Cobh Ramblers come from behind to grab point, miss late penalty to steal victory

Longford Town goalkeeper Kian Moore collides with Jordan Adeyemi of Cobh Ramblers. Pic: Michael P Ryan/Sportsfile

Cobh Ramblers 2 Longford Town 2 

Cobh Ramblers overturned a 2-0 halftime deficit to salvage a draw with Longford Town at St. Colman’s Park.

The home side could have won the tie in the 88th minute but Shane Griffin saw a penalty saved by Kian Moore at the Liam McMahon Stand.

It was a chaotic night that looked like Longford were in control of at the break after Dean Wiliams and Aaron Doran hit the back of the net. Dara McCormick halved the deficit and Alex O’Brien scored an own goal for the equaliser in the 69th minute.

That decided an end to end encounter that opened with Jonas Stjernberg hitting the post from close range and James Bailey stinging the palms of Timothy Martin with a powerful strike at the Liam McMahon Stand.

Longford were the next side to creating something, with an intricate passing move involving Aaron Doran and Bailey. Callum Honohan slid in to get the ball back for Cobh with a risky tackle inside the box.

Longford put together something similar in the 40th minute. This time it ended with Williams firing in after collecting a pass from Doran.

A second followed in the 43rd minute. The creator turned scorer by picking up a Bailey pass and rifling the roof of the net at the near post.

It was 2-0 at the break and Cobh pulled one back in the 51st minute when Griffin set up McCormick for a stunning strike that went into the top corner.

The equaliser came from Rhys Gourdie hunting the ball down from a corner. The midfielder crossed in and O’Brien turned that in for an own goal at the back post.

Cobh kept going, and it looked like they were going to get the win when a penalty was awarded over a foul on Jordan Adeyemi in the 87th minute. Moore held his nerve on that occasion, diving to his left to thwart Griffin.

Elsewhere, Peter Grogan was the matchwinner as Athlone Town were 2-1 victors over Bray Wanderers.

Cobh Ramblers: Timothy Martin; Callum Honohan, Brendeán Frahill (Ronan Mansfield 76), Cian Coleman, Luka Le Bervet (Lucas Curtin 82); Shane Griffin, Dara McCormick (Oran Crowe 82); Anthony Adenopo, Rhys Gourdie, Jordan Adeyemi, Jonas Stjernberg (Rhys Kelly Noonan 86).

Longford Town: Kian Moore; Taylor McCarthy, Cole Omorehiomwan, Jake Hough; Sultan Adenekan (Sean Moore 76), Aaron Doran, Dean Williams, James Bailey (Kian Brunton 84), Alex O’Brien; Stefan Ugbesia (Daniel McKenna 75), Andy Paraschiv.

Referee: John Sconnie Walsh