Longford Town 1 Bray Wanderers 1

Longford Town 1 Bray Wanderers 1

Conor Davis came off the bench to deny his former club and salvage a point SSE Airtricity First Division for Bray.

The sub grabbed the leveller on 80 minutes as the Wicklow club remained third din the table.

Joshua Giurgi had given Longford an early lead on Saturday evening at a wet Bishopsgate.

The same player was then denied a late winner in injury time by the crossbar.

Substitute Davis claimed his first league goal with ten minutes of normal times remining when he swivelled to finish off Ben Feeney’s centre with a fine half volley from 12-yards.

The match went ahead after a preliminary pitch inspection then a follow up after the rain that fell in the area before kick-off. That meant the pitch cut-up badly as the contest wore on.

The Seasiders also made three changes from their defeat to leaders Galway with goalkeeper Stephen McGuinness and attacker Ger Shortt coming in while ex-Town player Darren Craven made his first full start in over 12 months.

There was positional changes too. Across the back, Max Murphy moved to right back. Skipper Dane Massey reverted to left-full while Jack Hudson.

On the bench, U19 player Ben Clarke was included alongst the substitutes for the first time in the league.

The Midlanders alternated from their 2-1 home loss last week to Wexford with four changes with Aaron Walsh, Adam Verdon, Gary Armstrong and former Wanderer Darragh Lynch all coming into their starting XI.

The Red and Black’s hit the front after ten minutes. Gary Armstrong sprayed play wide right. Shane Elworthy crossed low with Giurgi slotting in first time from ten-yards.

Bray probably had the better of possession in the opening period. But did not make it count.

The closest they came to drawing level came on the half hour. Shortt got on the end of Power’s corner with his downward header bouncing down and up past the near post.

Right on half time, the visitors lost striker Jake Walker to what seemed a foot injury, to be replaced by Chris Lyons.

The game opened up more after the interval.

Lyons shot tamely at Jack Brady when well place on the edge of the penalty area on 66.

Moments later at the other end, Lynch weaved his way past a couple of defenders, He managed to get the ball under McGuinness, but Massey got back to clear inside the six-yard box – but not a goal line clearance as some said.

Then on 69, Brady fumbled Power’s free. Craven hooked a half volley that the custodian got back to parry off the line.

In the last minute of normal time, Lyons was brought down just outside the box by sub Mohammed Boudiaf with a yellow being produced to deny the visitors a clear scoring opportunity. A different colour was an option. Massey took the resulting free with the ball going just over the crossbar.

The ‘Town almost won it in the fourth minute of the stoppage time.

From Sam Verdon’s free, the ball rebounded to Giurgi whose effort crashed back off the bar. The ball rebounded before Boudiaf blasted over close in with the goal at his mercy.

Longford Town: Jack Brady; Shane Elworthy, Aaron Walsh (Viktor Serdeniuk 28), Cian Byrne, Kyle O’Connor; Adam Verdon, Gary Armstrong; Francis Campbell (Mohammed Boudiaf 74), Aodh Dervin, Darragh Lynch (Jamal Ibrahim 84); Joshua Giurgi.

Subs not used: Ross Fay, Ciaran Hodanu, Stephen Meaney, Evan Farrell, Thomas Bourke.

Booked: Campbell 68, Elworthy 83, Boudiaf 89.

Bray Wanderers: Stephen McGuinness; Max Murphy, Jack Hudson, Cole Omorehiomwan, Dane Massey; Guillermo Almirall (Zach Donohue 76), Joe Power; Ben Feeney, Darren Craven (Luka Lovic 76), Ger Shortt (Conor Davis 60), Jake Walker (Chris Lyons 45).

Subs not used: Dave Webster, Conor Knight, Lorcan Fitzgerald, Ben Clarke, Alex Moody.

Booked: McGuinness 12, Ian Ryan 41, Lorcan Fitzgerald 59, Power 82, Hudson 90 + 3.

Referee: Michael Connolly.

Pictures: Gerry Scully.