Steven Murray pounced deep into injury time to rescue a draw for promotion chasing Warrenpoint Town at Lakeview Park. He had scored early in the first period to put Point in the ascendency however a second-half brace from John Uprichard meant a Loughgall victory looked likely in the closing stages. That was until Murray capitalised on a mistake late on to earn his side a valuable point.
Murray’s opener was a quick free-kick that caught the home defence unaware; the tall forward received the ball and fired home from close range.
Loughgall equalised nine minutes after the interval when Uprichard converted Stuart Mallen’s low cross across the six yard box.
The hosts were made to sweat on 65 minutes when a Point corner came back off the crossbar and then Aaron Traynor headed the rebound towards goal only to see defender Stuart Mallen clear off the line.
The Villagers thought they’d taken the lead in the 68th minute when Jack Upritchard reacted quickly to a forward pass before firing home past ‘keeper Johnny Parr however it was adjudged to have been offside.
Striker Uprichard netted an imaginative second with ten minutes remaining when he directed an overhead effort past ‘keeper Parr and the Darren King diving on the goal line.
Point levelled in the 94th minute when a mistake allowed Murray to race clear and confidently finish low past ‘keeper Gareth Buchanan.
Loughgall: Buchanan, Devlin, Taylor, Copeland, Hudson, Canning, Upritchard (McCann 78m), Ferguson, Mallen (Campbell 70m), Mullen, Uprichard. Unused subs: McMaster, Elliott.
Warrenpoint Town: Parr, King (Croskery 82m), Murphy (McKenna 73m), Trainer, McMenamin, Murray, Lynch (Bain 62m), Dane, Bagnall, Moan, Boyle. Unused subs: McVeigh, Rice.
