryan Burke was their main attacking threat on the left flank as they tried to use this period of the game to get around a compact Longford defence.
In the end, Stephen Henderson’s men dug in to grind out the draw and leave the south-east with a point.
Waterford FC: Paul Martin; Ryan Burke, Eddie Nolan, Barry Baggley, Connor Parsons (Charles Ondo 57), Christopher Conn-Clarke, Tunmise Sobowale, Richard Idowu (Shane Griffin 73), Giles Philips, Dean McMenamy, Wassim Aouachria (Thomas Olowu 57).
Longford Town: Jack Brady; Shane Elworthy, Derek Daly (Mohammed Boudiaf 37), Oisin Hand, Joshua Giurgi (Francis Campbell 81), Gary Armstrong (Adam Verdon 68), Cian Byrne, Aodh Dervin, Viktor Serdeniuk, Kyle O’Connor, Darragh Lynch (Jamal Ibrahim 45).
Referee: Gavin Colfer
League of Ireland First Division results
- Waterford 1-1 Longford Town
- Cobh Ramblers 2-1 Wexford
- Galway United 1-0 Treaty United
- Athlone Town 3-1 Finn Harps
- Bray Wanderers 3-1 Kerry