Longford Town denied a vital victory as Wexford strike late to steal a point

Wexford FC . . . 2  Longford Town . . . 2

Longford Town let a vital victory slip from their grasp with Wexford FC staging a dramatic late, late revival to snatch a point in a frantic finish at Ferrycarrig Park on the Bank Holiday Monday. 

Two goals from Jordan Adeyemo against his old club in the exciting closing stages of the Airtricity League First Division clash looked to have silenced the home crowd but Aaron Robinson (a former Longford player) and Cian Curtis hit the target with time running out to save Wexford from a damaging defeat in their push for a place in the promotion play-offs.

The game had been drifting along with precious few chances created but it burst to life in a most exciting conclusion with the bottom of the table visitors on the brink of a morale-boosting win.

Adeyemo had made a point of letting the home fans know what he thought of them after scoring an injury-time equaliser when these sides last met at this venue in April.

And he had good reason to gloat once again in the 80th minute when the busy Mohammed Boudiaf picked him out with a pass and he turned to fire a low shot from the left which deflected off the posts across goal and into the far corner of the net.

After picking up a yellow card for removing his jersey amid his celebrations, Adeyemo looked to have put the outcome beyond doubt with a second goal just four minutes later.

This time a Boudiaf pass to Francis Campbell broke invitingly into the path of Adeyemo who finished the ball to the net.

Wexford had wasted a chance in between those goals when Thomas Oluwa couldn’t make the most of a Luka Lovic knock-down, but it was left to a familiar source to save the day.

Cian O’Malley’s long throws have been a key weapon in Wexford’s attacking arsenal, and he launched one from the left in the 88th minute that Aaron Robinson connected with at the near post, with his looping header landing in the far corner of the net for his first goal of the season.

Centre-half O’Malley then trotted over to the right flank to send another delivery into the goalmouth with seconds of the 90 minutes remaining.

And while Oluwa got on the end of it but was denied from close range, the rebound fell to Cian Curtis who first-timed the ball to the net at the far post to secure a dramatic draw for the lucky home side.

Longford did earn a free-kick in a dangerous area slightly to the right of the posts during the five additional minutes but late substitute Guilherme Rego Priosti saw his header comfortably saved by the Wexford keeper Alex Moody.

The Town face another long trip down south on Friday when they take on the league leaders Cork City at Turners Cross, kick-off 7.45pm.

The selection of Moody ahead of Owen Mason for his long overdue first game of the season was the main talking point from the Wexford starting eleven.

Kaylem Harnett also featured from the off, with his football education continuing in a midfield tussle with the much-travelled Bastian Hery, a graduate of the Paris St. Germain academy and Madagascar international.

Those four late goals certainly went against the general run of proceedings, because the opening three-quarters and more had been quite dull by way of comparison.

Longford should have done better in the 15th minute when defender Kyle O’Connor embarked on a strong run before squaring the ball to Francis Campbell, but his slight delay before shooting was enough to enable a Wexford block and it led to a fruitless corner.

Seán McHale then teed up Harnett who couldn’t test Town keeper Jack Brady in a crowded box, while Aaron Dobbs had miscued an earlier shot after a sharp turn.

A Kian Corbally effort was deflected out for a corner on the restart, while Alex Moody was kept on his toes by a powerful shot from Boudiaf in the 53rd minute before Francis Campbell blazed the rebound off target.

A good spell for Wexford saw Oluwa and O’Malley go close with headers, before the former sent a Lovic through ball left and wide when he could have rolled it to Curtis in a better position.

Just as we were trying to recall the last scoreless draw at the venue (against Galway United in October 2022), the game sprung to life as Wexford responded with conviction to Adeyemo’s well-taken double.

WEXFORD FC: Alex Moody; Reece Webb, Cian O’Malley, Seán McHale, Mark Hanratty; Ethan Boyle; Kian Corbally, Kaylem Harnett; Mikie Rowe, Aaron Dobbs, Thomas Oluwa. 

Subs:- Aaron Robinson for Harnett (61 mins), Luka Lovic for Rowe (61 mins), Cian Curtis for Corbally (74 mins).

Subs not used: Owen Mason, Darragh Levingston, Ben Lynch, James Crawford, Carl Lennox, Brandon McCann.

LONGFORD TOWN: Jack Brady; Shane Elworthy, Jordan Tallon, Dean O’Shea, Kyle O’Connor; Bastian Hery; Francis Campbell, Conor Crowley, Mohammed Boudiaf, Karl Chambers; Jordan Adeyemo. 

Sub:- Guilherme Rego Priosti for Chambers (88 mins).

Subs not used: Jack McCarthy, Jack Harrington, Emmanuel James, Ryan Boyle, Vasyl Tropanets, Callum Bonner.

Referee: Endrit Malavecs (Dublin).