LONGFORD TOWN AND Drogheda United shared the spoils in a game of two halves at the City Calling Stadium on Saturday evening.
A first-half goal from Kaleem Simon was cancelled out by Lee Duffy in the second with Sean Thornton unable to get what would have been the winner from the penalty spot for the visitors.
The Town got onto the scoreboard within the first 10 minutes to the applause of the home fans that have had little to cheer about in recent fixtures.
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Simon found the net when he latched onto the end of a ball from Mark Salmon and then dispatched his shot past Michael Schlingermann from close range.
Longford had two shouts for a penalty on the half hour mark when Gary Shaw and Alan Byrne clashed a couple of times. Shaw was initially felled on the edge of the box and the referee correctly awarded a free kick and then Byrne hauled the striker down the area but the appeals were waved away.
Drogheda thought they found the equaliser before half-time when Tiarnan Mulvenna picked up an oncoming pass but the linesman raised his flag as the ball hit the back of the net.
The visitors were awarded a penalty just after the restart when Thornton was taken down in the box by Kevin O’Connor but with the resulting spot kick, the former Sunderland midfielder placed his shot high over the cross bar.
The equaliser did eventually come when Duffy latched onto a loose ball and and composed himself before firing sweetly past Paul Hunt.
Longford pressed to get back ahead but were unable to find the crucial goal as the teams shared the points.
Former Sunderland midfielder Thornton misses penalty as Drogheda held by Longford
Longford Town 1
Drogheda United 1
LONGFORD TOWN AND Drogheda United shared the spoils in a game of two halves at the City Calling Stadium on Saturday evening.
A first-half goal from Kaleem Simon was cancelled out by Lee Duffy in the second with Sean Thornton unable to get what would have been the winner from the penalty spot for the visitors.
The Town got onto the scoreboard within the first 10 minutes to the applause of the home fans that have had little to cheer about in recent fixtures.
Simon found the net when he latched onto the end of a ball from Mark Salmon and then dispatched his shot past Michael Schlingermann from close range.
Longford had two shouts for a penalty on the half hour mark when Gary Shaw and Alan Byrne clashed a couple of times. Shaw was initially felled on the edge of the box and the referee correctly awarded a free kick and then Byrne hauled the striker down the area but the appeals were waved away.
Drogheda thought they found the equaliser before half-time when Tiarnan Mulvenna picked up an oncoming pass but the linesman raised his flag as the ball hit the back of the net.
The visitors were awarded a penalty just after the restart when Thornton was taken down in the box by Kevin O’Connor but with the resulting spot kick, the former Sunderland midfielder placed his shot high over the cross bar.
The equaliser did eventually come when Duffy latched onto a loose ball and and composed himself before firing sweetly past Paul Hunt.
Longford pressed to get back ahead but were unable to find the crucial goal as the teams shared the points.
Longford Town: Hunt, Mulhall, Deady, Rice, Shaw, O’Connor, Powell (c), Sullivan, Mohamed, Simon, Kelly.
Drogheda United: Schlingermann, Gorman, Byrne, Daly (c), Thornton, Brennan, Mulvenna, Duffy, O’Reilly, Hughes , Marks.
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SSE Airtricity League Premier Division League of Ireland LOI Report Drogheda United Longford Town