Longford Town held second-placed Waterford to a scoreless draw at Bishopsgate following a lackluster contest at Bishopsgate.
The sides cancelled each other out during the opening half but Waterford dominated the second period, despite failing to show it on the scoreboard.
The opening half hour were massively devoid of goalmouth action but the game’s first real chance arrived 40 minutes in. Victor Serdeniuk fouling Waterford's Shane Griffin 25-yards out.
Town’s wall blocked Griffin’s delivery but Dean McMenamy collected the rebound and his shot deflected off Beineon O’Brien Whitmarsh and out for a corner.
Two minutes into first-half stoppage time, Ryan Burke fouled Ross Fay resulting in a free-kick for Town. Adam Verdon’s effort sailed over the crossbar.
Second-half
Waterford had the first chance of the second-half after four minutes. Connor Parsons’ inviting free-kick was cleared out of play by Kyle O’Connor.
Roland Idowu connected with Barry Crowe Baggley’s corner kick but failed to hit the target and Town breathed a sigh of relief.
Waterford appeared to break the deadlock on 61 minutes. Thomas Oluwa collected Tunmise Sobowale’s long ball and fired past Jack Brady but it was offside.
Keith Long’s men threatened again within 60 seconds. Oluwa saw his effort repelled by Brady.
The rebound fell to Shane Griffin inside the box, but his effort came crashing off the crossbar.
On 63 minutes, Oluwa turned provider as Waterford missed yet another chance. Niall O’Keefe collected his left-wing cross, but his subsequent effort went narrowly wide.
Waterford now had the hosts under incessant pressure and forfeited another opportunity 16 minutes later.
Griffin collected Christopher Conn Clarke’s left-wing cross inside the box before missing the target completely.
Both sides seemed happy with a share of the spoils as the game petered out. The final-whistle was greeted by shouts of joy from the Longford faithful.
Stephen Henderson’s men claimed a point and a clean sheet which exceeded the pre-match expectations of many.
The result see's Longford Town see's Longford in seventh place in the table. Just two points off the play-off places.
Longford Town: Jack Brady, Shane Elworthy (Emmanuel James 52) ,Cian Byrne, Victor Senderiuk, Kyle O’Connor, Adam Verdon (Gary Armstrong 68), Aodh Dervin, Joshua Giurgi, Ross Fay (Darragh Lynch 82), Jamal Ibrahim (Evan Farrell 82), Beineon O'Brien-Whitemarsh
Waterford FC: Paul Martin, Ryan Burke, Niall O'Keeffe, Killian Cantwell, Giles Ene Malachi Phillips; Dean McMenamy (Tunmise Sobowale 56), Roland Idowu (Christopher Conn Clarke 76), Shane Griffin, Barry Crowe Baggley; Connor Parsons, Thomas Oluwa (Wassim Aouachria 83)
Referee: Declan Toland
