Emmanuel James the saviour as Longford Town snatch late, late equaliser against Athlone

Longford Town . . . 1   Athlone Town . . . 1

Just when it seemed like Longford Town were heading for a home defeat, up popped substitute Emmanuel James to direct a dipping header into the back of the net in the 88th minute of the midlands derby against Athlone.

After linking up with another replacement Guilherme Rego Priosti, the opportunity to create the equaliser was engineered by Dean O’Shea on the left wing and local lad James made no mistake in hitting the target in a dramatic finish to the league clash at Bishopsgate on Saturday night last.

While the loyal Longford supporters were naturally delighted with another positive result under the caretaker manager Wayne Groves to follow up the fine home win against Treaty United a few days earlier, Athlone had a couple of great chances to collect all three points in extending their impressive unbeaten run to seven games.

Scoreless at the break with little happening in the first half, the Town wasted a clear-cut goal attempt from close range in the 51st minute when Jordan Adeyemo directed a tame header straight at the opposing keeper Enda Minogue before the visitors eventually broke the deadlock.

A right wing cross from Amardo Akeem Oakley picked out the unmarked Gideon Teten who smacked a low drive into the corner of the net in the 53rd minute and Athlone almost doubled their advantage, only to be denied by ever dependable Town keeper Jack Brady who produced a superb save to keep out a shot from Tetteh in the 68th minute.

Injury hit Longford, who were without suspended duo Mohammed Boudiaf and Kyle O’Connor, almost conceded a killer second goal in the 87th minute when a point-blank effort from substitute Jamal Ibrahim was cleared off the line by opposing defender Oisin Hand in a frantic scramble.

In the immediate counter-attack, Longford scored the late, late goal to snatch a draw and the managerless midlanders are back at home on Saturday night when Cobh Ramblers come to Bishopsgate, kick-off 7.30pm.

Having failed to keep a cleansheet in the 16 league fixtures played so far this season, the Town need to rectify that problem in their bid to climb up the First Division table.

Athlone almost scored in the early stages of the game on Saturday when former Longford player Dean Ebbe shot just over the bar in the 10th minute but the home side produced a strong finish to the first half with striker Jordan Adeyemo posing problems.

Dean O’Shea directed a glancing header narrowly wide in the 39th minute and then Francis Campbell had a shot blocked before Adeyemo weaved his way past three Athlone defenders, only to lose control of the ball when he was about to pull the trigger from close range.

Rattled by the concession of the Athlone goal in the early stages of the second half, resilient Longford managed to stay in the game and their perseverance was rewarded with the late equaliser from Emmanuel James, much to his sheer delight and the happy home supporters

LONGFORD TOWN: Jack Brady; Jordan Tallon, Viktor Serdeniuk, Oisin Hand; Shane Elworthy, Ross Fay, Bastien Hery, Conor Crowley, Dean O’Shea; Jordan Adeyemo, Francis Campbell.

Subs:- Emmanuel James for Tallon and Guilherme Rego Priosti for Crowley (both in the 75th minute); Karl Chambers for Fay (82 mins); Vasyl Tropanets for Campbell (84 mins). 

ATHLONE TOWN: Enda Minogue; Oisin Duffy, Dylan Hand, German Fuentes Rodriguez, Brian Torre; Amardo Akeem Oakley, Daniel McKenna, Aaron Connolly, Gideon Tetteh, Carl Mujaguzi; Dean Ebbe.

Subs:- Jamara Campion-Hinds for Oakley (67 mins); Jamal Ibrahim for Tetteh and Matthew Leal for Mujaguzi (both in the 79th minute); Jarlath Jones for Torre (stoppage time). 

Referee: Aaron O’Dowd.