Galway United 2
Longford Town 1

Galway United came from behind to edge out Longford Town and secure a priceless victory in front of a crowd of almost 3,000 at Terryland Park on Friday night.

It did not look good for United when bottom of the table Longford Town hit the front just short of the hour mark when Dave Mooney hit his 14th goal of the campaign.

But United, buoyed on by the big home crowd, hit back and conjured a brace of goals to put daylight between themselves and Longford with five games remaining.

United are nine points clear of Longford but Waterford remain just four points behind Tony Cousins' men, ensuring every point is vital from here to the end of the campaign.

Longford, dead and buried it seemed for most of the season, had the better scoring chances early on, although John Lester and Derek Glynn went close to breaking the deadlock before the break.

The second half was only four minutes old when United had loud appeals for a penalty. Vinny Faherty sent over a cross from the right that was met first time by Derek O'Brien. His fierce, 20-yard shot struck Pat Sullivan's arm in the penalty box but referee Richie Winter saw it as ball to arm.

Longford made the breakthrough on 56 minutes when Dessie Baker set up Mooney who finished clinically ? he is now joint top scorer in the league with Roy O'Donovan, who has since moved to Sunderland.

But United responded well and were back on level terms inside three minutes when Glynn was fouled inside the box as Alan Keane stepped forward and blasted home his first goal for the club at this level.

United seized the initiative after that and took control of the game and after a couple of close misses, it was skipper Wesley Charles who decided the issue after 73 minutes when he headed home a corner from Alan Murphy for a goal which could be the one which keeps United in the top division.

Galway United: Rogers; Keane, Fitzgerald, Lester, Charles; Murphy, Foley, O'Halloran (Russell, 64), O'Brien; Faherty, Glynn (Moran, 86).

Longford Town: Kelly; Sullivan, Brennan, Ryan, Prunty; Reilly (Martin, 76), James, Deegan, Rutherford; Baker, Mooney.

Referee: R Winter (Wicklow).

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