Late Gray strike lets Drogheda off hook

LONGFORD will be kicking themselves after gifting a draw to out-of-sorts Drogheda at Flancare Park on Saturday.

However, the point is enough to move Longford up two places to eighth in the premier division standings while Drogheda move clear in fourth, a point ahead of Waterford.

Longford made most of the initial running and Dessie Baker had a good chance to give his side an early lead, but the winger made no mistake when presented with his second opportunity in the 22nd minute.

Paul Keegan pressured visiting keeper Dan Connor who had to resort to fisting the ball clear. Baker ran onto the clearance and calmly slotted the ball home through a cluster of Drogheda defenders.

The Drogs upped the tempo somewhat in the second half, but still failed to develop any goal scoring chances. That was until the 82nd minute. Barry Ferguson fouled Graham Gartland and Shane Robinson’s free kick was headed home by Stephen Gray.

In Division One, Limerick FC moved into fourth spot following a first-half blitz of Kildare County at Station Road on Saturday.

Strikes from two-goal Robbie Kelleher and Colin O’Brien, in an eight-minute spell beginning in the 24th minute, saw off the home side as the Blues recorded their first away win of the season.

O’Brien opened the scoring, closely followed by Kelleher who finished off a Brian Donnelan corner to notch his second goal of the season. Kelleher then added his side’s third-after Derek McCarthy sprung the offside trap-to send Noel O’Connor’s side in at the break three up.

Shay Zeller pulled one back just under the hour mark and almost reduced the deficit further midway through the half only to be foiled by a fine save from Noel Mooney.

Elsewhere, Sean Flannery hit his first goal of the season as Sligo got back to winning ways with a 1-0 win over Kilkenny City at the Showgrounds. Flannery made his return to the Rovers side last week following a month out as his registration was looked into.

But he signalled his return on the scoresheet after 67 minutes when tapping in the rebound after a free-kick from Lupono Low cannoned off the Cats’ wall.